In a report from today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Fresh off the launch of its much-hyped iPhone, Apple may be preparing to offer a less expensive version that could be used with several wireless carriers, a telecommunications industry analyst says.
...new model could sell for less than $300.... to be based on Apple's iPod Nano music player,....,
Full article here:
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/07/10/iphone_0...
Personally, I'm waiting for the original iPhone to drop in price and hopefully work with a faster internet service. I have used AT&T for about 8 years now through their various name changes with my cell service, but have never had an interest in anything to do with email / internet with their phones because it's just too slow. For the time being, my Motorola Razr for only $89 works perfectly fine, don't need a $600 phone with slow internet service.
Digg it
AT&T with an iPhone? It's that weakest link thingie...
Like you, Walter, I was interested in an iPhone and liked the idea of being able to leave my laptop at home when on the road, using an iPhone instead to check email, log into the COW, etc.
But having been on Cingular (now AT&T) for quite a while now, I wouldn't bother. The internet backbone on AT&T (Cingular) is so abysmally slow that there really is no point.
It's not just the $600 or so that the phone costs, it is the fact that to run it on the AT&T system, you need both a phone and internet account and those two accounts will run you just shy of about $200 a month for a minimal level of access. No thanks.
When I look at over two-grand a year for the privilege of surfing at speeds that rival the old days of 28.8 modems and the like, I think that I'll pass on being an iPhone customer.
Besides, the countdown clock is clicking on getting out of our contract with Cingular (AT&T) and I don't want to do a thing that will cause this contract to extend one minute longer than it has to be...
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
But having been on Cingular
But having been on Cingular (now AT&T) for quite a while now, I wouldn't bother. The internet backbone on AT&T (Cingular) is so abysmally slow that there really is no point.
Very slow here in Atlanta as well and this is the headquarters of Cingular. I don't have an iPhone but I do have an AT&T/Cingular account now for 8 years running and anyone I know with a Blackberry/Internet account through AT&T is always complaining about how slow it is.
Even more disappointing for me (and quite ironic) is that AT&T does NOT support Apple laptops for internet service. So I ended up going with Sprint / Nextel to pick up an Express 34 card for my MacBook Pro and it works brilliantly with the internet. $200 for the card to use my entire laptop vs. $600 for an iPhone. That was a no brainer.
You would think that if a company (Apple) signed an exclusive agreement with a wireless carrier (AT&T) they would put something in there that required said carrier to support the entire product line, not just the new phone. But what do I know? I'm just an end user.
"It's not just the $600 or
"It's not just the $600 or so that the phone costs, it is the fact that to run it on the AT&T system, you need both a phone and internet account and those two accounts will run you just shy of about $200 a month for a minimal level of access. No thanks."
I don't get it. I need a regular ISP at home in any case, so how does the iPhone change that? Unlimited iPhone data is a $20 add-on to my voice plan. I pay $29.95 to Verizon for residential DSL. That's $50/month for *all* of my data -- how do you get to $200/month from that? I really don't understand your math.
"When I look at over two-grand a year for the privilege of surfing at speeds that rival the old days of 28.8 modems and the like, I think that I'll pass on being an iPhone customer."
The iPhone is cheaper than the other unlimited data plans I'm familiar with. It's half what Verizon charges. In NYC so far, I generally get 200+ kbps, which is a lot faster than a modem, and approaching the low end of 3G. But I find I'm using WiFi more. WiFi is available most of the places where I spend my time...
"It's not just the $600 or
"It's not just the $600 or so that the phone costs, it is the fact that to run it on the AT&T system, you need both a phone and internet account and those two accounts will run you just shy of about $200 a month for a minimal level of access. No thanks."
I don't understand what you're talking about. My voice & unlimited data for the iPhone is $59/month. I pay $30/month for my Verizon DSL at home. How do you get to $200/month?
Even on AT&T's supposedly slow EDGE network, I'm getting 200+ kbps in Manhattan, And usually I'm on WiFi, which is 10-20x faster yet. I'm absolutely loving the iPhone....
Cambria California isn't NYC, Kim
Where we live, here in San Luis Obispo County, California -- at least when we first checked (they may have changed their mind as we looked into it before it was released) -- it takes a separate account for the phone and a separate one for the internet. NYC is likely different from ours or maybe Cingular wised up -- man, that would be nice. ;o)
In any case, even if they have changed their policy and have a single account now, our access here in Central California is so abysmal on Cingular (AT&T) that anything more than $59 would be a rip-off. At $59 it would bear looking at.
But still, when we've been on the Cingular network with anything internet, dead people were walking past us as we tried to get anything done on Cingular...
Thanks for the feedback, Kim.
Ron Lindeboom
I live in Manhattan/NYC. I
I live in Manhattan/NYC. I think there's some mistake about the separate account for phone/internet. Adding unlimited internet for the iPhone on AT&T is only $20/month. I think you've been given bad information.
As for real-world EDGE bandwidth, I have no idea for San Luis Obispo County. I only know that you live in a beautiful area ;-)
Here in downtown Manhattan, I'm getting from 200-250 kbps using AT&T's EDGE. That's bumping up against the lower end of 3G speeds. Not really broadband, but not shabby either. Most of the time I end up on WiFi anyway -- 10-20x faster yet.
I am absolutely *loving* my iPhone. Sounds weird, but it's changing my whole relation to online. It feels like the future. I just hope that you make sure that you have good information before making up your mind....
Regards-
Kim
Yes, it's a beautiful area but...
We like to say that we are technologically challenged here on the Central Coast. ;o)
We see what people like you get in other areas and we are jealous. We have to look at the trees and mountains and remember that we have to give up some things to live here; oftentimes, technology comes here last. I think this country discovered television just last decade. We hear that running water is supposed to make its debut in a few months. That will be nice.
Thanks for your feedback. I am going to have to call Cingular again as our last conversation was not anything that would make someone jump for service here.
I hope you are right and that they came to their senses when it came time to actually start shipping iPhones. I love the iPhone and would love to have one.
Ron Lindeboom
"We see what people like you
"We see what people like you get in other areas and we are jealous. We have to look at the trees and mountains and remember that we have to give up some things to live here; oftentimes, technology comes here last. I think this country discovered television just last decade. We hear that running water is supposed to make its debut in a few months. That will be nice."
I love Manhattan, and I really couldn't live anywhere else. But I envy you guys for the astounding natural beauty you live in. Damn. I hope you don't take it for granted...
Just to give you an idea of
You aren't on the Apple iPhone sales team are you? ;o)
You aren't on the Apple iPhone sales team are you? If you aren't, you should be.
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
Nope. But I love the iPhone.
Nope. But I love the iPhone. I'm a software designer. I actually worked on a software product for Apple's Newton, back in the day. Watching what Apple did with a v1.0 multi-touch interface is like watching Michael Jordan in a 40+ point game. Sounds like a fanboy, I know. But you gotta give props where props are due ;-)
Kim
Well, let's see... Service
Well, let's see...
Service will run you about $120, the data access is about $59... That's up to $179 and then you have all those fees and taxes that will run you the additional $21.
I have experience... I just have a simple family plan with two phones (1400 minutes shared) with text messaging. My bill is about $120 a month.
I don't get it. My Cingular
I don't get it. My Cingular voice plan was $39/month. I bought an iPhone and added unlimited data for $20 more.
I.e. my pre-tax *total* is now $59/month, incl. unlimited data.
It's a bargain compared to Verizon's $80 data plan -- plus the iPhone is of course far more advanced...
How Apple can win with iPhone, if they only take my advice :-)
Two sources for this one.
The first is the ultimate source of Apple info, Fake Steve Jobs. He's fake, but he's never been wrong either. Just moments after the iPhone nano broke yesterday, he was the very first to deny it, in a typically hilarious fashion. You really need to check it out.
This story at Apple Insider merely confirms what Fake Steve Jobs said yesterday.
As for iPhone supporting anything other than Cingular, I wouldn't count on it for a while. Don't for a second think this was accidental. If past experience holds true, Apple shopped around for who would give them the best deal -- which in this case I imagine includes both cash up front and a slice of all new iPhone-driven subscriptions. It's easy enough to track those, of course.
Frankly, it's the deal I'd have extracted. Apple do love the closed ecosystem, don't they? They've never been about trying to compete out in the wild.
The closest they came was the iPod.....which was also Mac-only when first introduced. My theory is that they were Mac-only to work all the bugs out -- Apple users being extraodinarily patient about such things.
But once Apple was ready for the big money, they made it work for Windows.
The driving factor this time is the enterprise. iPhone is completely locked out of any meaningful sales into the business world. It simply can't happen until iPhone supports the Microsoft Exchange Server. If you've ever worked in an enterprise-scale company, you know how critical this is - Exchange is the on MS product that is inarguably a thing of beauty. One of the highlights of my work day was just logging in -- seriously, a thing of beauty.
Even if you think it's ugly, Apple's weak, weak support for the literal backbone of world business, government, the military and more is why the platform is going to remain marginal for the forseeable future. Support the API, and Apple blows past Dell, HP and the others as far as they want to.
BTW, this is NOT a Mac/MS thing. The issue is solely whether Apple CHOOSES to provide meaningful support for Exchange server, just as the Palm OS and RIM (Blackberry) OSes have.
That's why I think iPhone's first target is Blackberry, whose seamless support for the MS Exchange Server has made it such a major player. In fact, I worked at a large, worldwide company that passed out Blackberries with ID badges and laptops. It was part of the package. Palm, OTOH, has been dead for years except as incorporated into the Treo phone...still a weak, weak competitor to Blackberry.
I'm not sure that Apple has much interest in going after the business desktop/laptop market, at least not enough to win. As much as I've poked at them over the years, I'd still love to see them do it. But with iPod already 70% of revenue, and iPhone and its rumored 50% margin, why bother? I think they could make crazy money, but what the heck do I know?
BTW, I believe the 50% margin number. Apple has done it before, with the Apple II.
Anyway, I'll be shocked if they don't go in for the kill re; Blackberry. Talk about low-hanging fruit...IF Apple decides they want to grab it.
All very very good points...
Don't forget that Nokia has jumped into the ring.
I agree with you, Tim. This iPhone thing is going too far. I guess I'm a little old fashioned but why do you really need a phone like this... to get connected or to get more disconnected from the world.
Just look at it. Apple is smart. There is no way on God's green Earth that Apple is going to be able to compete with Microsoft and the PC market, so Apple is trying to reinvent the electronics world. Smart.
If the business world would just sit back and really take a look at what Apple has to offer and how easy it is to operate. Wow! Steve Jobs could be a much wealthier man than Bill Gates.
It literally takes hours to get a new PC up and running on a business network. The Apple systems we use at my work only took minutes to do the same thing with similar software to do the same jobs. I have Microsoft Office on may Mac and email is exactly the same as it is on the PC (friendlier, of course).
Believe me when I say this... I'm a PC guy who has fallen in love with Macs. They are so much easier to work with.
As for the iPhone and their competition... Get'em Apple!
We are a reluctant cross-platform shop...
As you point out, Wayne: Apple is a masterful company at making things dumbed down and simple. So much so that the same job functions that take far greater expenditures in time and effort are far easier in the Mac World.
Now with the iPhone, they are doing the same thing.
We tried to use Nokias to surf the Net. No go, nada, nine, nope. What a hassle. It took so much effort that it was simply easier to haul around a laptop and do things that way. So we did. I would have much preferred to use a phone but it just was not going to work in any real tenable way, and so we opted out of the contract and took the early termination penalty.
But from what I have seen of the iPhone, it looks like it really could do the kinds of tasks that webmasters have to do; things which are outside the purview of the cell phones that are sold in North America. I know that Japan and Europe -- for two areas of the world -- have phones that we can't get here and which appear to do far more than we have access to. But the iPhone with its touch-screen interface, is a huge jump forward and if it really could help us leave these laptops at home -- wahoo!
For me, it's not so much about the kind of "disconnect" that you refer to, as it is about simplifying our workday and making tasks simpler and less time intensive.
Now, I just hope that Kim Hill is right and that I don't have to sell blood to pay for an account.
Best,
Ron Lindeboom
iPhone data plan not expensive...
"Now, I just hope that Kim Hill is right and that I don't have to sell blood to pay for an account."
Ron, check out AT&T's rate plans for the iPhone. No blood required. Even in San Luis Obispo...
Kim Hill says: "No blood..."
Kim Hill says: "No blood required. Even in San Luis Obispo..."
That's comforting, as I am a pint low and need an overhaul and a tune-up. It's not the years, it's the mileage as me dear ole sainted Dad always says.
Thanks, Kim.
Ron Lindeboom