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iPhone HOWTO: Get out of your contract.

NeitoNeito
edited June 2007 in Everything Else
I found this on Digg and I have to say.... WHY? Is the whole iPhone thing just the love of the iPod?

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    You have to be either rich or crazy to buy an iPhone at this point. However, I can understand why people want one so badly, especially in the US. With modern technology, we can create phones which are capable of so many amazing things. There really is no reason that right now I could not have a hand-held device as my primary mobile: phone, camera, recorder, pda, messaging, gps, music, video, and gaming device. It's all technologically possible, and it would be grand. I want it very badly, and I'm willing to pay a lot to get it.

    Despite the desire for such a product and the technological feasibility, there are three things preventing such a mobile technology panacea from coming into existence. The first hurdle is coverage and speed. In the US there is not absolute perfect coverage, many places you go have no signal. Not only that, but even if you have a signal, it isn't likely to be high-bandwidth EV-DO or HSDPA outside of a major city.

    The second hurdle are the service providers with their strict limitations and high pricing. $80 for unlimited data that isn't really unlimited? I can't use any phone I want? I can't install any software I want on the phone? Screw that.

    The final hurdle is the user interface. Let's say you are rich and you live in NYC. You buy the best unlocked HTC Windows Mobile device available and get an unlimited data and voice plan. Your phone can do everything, and it's pretty awesome. The problem is that the user interface of Windows Mobile sucks ass. It crashes often. It's unstable. It's non-obvious. It generally sucks, even though it is very powerful.

    The iPhone solves one of the three major problems that are holding back mobile technology in the US. The user interface of the iPhone is a pleasure. Even if the multi-touch is not all it is cracked up to be, it is guaranteed to be light years beyond the shits that are Windows Mobile, PalmOS, and Symbian. Even if the iPhone sucks and doesn't come close to the hype, it is by default the best mobile device in the US. Unless someone else comes along with a device that destroys at least one, probably more than one, of the road blocks holding back mobile tech., the iPhone will dominate over time. They will come out with better and better versions of the iPhone that have more features, better design and cost less money.

    So yes, people who are caught in the moment of the iPhone and are waiting right now to get one are crazy, rich, or stupid. However, I really don't see anyone besides Apple actually making a serious effort to actually make a decent fucking phone. Unless that changes I predict that I will purchase some sort of second generation iPhone for about $300 in two years when my current phone is done.
  • MrRobotoMrRoboto
    Well, living in the 3rd world country that I live in:

    a) Buying a $300 phone just to get mugged... it's not so smart (plus its probably going to be close to $400 or $500 if not more)
    b) I have my really old phone (we are talking TDMA) with one of the few dinosaur lines in the market, I get a signal everywhere, I can send messages, and talk to people for 10minutes...(having some battery problems), but still gets the job done, for my media needs, I have my DS, as for the camera, I have my Mamiya TRL, a Holga and my sisters cannon rebel, they all work just fine and even better (I'm sort of a purist, so FILM ALL THE WAY!!), and I don't need an organizer or PDA, because I wouldn't use it anyways.

    I really don't understand your phone plans and all that crap, here its simple, you pay about $6 for the first 90minutes of phone use, then you get charged by the minute, the rate is so low, that my phone bill doesn't go over $10 on a busy month, I can call anyone on any phone, and its the same rate (mainly because utilities are ran by the government, as I believe all basic stuff should)
  • WallyBmanWallyBman
    edited June 2007
    Hey Scott, I live in Enterprise, Al, and I get an EV-DO connection for my HTC phone (PPC-6700). Just so you'll know, we are a town of less than 35,000. And $80 a month for unlimited data? Hells no! Before I added my Girlfriend to my plan, I was paying $90 a month, and that included my high-speed connection(unlimited), data tethering(unlimited), unlimited sms, 1500 anytime minutes, and nights and weekends free starting at 6pm. The main problem with the iPhone is the carrier. If it were available for Sprint, I would go buy one for myself next month, as a birthday present to me! However, Cingular wants almost $150 a month for what I paid $90 a month to Sprint for. SCREW THAT!
    Post edited by WallyBman on
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    I wonder if Apple has structured this deal so that they always get paid and at&t gets screwed on returns and defaulting customers.
  • AprecheApreche
    Hey Scott, I live in Enterprise, Al, and I get an EV-DO connection for my HTC phone (PPC-6700). Just so you'll know, we are a town of less than 35,000. And $80 a month for unlimited data? Hells no! Before I added my Girlfriend to my plan, I was paying $90 a month, and that included my high-speed connection(unlimited), data tethering(unlimited), unlimited sms, 1500 anytime minutes, and nights and weekends free starting at 6pm. The main problem with the iPhone is the carrier. If it were available for Sprint, I would go buy one for myself next month, as a birthday present to me! However, Cingular wants almost $150 a month for what I paid $90 a month to Sprint for. SCREW THAT!
    You live in a town of magic.
  • WallyBmanWallyBman
    Not really. There aren't any gaming shops around, and there is only one comic shop withing almost 100 miles of my house.

    When I upgraded to this phone (from a PPC-6600), i was forced to upgrade my plan to the EVDO plan. My connection sucked ass for the next two weeks. It turns out they were actually pulling down all the towers around the areas I use my phone the most and replacng them with super awesome towers! We went from barely having a signal anywhere to having a great connection almost everywhere. Hell, I'm at work, in the middle of a military base. where there are NO towers installed, and I am getting two to four bars out of four possible. And that connection is an EVDO connection. The closest "large city" is Dothan, with a population of 85,000. And that is 20 miles away.
  • AprecheApreche
    Not really. There aren't any gaming shops around, and there is only one comic shop withing almost 100 miles of my house.

    When I upgraded to this phone (from a PPC-6600), i was forced to upgrade my plan to the EVDO plan. My connection sucked ass for the next two weeks. It turns out they were actually pulling down all the towers around the areas I use my phone the most and replacng them with super awesome towers! We went from barely having a signal anywhere to having a great connection almost everywhere. Hell, I'm at work, in the middle of a military base. where there are NO towers installed, and I am getting two to four bars out of four possible. And that connection is an EVDO connection. The closest "large city" is Dothan, with a population of 85,000. And that is 20 miles away.
    It's simply a matter of there not being any NIMBYs living near you that allows them to put up as many towers as they want.
  • WallyBmanWallyBman
    Yup! And we get all of our power from the Farley nuclear plant, which is about 15 miles on the other side of Dothan! Also, notice how many foreign car makers are building plants in Alabama?
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