AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

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Just Like Hitler » Blog Archive » Verizon’s “nazi-like” behavior — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:43:13 GMT

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re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

DRWAM — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:23:15 GMT

BTW, from what I've read, the new class action lawsuit is about damages from market losses due to the old backdating options scandal. From what I've read, there was no new scandal of backdating. It just seems as if some lawyers developed a plan to make more money, IMO.

Two lawyers in a bar see a beautiful woman. One says, "See that babe? I screwed her." The other lawyer says, "Oh yeah, outta what?"

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

cesjr — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:07:40 GMT

"For a featurephone like the Voyager or Dare, the price for unlimited Internet usage is $15/month. , , , Pricing is different for genuine smartphones though, but they do have various plans available." In other words, you've got NOTHIN to contradict my statement that verizon's 3g smartphone plans are in the same range as AT&

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

subzerohitman721 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:49:30 GMT

cesjr said:

subzerohitman721 -

Sprint will be lucky if they're around in 18 months -

Anyways, the Instinct's lowest cost plan is the same price as iPhone 3G ($69), and I doubt Verizon is much different for their 3G plans. I heard they were $30 per month on the 3G data, which is the same as the iPhone.

My Comments

Cesjr,

You my friend remind me of the republican propaganda station commonly known as Fox News. You did a 30 second glance at the plans, but didn't bother with the details. Details are so hard to get right isn't it? We'll let me spell out where your argument falls way short.

With the Instinct plans, you were correct that the price was $69, however you failed to mention the differences. With that $69 you get Unlimited Texting which under the AT&T plan is an addtional $20. Do the math. Thats $240 a year or $480 for two years. Again, where do I have the financial incentive to switch? The Sprint Simply Everything plan at 99.99 is still the best deal in the U.S. mobile market.

To equal what I get for 99.99, I'd have to get their unlimited plan for $129.99, plus the unlimited text which is $20 more. Thats $149.99. This isn't including taxes and fees yet. Thats an additional 50 bucks per month.

What am I missing from this AT&T plan? I get unlimited Sprint TV, which isn't currently being offered on the iPhone. On certain phones on the AT&T network offer a similar service. So I would actually lose one of the coolest features of my current phone or the Instinct. The iPhone doesn't support a TV function. The Instinct is capable of displaying live TV and radio, sending and receiving multimedia messages, voice commands and video recording capability all features not found on the iPhone. The Instinct also boasts a slightly longer lasting battery than the iPhone, which is user replaceable. iPhone doesn't support stereo audio in bluetooth, but the Instinct does.

So in the end vs the iPhone for the Simply Everything Plan bargan and a few tradeoffs, the Instinct is a value for the price they are asking. The iPhone clearly under the AT&T plan is not. Now I understand your positions with Verizon. Its one of the reasons why I did not go with the carrier. However, the term Nazi-like is definitely not appropriate. Now if you said restrictive like Apple's insistence on its own hardware for its operating system, that would have been a more accurate analogy.

Dude1313 said:

As to Apple, they have shown no compunction to open up OS X and why should they? There is nothing to stop you from installing OS X on your PC. You want OS X on your Dell/HP/Home-built rig then do it. How is Apple required to make OS X available for the PC manufacturers which is their competition despite what many who believe its Apple vs. MS (at least at the curent tim).

My comments:

Simple, Dude. Its all about marketshare. There are quite literally millions of home users, IT administrators, and other parts of the computer industry that will not pay for Apple's hardware price. What financial incentive does a major institution such as Bank of America have to pay more for a PC, when they can buy more Windows machines? And don't give me this myth about price as I've stated before. Apple desktops cost well over a grand per machine. The cheapest iMac comes in at $1199. Thats just with a core 2 duo. Lot of cheaper Windows machines are now loaded with core 2 quads. Windows-Based PC's can run a similar hardware set for well under a grand. Infact these days, the PC desktops for business are coming with more hard drive space, more memory, better processors and most importantly: Windows Vista.

Vista is still better against rootkits and Microsoft is still faster and more efficient at patching Zero Day exploits. Also with the deep ecosystem of technical support, its like comparing Toyota to Chrysler USA. The bottom line is that even with all of Apple's success, they are still stuck at 3% of the world's desktop market. Apple has yet to dent the Windows marketshare.

So Apple has a problem. They can't break out marketshare. Paul has consistently stated the current Apple marketshare. How do you do that? Its quite simple. Its called Dell, HP/Compaq, Lenovo, AMD, Acer/eMachines/Gateway, Fujitsu, and all the other PC manufactuers on the market. Its simple mathematics. Just in the sheer number of licencees by which the number sold of OSes to the mass market, Apple is hindering itself with this our machines only strategy. If Apple is to fully transition to a consumer electronics company, I believe making its own computers and charging a grand is preventing mass market adoption. Yes, Apple and its Macs are selling very well. The problem is the rest of the PC market isn't rusing out to buy Macs. Especially now that the U.S. economy is in a bear market, people will be saving their money. Macs will be the last thing on middle class American's minds, in the midst of over 4 dollar gas. Rising food, energy, materials, and other cost will eventually lead to declining sales. A major energy spike will definitely do it. Apple's stock has plummeted from its 52 week high of $202.96 to $170.12.

Also Apple is facing a lawsuit with a scheme to file false financial statements, thereby concealing millions of dollars in executive compensation though the backdating of stock option grants. This was reported by InformationWeek. This isn't the first time this has happened, this happened in 2006.

So Apple does have problems. While the Macs are selling fine, they still aren't coming close to true competition with Microsoft. The only way to do that is to go head to head. But when oil gets up to $200 a barrel, I think you'll definitely see a decline in Apple sales. So Steve Jobs has a strategic choice. Do we keep our current strategy and take a huge hit when oil spikes? Or do we do things the Microsoft way and stay in business over the long term? Being the fact that Gates just retired, I'd choose to be in Gates shoes right now.

Peace.

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

Dude1313 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:02:37 GMT

tayme said:

@cesjr - "Now, is it your position that Verizon's fascist control is good for smartphones?"

As good as it is for Apple to not allow me to install OS X on anything except Mac hardware. I want to do that...Oh, wait...your next argument is that they do that with the user experience in mind. I ask again, how do you *KNOW* that Verizon does not have that in mind as well? Do you have insight to the Verizon board and/or device selection committee that the rest of us don't?

Faulty reasoning, Apple provides a tangible product, Verizon provides a service.

As to Verizon, I find the defense of them laughable, in the northeast Verizonites (TM) makes X-box fanboys (Paul) look sane. Got news for you all. Verizon is just as bit as scummy as every other Cell Carrier and in some cases worse. Whether they are the largest is irrelevant to (as I've heard it argued here in other threads), biggest does not equal best.

For me they are too much like my cable provider. Get the hell out of my way with your "valued added services" and just provide the signal.

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

DRWAM — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:54:17 GMT

tayme, your avatar is the notorious ‘exploding head’ scene where renegade scanner Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside) makes a man’s head explode in all its gory glory, just using the powers of thought. I thought that I recognized it from the 1981 movie, that i saw years later on TV. It's always good to know where your head's at!

Here's the URL to verify:

www.virginmedia.com/.../Top-ten-gruesome-movie-moments.php

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

Dipsh t Admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:14:58 GMT

@tayme, LOL!

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

obiwan08 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:22:57 GMT

Sadly....if I was in the market for an iPhone and I still maybe, I'd LOVE to be able to pay AT&Ts prices.... if you think they are rip off artists, check out Rogers pricing!

www.rogers.com/.../iphone_voice_data_packages

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

tayme — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:44:43 GMT

@Dip - Come on...you know that is complete strawman, ad hominem, fud; don't you? Or is it a fudman, straw hominem, ad? Geez, I can't remember!!!

--tayme

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

Dipsh t Admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:01:34 GMT

"I heard they were $30 per month on the 3G data"

Verizon's pricing differs depending on usage. For a featurephone like the Voyager or Dare, the price for unlimited Internet usage is $15/month. That's a part of the VCAST VPak, which gives you the VCAST features as well. For someone that seems to know so much about how Verizon is evil, not knowing some simple details is telling.

Pricing is different for genuine smartphones though, but they do have various plans available. In any case, tethering is available as well, something that the iPhone does not offer.

Anyway, comparing Verizon to Hitler, Nazi's, or fascist regimes is really just wrongheaded. There is simply no comparison, because at the end of the day, you have a choice as to which wireless carrier you wish to use.

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

cesjr — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:04 GMT

subzerohitman721 -

Sprint will be lucky if they're around in 18 months -

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

subzerohitman721 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:08:38 GMT

Back to the subject, this is super highway rip-off service courtesy of AT&T. Any justification of the iPhone 3G just went out the window, about as fast as I dumped AT&T. What good is a state of the art phone on a super high, lacking nationwide 3G network, and now price gouging. AT&T has pretty much shot Apple in the foot with their great customer service.

Versus my Sprint Simply Everything Plan, to equal what I get for $99.99, I would have to pay an additional $50 per month on AT&T's plans. That would be $600 a year or $1,200 for a 2 year contract. What possible incentive would I have to switch? Even with Sprint's crappy customer service, their network at least in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex has never failed to give me full EV-DO data speeds and full 3G voice service. Now I think I might owe a Sprint rep an apology, as the Samsung Instinct looks more like a deal.

So much for the iPhone 3G. Perhaps Apple should rethink buying out their AT&T contract, and going with both Verizon and Sprint. I really hope consumers aren't so desperate for the phone that they consider this consumers nightmare package. There is zero justification for the phone or the plan at this juncture.

My question is this. If Steve Jobs is all about the consumer and the consumer experience, where the hell is his leadership on this?

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

RaaJ — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:48:42 GMT

cesjr.. give your incessant "innovation" babble a rest, will ya?

How do you define innovation? Who patented what innovation is? Is the fact that VCast multimedia service and VZNavigator navigation service that works on many companies' hardware in a transparent manner not innovation enough for you in mobile space? This is precisely the kind of behavior that Seidenberg objected to in his speech against the free-pass given to Apple.

But then again, what can we expect from someone who thinks Steve Jobs is THE greatest force of innovation in the industry? [This is an observation - not a personal attack.]

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

DRWAM — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:27:13 GMT

This is kind of offensive. My great grandparents were fascists. They were very nice people.

re: AT&T Announces iPhone 3G Pricing and Tips to be iReady

cesjr — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:21:26 GMT

"Again, you are back to thinking that your opinion is the *ONLY CORRECT OPINION*"

The same is true for Paul, but again no complaints from you. You make this charge selectively, when you don't like the message.

Further, this is just another form of personal attack, where instead of arguing whether I am right or wrong, you whip out a personal smear - namely, that I'm arrogant and think everyone else is wrong.

Whether I am arrogant or not is beside the point. Logically, I can both be arrogant and right.

With respect to the substance, again - few people (if anyone) seriously thinks that Verizon (or other cell carriers) fascist control of devices on their networks has been a good thing. Walt Mossberg probably explained it best. If you would like, please read:

mossblog.allthingsd.com/.../free-my-phone

If you want to think having Verizon as a gatekeeper for innovation is a good thing, go ahead. It's a free country And, yeah, I think you're wrong about that.