What prompted the purchase?

[cjvitek]

I am curious, what prompted your purchase on an iPhone 3G? Did you have the 2G, and wanted an upgrade? Are you a "Apple person" and simply wanted it. Was there one specific feature (or features) that made you want to buy?

I had been a PDA user for a long time, and in 2007 I got my first smartphone (a Treo 680) mostly to eliminate carrying around two devices (my PDA and phone). When the first iPhone came out, I was curious but didn't purchase because my Treo was still "new", and I didn't envision using the iPod features that much - I felt the Treo did everything I wanted. However, starting in early 2008, I wanted to get a 3G phone (looking at various option) planning on keeping my Treo, and using the 3G phone when I wanted fast internet media. When the iPhone 3G was announced, it seemed to fill all my needs - don't get an extra device, get a 3G smart phone with basic PDA functionality (calendar, contacts, etc), and 3rd party apps (something I have enjoyed since my Visor Prism).

So I guess it was really the 3G and the 3rd party apps that pushed me towards the iPhone (although if Palm had a 3G, wifi, palm os based phone at the time with AT&T, I probably would have purchased that instead!)

What about you?

 

[The Radness]

I had an ATT employee plan and a Sony 580i, I was paying 30$ a month. Our stores lost our ATT contract, so I had to go onto a normal plan with unlimited texting......$70 some odd dollars a month. I said to hell with this, If I'm going to pay this much, i might as well go for the gusto........so I did.

 

[sting7k]

Well I'll start with with my original iPhone.

I had been through probably a dozen or so phones the 2 years before the original iPhone came out. T-mobile Dash, MDA, Moto-Q, Razr, Krazr, Pearl, and litteraly 3 days before the iPhone came out I got an HTC S710 (candy bar shapped WM6.1 with slide out keyboard, which I did like).

I had been drooling over the iPhone for months. I lined up the release day at an AT&T store but they sold out. After playing with the demo unit to ease my pain I was hooked. It was so sweet and new, and it did everything I had been looking for one device to do.

Ordered the iPhone through AT&T, it arrived at my door only 3 days later. I loved it, it was the first phone I didn't get bored with after 2 months. I had had an iPod since the third gen ones and used iTunes a lot so using iTunes made it that much easier.

There were a few things that annoyed me about it. The speaker was pretty poor, I could barely hear people unless I was in total silence (both the "normal" ear piece and speaker phone). I also had my original replaced 3 times; first time it would not charge fully, second had about 20 dead pixels, third the black part at the bottom was separating from the metal.

When the 3G was announced I was immediately interested. I prefer the plastic back; it's easier to grip and I think it improves reception since the signal can get through all the back and not just the bottom where you hold it. It also had GPS and of course 3G radios.

The AT&T store near me sold out on the first day again. I ordered it through them again, took 7 days this time. I had already upgraded my original to the 2.0 software so I was all about getting apps. Right as I walked out the door I called one of my friends, the ear piece was nearly deafening (how it should be!). To top it off I sold my original iPhone on ebay for $410, so the upgrade made me money and helped cover the extra cost for the new monthly 3G plan.

Lucky for me AT&T just expanded their 3G coverage to my home city at the start of December and it is slowly getting better and better. Now I get it not just at work but every where. I'm annoyed through with AT&T's text message pricing, charging $5 just for 200 messages and $15 for 1500 just gets me angry thinking about it.

Now, I'm still not bored with my iPhone 3G. I still shop the app store daily looking for the next killer app. It fit my usage perfectly and does everything I want to do on the go,or even just sitting on the couch and don't feel like getting out my laptop. The Palm Pre is the first thing to be even interesting since I got the iPhone, but since it's only on Sprint it isn't THAT interesting yet. I don't know what I will do if the iPhone HD comes later this year, if AT&T lets us upgrade again I might be upgrading again.

 

[Jeffdc5#IM]

My gf had an ipod touch an i jailbroke it played around with it for a while fell in love. I waited for a jailbreak to be released for the 3g then i went to go buy one from the apple store.Im on a family plan only pay 45 dollars for everything can't beat that. Having all my devices in one is a plus i mostly use my iphone for multimedia but it helps organize my life wen i'm at school

 

[Stevie No-Wonder]

I refused to ever buy a smartphone that wasn't Mac-like. When rumors about an iPhone began, I decided I'd buy it as soon as it was released, regardless of it's features or price. And I did.

 

[jamesus]

Was tired of using my WinMo phone and wanted a change. Sprint had issues with my account and couldn't fix it for 8 months (yes...I was incorrectly billed for 8 months) and decided to leave since the iPhone 3G had what was missing from the original iPhone: 3G and Exchange support.

 

[E Pow]

Im a HUGE Apple fan. I buy everything they make. when I found out they were making a phone, i just knew I had to have it. I didnt care how ugly it was, or how much it cost. 99% of everything they make is a success so I figured the iphone would be too, I didnt realize just how much of a success it would really be!!!

 

[Tunnelrunner]

Coming from a Palm Treo 700p -- in addition to all the reasons already given, I switched because of company viability. That may sound absurd, but I'm not going to invest my hard-earned $$ in a company (Palm) that may not live to see 2010. To me, RIM and Apple are 2 strong companies with the vision to keep innovating.
That may be a strange reason for coming over to Apple, but it played a huge factor for me.

B.
PS I do wish Palm well--I think the Pre is going to do quite well. Just hope it's not too late.

 

[cobra302]

i just came over from the BOLD. i did it becuase i was curious about all the hype. especially after the round robin took place. plus, i'm a huge techy. i cant stand not having the latest and greatest, even when i cant afford it! i used to have an apple ipod 5thgen 30 gig black, oh how i loved that thing! i got strapped for cash and sold it, regretted it everyday since. now with my iphone, i've got a little of that love back. i was going to get an ipod touch, but figured for a little more, i could get the phone to go with it. i only got the 8 gig version, but i can see where the joy of these phones come from.

 

[Jeremy]

I too was bored with Windows mobile when the first iPhone came out. Then upgraded to the 3G on July 11th. Only thing is now my time is split with the iPhone and BB Bold. I'm sure that will change again when the "new" iPhone is released.

 

[BB-fan]

The unique things you can do with the phone and the price I pay a month that I can't get with another smartphone.

 

[Brickman]

I came from Sprint and the 755P. Sprint's coverage in my area seemed to be getting worse and the BT was totally un-useable on my 755P. I was also having problems with getting email. It was time for a new device. My criteria for a new device was the following:

Had to sync with my iMac. Period. No exception.
Good BT was a must. I drive a lot with my job.
I recently had gotten MoMe so it needed to work with it.
Need good 3G coverage where I live and work.


I wanted to go with VZ or AT&T. They have the best 3G coverage where I live and work. VZ is actually the best overall in my area for 3G so one day one I went to get in line for the Storm. There were about 20 people in front of me, I am not waiting in that kind of a line for anything, so I left. Later that day I took my wife to look at the Storm. We were both up for new phones. She played with it for a few minutes and hated it. So we drove down to the AT&T store let her play with the iPhone. Needless to say, she loved it!

I can not say how please I am that I did NOT get the Storm. I think the Storm is, or will be, a good device but BB does not always play nice with Mac and I did not want a device that I needed to tweek or wait for an update. I had that with the Treo. With MobileMe push and my Jawbone 2 headset, my iPhone is exactly what I was looking for!!

 

[Jeremy]

I came from Sprint and the 755P. Sprint's coverage in my area seemed to be getting worse and the BT was totally un-useable on my 755P. I was also having problems with getting email. It was time for a new device. My criteria for a new device was the following:

Had to sync with my iMac. Period. No exception.
Good BT was a must. I drive a lot with my job.
I recently had gotten MoMe so it needed to work with it.
Need good 3G coverage where I live and work.


I wanted to go with VZ or AT&T. They have the best 3G coverage where I live and work. VZ is actually the best overall in my area for 3G so one day one I went to get in line for the Storm. There were about 20 people in front of me, I am not waiting in that kind of a line for anything, so I left. Later that day I took my wife to look at the Storm. We were both up for new phones. She played with it for a few minutes and hated it. So we drove down to the AT&T store let her play with the iPhone. Needless to say, she loved it!

I can not say how please I am that I did NOT get the Storm. I think the Storm is, or will be, a good device but BB does not always play nice with Mac and I did not want a device that I needed to tweek or wait for an update. I had that with the Treo. With MobileMe push and my Jawbone 2 headset, my iPhone is exactly what I was looking for!!

Sync issues aside just be thankful you did not buy the Storm. Flat out it is a product that was never completed fully. Hardware wise as well as software. Yes I've had one. (Sorry to get a bit off topic)

 

[Brickman]

I agree BA. From what I have read, it still needs some work.

Of course even if it did work flawlessly, I could not be as happy as I am right now with my iPhone. It does everything that I need it to do to help me manage my personal life as well as my Business life.

 

[shutter]

It was time for a new phone, I was heavily considering the Fuze, but then walmart started selling the iPhone and put out a couple of functional display models. I played around with one on Dec. 30th. On the 31st I was at the AT&T store and came home with one. I've spent more time playing with this iPhone over the last couple of weeks than I did with my tilt over the last few months. Love the iPhone!

 

[RNCCRN9706]

I got an iPhone because I wanted on really bad! I had a BB Curve on VZW...in my area VZW coverage is spotty in a LOT of areas. I live near the lakeshore. And sometimes I'd get Canadian towers. I really like the apps and the fact that it's also an ipod! I was going to just get an iPod Touch but figured that for the same price(and a 2 yr contract) I'd just get an iPhone!!

I still haven't figured out all it can do...I'm leery of jailbreaking.