Willravel

I'm not going to buy one until I see improvements in the next generation, assuming there is one (and there will be). I need a bigger hard drive, lower price (from $399 instead of $499), using your songs as ringtones, and 3G.

Halx

Well it's 3pm on Monday, almost 3 days after I bought my iPhone. I've spent collectively over 3 hours on hold, waiting for 4 different phone conversations, correcting my rates 3 times and waiting countless hours for my phone to be activated. I'm told that it is finally ALL ready to be activated... I just need to wait another hour.

I hope this is worth it.

Here are the reasons why I bought an iPhone:
My current phone has deteriorated to a piece of plastic shit.
I need a smart phone with a mapping interface and email.
The screen is large for said maps to be displayed.
It's cheaper than a treo 750.
I already have at&t and their service is fine
Sometimes I don't want to bring my mp3 player with me
It's a nifty piece of technology

However I have not been able to have any fun with this thing.

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cyrnel

Jobs is a gifted idea guy and motivator, but shitty customer service has the inertia of planets.

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

Willravel

Apple has very high rated customer service. AT&T on the other hand....

Edit: Oh, gotcha.

cyrnel

Absolutely. That's much of what I meant.

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

Mondak

Where have I been? You are married? Since when and what is her name?

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MSD

Verizon's CEO told Apple to go fuck themselves when they offered to make it a Verizon exclusive. You know how much Verizon loves our money, so it can't be that profitable, most likely due to Apple demanding huge kickbacks on contracts.

sprocket

Damn that sucks halx. I got my iPhone the day it came out. Took all of 10 seconds to activate. The one I got for my girlfriend on the other hand took well into the next day. ATT screwed up bigtime.

I don't think you will be disappointed. The more I use it the more awe I have for it. As far as the features it lacks, well ... I havnt noticed because it performs its primary functions so amazingly well (browsing, media, email) that everything else seems moot.

Hopefully youll be up and running soon!

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Halx

Today I went to the apple store to get my phone looked at. It is a defective unit, so they will replace it tomorrow - I hope.

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sprocket

Hopefully they have some replacements in stock for you. Nothing but good things to say about mine. Posting from it now actually

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Frosstbyte

Yeah, ATT has always been a volume-based company, so they're planning on having tons of people on it and using it so that despite Apple's licensing and use fees they're still going to be making money. I'd imagine that it (or things close enough to it) will make the round soon enough. If it is what Apple wants it to be, all our mobile devices are going to look like it soon enough.

I don't necessarily believe that myself, but whatever.

ubertuber

I wonder if iPhone 2.0 would be covered by the exclusivity contract?

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Walking Shadow

Ok, even if my numbers are off, I was going by an article I read in Slate.com a while back. You don't include taxes, which is kind of unfair, so for arguments sake lets say that you go with the $1974 pretax number and add on another $50 in taxes for a total of $2025.

For a fucking phone.

I could give a fuck that it has internet access and you can download shit to it or watch vids or take pictures. Why anyone would want to watch ANYTHING on a vid screen that's less then 4 inches wide is insanely stupid.

But looking at it from another side, I could pay $25 a month for basic phone service, a landline, which I could use to access the internet, which might run me another $9 a month. That gives me a total of $816 a year and gives me $1209 which I can go spend on porn star escorts. Plus, quite frankly, being THAT connected to the Internet and such is deeply, deeply disturbing on several levels. Let's be seriosu, how fucking pathetic are you if you have to check your fucking email every 15 minutes all day long.

NO ONE is that important, not even President Bush.

Total waste of money.

Glory's Sun

Just pathetic enough to make sure my clients are happy and that I make plenty of money.

ubertuber

Well, your numbers are way off - by about $1200 since your post cited a year's time.

Also, $25/month plus $9/month is $408 for a year, not $816. Something may be seriously wrong with your calculator.

You seem really emotional and hostile about this... Why the hysterics?

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ShaniFaye

he was using the 2 year figure that you put up in your previous post....so he doubled his landline number to 2 years

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ubertuber

I'm not trying to bust anyone's chops, but I just think it is important to compare Apples to Apples.

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LoganSnake

Doubt it. Last I heard, AT&T and Apple are under the 5 year contract. So there is a slim chance that the next generations of iPhone will work with other networks.

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telekinetic

Walking Shadow, your use of excessive obscenity (combined with the fact that you misread the post you were replying to) make you sound extremely ignorant. If you have an actual point, try to phrase it more intelligently.

Let's dissect:

And a Ipod. And portable video player. And a wireless email client. And camera. And web terminal.

So you're saying you aren't in the target market? You could have phrased it more calmly.
I watch movies and shows on the plane on my PSP all the time...it's screen is pretty comparable. Have you tried it?

Since you didn't include tax, I figure we'll compare apples to apples (no pun intended). Also, you didn't include dialup internet service, to access your land line, so we'll call that another $10 a month before tax. That makes the price difference $1056. To fully replace an iphone, with everything you'd need except internet connectivity, you'd also need a camera ($100) an MP3 player ($150) and a portable DVD player ($100), so that brings your "porn star escort" fund down to $353 a year. Good luck with that.

Even all of this is a poor comparison, because you are ignoring one of the primary features, the wireless web surfing, which you address here:


Reasons to be so fucking pathetic you have to check your fucking email or go online every 15 minutes:

1. Checking flight times from the hotel
2. Checking online auctions
3. Getting directions in cities you aren't familiar with
4. Approving pictures from photoshoots while you are meeting with another vendor
5. Snapping, annotating, and emailing quick pictures from the field to the home office, and getting their emailed responses

These are all things I would have used an iphone for in the last two weeks.

And yes, guccilvr's reason is also an excellent one. Blackberry's may still be slightly more practicaly, but an iphone is definitely a viable choice for a professional who needs to stay connected. In some client-centric industries, the image boost alone from having the latest technology is worth the $350 a year you say could be spent with prostitutes.

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Halx

"For a fucking phone."

I pay a lot for the few luxuries that I do acquire. Why? I'm picky. Up until now, I hadn't considered a smart phone aside from the Treo 750 and the iPhone simply because their design and functionality was awkward to me. Sure, I could have gotten a simple phone to just make calls on, but I wanted more from a piece of technology that I have with me at every second of the day. A calendar, a note pad, a box score, a camera, a photo album, a music player..

Whatever my phone does, I have a space in my pocket that is specifically reserved for it. Why not pack that space with as much functionality as possible? And the price? Well I happen to have a nice job that allows me to afford it. That's why I paid that much "for a fucking phone."

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kutulu

I'm an unapologetic Apple hater. Most of my hatred comes from the fact that their stuff is horribly overpriced and the rest is their marketing (it bugs the hell out of me).

I do think that the price comparison isn't that fair. The service plan is overpriced by about $10-$20. Activation is about $20-$40 across the board so that is wash. The only difference is the initial cost of the device and although $500-$600 is a lot for a phone, it is not that much more than similar phones.

I think their biggest problem is that the corporate world is more likely to buy their workers phones that synch with Outlook. That and the fact that 8 GB is way undersized for the HDD.

Also, I hate exclusive deals but it adds to the snotty apple culture.

Halx

I got my replacement phone today. It works perfectly now.

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Cynthetiq

awesome. I promise to not get BBQ sauce on it on Thursday.

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hotzot

Halx, your first phone wasn't a phone at all but the iBrick. How it got through marketing and research, I'll never know.

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sprocket

Well, the storage is quite phenomenal if you're comparing the iPhone to other phones. There are only about 2 or 3 on the market that I can think of, and arent half as capable as the iPhone in other areas. 8gig harddrive phones from nokia or samsung run about $800 or more. Yea you can get large SD cards, but most phones these days go with microSD, and microSD cards that large generally arent available.

If you compare the iPhone to dedicated mp3 players with actual hard drives and not flash memory, then yea, the 8 gig storage is very meager, but I dont really think its a fair comparison.

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Fire

i second the wtf on halx being married- when did this happen, to whom, how did i miss this? Congrats somewhat belatedly

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Destrox

Bravo Apple, not only do you overcharge for that beast of eyecandy. But you screw over every single customer you have with it in about 1-2 years.

Honestly, 85$ + 29$ for a rental (which will be a empty phone) or 85$ + a WEEK with no phone.

This seriously should have been on the front of the box at purchase, I would be returning that phone right now if I had purchased one.

First they dont put a lot of the features on it, then the activation problems, AT&T in general is hit and miss, and now this.

You think Apple would have learned from the iPod battery fiascos.....

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Cynthetiq

They did. They allow for 3rd Party vendors to fill in the gaps that they wish to not fill in. Apple provides service, which many Apple enthusiasts are willing to use instead of 3rd Party.

There is a whole marketplace/cottage industry that does that.

ipodbattery.com

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Walking Shadow

I have less then no interest in getting an I-pod, in fact you'd have to pay me to get one. My portable CD player works just fine and I don't have to deal with the shitty sound that comes from having all of your music compressed as one does with an I-pod.

A portable video player? You can't be serious.

If by target market, you mean ....

Thanks to Shrub's administration, not only am I not allowed on a commercial airline flight, I'm not allowed on an Amtrack train either, so no I haven't. I also don't have the money to waste on a PSP. My PS2 works just fine at home, thanks.



I neither want, nor do I need a camera, so that's $100 back to me.

I mentioned the MP3/I-pod thing above, so that's another $150 back to me.

Same for the portable DVD player, which is another $100.

As for dial up internet service, I most certainly did mention it, but where I live it's included with a land line, they don't fuck you twice with your pants on.

1) You can't use the actual phone in your hotel room because, why exactly? It's not like it's a long distance call to the fucking airport to check on flight times or to the airline itself.
2) ...
3) Any halfway decent hotel will this thing called a concierge, who is a person whose sole job is to help people who stay at the hotel, whether it's calling an airline and checking flight times for them (See #1), making restaurant recommendations and reservations, giving directions (See #3), acquiring escorts/prostitutes.
4) Whatever.
5) So you're going to base a photoshoot around some shit pictures you took with a crappy camera phone? Whatever dude, your bosses must have REALLY low standards

...

Glory's Sun

Hanxter

DAYUM!!! we have a winner!!!

i can see why...

Bill O'Rights

Curiosity dictates that I ask...why not?

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Destrox

Very cool, learn something new every day.

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BuDDaH

Iphone is a wanna-be Treo 650 / 750.
You could offer it for free and I still won't take it. It's not worth all the problems and frustration for it.

Maybe when the 2nd generation comes out, maybe them..

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ngdawg

I don't see why these things are so important, unless you work for the CIA....
I have a cell phone with a camera and I don't even use that. I use my phone....to talk. I got new cell phones for the spouse and daughter, both for $79 each and they work fine. The only use at all I see for a cell phone with a camera, let alone anything else, is, like in the case of a friend of mine who has to go to accident sites when a utility pole gets snapped. He has to get pics of it to forward to his office.
When VCR's first became popular, they were $600 or more-now they're $5 at a yard sale. When CD players first came out, they were close to $1000. Now they're free with purchase of-----. When digital cameras first came out, the highest for the average consumer was a 6mp for about $800...
Boy, what I could do with $600....
I'm with Buddah. You could offer it for free and I wouldn't want to be bothered.
At least when those $79 phones go dead, I won't go ballistic. I'll just get another one.

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Sid Vicious

Ok well I may be new here, but I just needed to say something about some parts of this. First of all, your arguing that you need not be online constantly, but your doing it online. That's entirely redundant. Secondly, hurray, you personally do not require a portable DVD player, iPod, or camera. Some people do. Sure we could all use our discmans, but lets be honest, they seem to weigh a metric fucking ton in comparison to a nice iPod. I have a 4 gig Nano personally, and without it I probably wouldn't be listening to music on the go. Plus, I am allowed on trains and planes, and there's no way I am going to spend an entire 8 or 12 hour trip twiddling my fucking thumbs, when I could be watching a movie or surfing the interweb. Save your opinions for yourself, don't try and project them onto the entire consumer population.

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ubertuber

I think a lot of the criticism in this thread may be accurate, but it misses the point.

The popularity of the iPhone is about the interface, not the features. That's what drove the iPod, and it's a lot of what drives Mac sales. People talk about features because they are easy to point to, but I really don't think that ghz/gb etc. are behind the Apple mystique. Apple is good at making interfaces that people enjoy using.

For the people who are consumers and not technical experts, a great and enjoyable interface is solid gold. The iPhone's gonna be a hit.

I'd take one for free.

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Frosstbyte

I think the iPod's success was a combination of a slick interface, a large capacity and a small size with all of the same or even more features than its competition. Compared to the rest of the market, the iPhone's only got slick interface covered.

I'm not saying at all that it's not going to be a massive success, but I don't think it's got the same stroke of genius that the iPod did and won't achieve the same level of success.

Jinn

The iPhone's price is all about supply and demand.

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MexicanOnABike

I just got a phone with all the features the Iphone would give me for 0$ on a contract. I'm happy. (no touch screen or w/e but it has the mp3 player and camera etc..)

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