Apple says your cell phone is worthless

The Apple iPhone has a sky-high price tag

(Credit: CNET Networks)

From the very moment Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone at MacWorld two months ago, every corner of the tech world has been buzzing that the thing would be too darned expensive. Indeed, we said the very same thing in our initial analysis of the device. Apple is asking a lot of people to pay $599 for the 8GB version of the iPhone, particularly when that also comes with a two-year contract to Cingular. And what's more, a few studies conducted since January indicate that very few people (one study cited just 1 percent of respondents) would pay that price. On the other hand, the $200 to $300 range is considered more reasonable.

Apple Inc. COO Timothy Cook seems to have taken a "you get what you pay for" mentality. As Wireless Week reports, Cook spoke at a Las Vegas conference recently where he characterized other cell phones as worthless. "A lot of people pay zero for their phone," he said. "Guess why? That's what it's worth." Meow. Though Cook has a point that Americans are addicted to free phones (and subsequently early-termination fees) I can assure you, dear Crave readers, there are plenty of worthy cell phones not made by Apple. Cook then went on to repeat Jobs's earlier prediction that Apple will sell 10 million iPhones in 2008. At this point, all we can say is, we'll see about that. And we can't wait to find out.

[jivemouth]

I would pay $599... but change my carrier? EGAD!

Yup... I am definitely one of many who would gladly dish out $599 for this device. I have been teetering on the verge of buying an iPod AND a new phone, so I figure why not roll it all into one tidy little package. But the fact I would need to change my carrier is the one barrier to entry that I just cannot get past.

[DravenStele]

The Apple phone is what is worthless

Something just doesn't add up. You'd pay an extra $250 to get a geared down iPod (going from 30G to 8G) but wouldn't change your phone carrier?!

After bouncing from Verizon, Sprint, and Nextel to Cingular, I have nothing but praise for them. I get good service on my cruddy ROKR E1 (freebie) everywhere I go in the midwest.

But, I wouldn't even shell out $200 for this piece of junk. When I'm ready for an upgrade at the end of the year, I hope all the Apple phone fans have dropped the price on the good equipment offered by Cingular, namely the 8125.

[PCCRomeo]

You get what you pay for indeed, Cingular!

I don't care about the price of the phone, but I'm not switching to Cingular to
get it....

[zizzybaloobah]

I think Cingular will be the fatal flaw

Here in the Baltimore-Washington area, Cingular has the crappy coverage (and it DOES NOT work in the Metro subway and much outside of either city's beltway or interstate corridor.

Until they can launch it with other carriers (and I think Cingular has a multi-year exclusive) it's just not gonna fly.

[darthgerber]

Verizon coverage and I'll consider it

I would gladly trade in my nano and treo for an iPhone. I think $600 is a fair price to pay for a new gadget that replaces both.

However, I agrre that Cingular's coverage sucks, especially here in L.A.

Verizon is way to go.

[Xenu7-214951314497503184010868]

Back to 56K dial up

What's the point of having a killer online device that is at the mercy of a crappy service provider? It's like going back to 56K dial up service after you're used to a broadband connection. It's like driving a Formula 1 race car on unleaded regular. When the quality of Cingular's service equals the quality of the iPhone I'll buy one, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Viv Collins]

Apples and oranges?

Interesting the number of price comparisons every were but price compared
to what exactly! it makes no sense when the only thing an IPhone can be
compared to is another IPhone! and Apple did that for us by having two
models.

There is not another product out there yet that can be used as the basis for a
comparison, as to the carrier we will have to wait and see on that one:-) if
they screw up Apple has a short attention span for suppliers who screw up or
fail to get with the program, recent history is littered with them.

In a year or two it will be fun to come back to this and have a look at what
happened against what we thought would happen.

[make_or_break]

WTF? ANY comparison is valid

If all you want to do is limit yourself to an all-n-one convergent device that has ALL the bells and whistles imaginable (except 3G), then fine...have it your way. But not everyone wants everything that Apple is stuffing into its glorious iPhone. Imagine...the gall of people ACTUALLY wanting a cell phone to be [i]just[/i] a phone.

Fact is, I'd [i]rather[/i] have the 3G capability more than any of that any other functions planned for this phone that my BlackBerry doesn't already have. And freedom guaranteed with NO ties to ATT/Cingular, thank you very much. Besides, $600 is awfully hard to swallow for a device that I normally would treat rather haphazardly.

Cook's comments were to me rather juvenile, and reek of a past life as a used-car salesman. Or snake-oil distributor. Apple has always been arrogant when it comes to their products, but to make bold claims about their cell phone being THE SOLUTION for all of one's communication needs, regardless of what you previously thought your need were...that's downright insulting. Especially without 3G capability.

[Xenu7-214951314497503184010868]

Beauty and the Beast

I need a new iPod and a cell phone, and I'm willing to pay the big bucks to get an iPhone-- but Cingular is the deal killer. Do the research. Cingular's claims that they have the lowest call drops is a lie. Their performance is less than average compared to top rated carriers such as Verizon, but Cingular is on a GSM network and Verizon is on CDMA, and GSM is the international standard-- bigger market. One can only hope that Apple will eventually dump Cingular once better carriers adopt an international standard. Maybe the price for the iPhone will have dropped by then too.

[Bosambo]

iPhone vs 2 devices

Everyone keeps going on about how great it would be to ditch their phone and iPod in favour of the iPhone without first acknowledging the very different use patterns that go with both devices. I know that for my hour long journey to and from work, my mp3 player is on from the moment I walk out of my door until I'm sitting at my desk...it's on sometimes WHILE I work. My phone on the other hand only comes out when I have a call. I occasionally play the odd java game and check my gmail, but nothing as battery consumptive as surfing the web for any length of time. I know how many times I've had my mp3 player die on me while out on transit and that's due to my heavy use of it. My phone is not "on" as much as my mp3 player...I wouldn't want to be stuck in a situation where I'm without both at the same time. I see people quoting the proposed battery life of the iPhone, X amount of time for talk, Y amount on standby and Z for music playback, as if one has no affect on the other. If I spend most of my time for Z then I'll have no juice left for X or Y. I would rather have the two separate devices. People also go on about the space in their pockets...from the looks of it an iPhone is bigger than a Nano (the only iPod short of a shuffle that this device can claim to replace) and a RAZR put together (I use these two devices as an example as they are both very popular here in the UK and I believe in the US so most people have both) I myself have a RAZR and a Creative Zen Vision:M and have no problem with scarce pocket room. No I'm not Apple bashing here, I own a Shuffle.

[vibeguy]

iPhone is all HYPE!!

The soon to be lauched LG Prada phone and the Samsung F700 are more interesting than more APPLE hype. Apple wants to dictate what carrier you use AND tie you in to a contract. NO THANKS Steve Jobs!


Chris

http://www.myvibraslim.com