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iPhone 3G: An AT&T Monopoly

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by boulder_bum, Jul 10, 2008.

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  1. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    So you hear all this talk about the iPhone 3G actually costing more over the life of the phone due to the increased rates over the original iPhone, and that has people pissed, but I actually didn't think it was that big of a deal.

    Time went on, however, and I learned that since I was only an AT&T customer for six months, I'm actually going to have to pay full price for the iPhone. "Okay", I thought to myself, "...that seems fair enough since they subsidized the first phone, which was free and something I could sell for $200 anyway".

    Pricing, details started to emerge, however, and I ended up discovering that not only would I pay more for the data plan and not get a discount on the phone, but I'd have to sign up for another two years just for the privilage of owning a new iPhone. Huh?!? Wth?!? All AT&T is doing is selling me a phone for an unsubsidized price. They don't have that stipulation on other phones.

    "At least the iPhone 3G will be able to access my company's Exchange server", I consoled myself. That was one of the biggest selling points of the phone at Apple's latest keynote, after all! Well, it turns out that in order to access an Exchange server, AT&T wants you to pay another $15 a month!!!

    My blood is boiling now! No other phone company, including AT&T charges extra to access corporate email servers for any other phone!!!

    To top it all off, you don't even get any text messages with the data plan, and it costs you another $5 a month for that!

    Now, I'm buying the phone anyway (I already sold my other phone in anticipation) because I'm eager for a smart phone that works superbly and doubles as a video iPod, but I really had to sit back and ponder how horrible a company AT&T is.

    I don't think anyone likes their data rates and their nickle-and-diming for featues that should be included in the first place (Exchange capabilities, text messaging), but a lot of people are going to grin and bear it. Why? Because AT&T has a monopoly on the device. Wikipedia says it well with their definition of a monopoly:

    Now, I know they'll never be brought to trial for it because you can just go to another company and buy a different phone, but this is a very special phone that many consider not to have a good "viable substitute" and AT&T is fleecing us for it. They know there's no alternative so they're behaving in ways that anti-trust laws are designed to prevent!

    Then again, AT&T was never one to care about being a monopoly.

    I tell ya, I never had a reason to be angry at AT&T before, but now I'm hoping for an iPhone from another carrier so I can jump ship as soon as my AT&T contract expires.
     
    #1 boulder_bum, Jul 10, 2008
  2. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    #2 boulder_bum, Jul 10, 2008
  3. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

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    blah blah, my niece who is 12yrs old, really wants an iPhone so i made a deal with her, she stands in line fri morning and picks up a 16gb in white for me, then i give her my 1st gen 8gb iPhone in return

    man i cant wait!!!
     
    #3 KandyRedCoi, Jul 10, 2008
  4. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    How much would you have had to pay to get out of your contract, and come back as a new customer?

    Thankfully, I am currently eligible for an upgrade so I get the same price as a new customer.

    Our company's IT department speculates that those without an Enterprise data plan will not be prevented from talking to an Exchange server. It may be a violation of your contract with AT&T though. We'll find out for sure on Friday.
     
    #4 priusenvy, Jul 10, 2008
  5. ceric

    ceric New Member

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    I don't see anyone holding a gun to your head to buy it. :cool:

    Apple is simply a creative company with superb marketing people.
    Their control over their own OS does help a lot.
     
    #5 ceric, Jul 10, 2008
  6. Tchou

    Tchou Member

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    Or you just upgrade original iPhone to software version 2.0 you'll also gain the exchange capacity... (but not in 3G...)
     
    #6 Tchou, Jul 10, 2008
  7. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    About $150 (I checked), but I'd lose my cell number and I realized that to add a line requires a $40 activation fee, so minus the $20 upgrade fee (I forgot to mention that in my rant), I'd end up saving about $30. It's probably not worth the hassle.

    Everything I've seen so far indicates otherwise, but I sure hope you're right! A part of me hopes that the only limitation is not being able to use direct push or something like that (which I usually turn off anyway to conserve battery life).

    Unfortunately for me, I don't have the original iPhone (my old phone was an HTC 8525). I thought about picking one up on EBay on the cheap, but, ironically, they're still selling for $500 or so there.
     
    #7 boulder_bum, Jul 10, 2008
  8. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    You know what the iPhone really needs? Fins. Great big fins, like a 1950's Caddy.
     
    #8 Stev0, Jul 10, 2008
  9. Wildkow

    Wildkow New Member

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    Instead of paying the retail $499 you can buy the iPhone for $199 or $299 with two year contract and then cancel it the next day or keep it for a month since you probably paid the first month anyway then pay the $150 penalty and save $50-$150 dollars. Then take the old sim out of your present phone and slip it into your new iPhone 3G. Viola! You could also wait a little while until some intrepid soul figures out how to unlock it for other phone companies. Good luck, I have to wait until Sept. for my contract to expire. If its true that history repeats itself then the price will have gone down a $100 by then. :p :eek:

    Wildkow
     
    #9 Wildkow, Jul 10, 2008
  10. Genoz World

    Genoz World ZEN-style living

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    THERE ARE PLENTY of people out there that have hacked into the IPHONE and have been used by many different carriers.

    I personally dont like the iphone, i like the HTC phones. i played with my friends original iphones and i dont like the lack of features. maybe the new iphone will be better, i dont know.
     
    #10 Genoz World, Jul 10, 2008
  11. boulder_bum

    boulder_bum Senior Member

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    See, I don't think there will be a massive price drop (pissed off too many people last time), but the thing that worries me is a 32 GB version coming out after I buy the 16 GB, which is a very real possibility. 16 GB isn't much space if you're talking about video.

    Anyhow, thanks for the brainstorming, however the reason it's "only" $150 to end my contract early is because I've been a customer for about six month. Since they make you sign a new contract, the cancellation fee would be closer to $200, which is the amount of the subsidy unfortunately. :-(

    An unlocked iPhone will run you about $500 and AT&T is taking precautions to make sure the new iPhone won't be unlocked as easily (making you activate in the store, bricking the phone with software updates if there's something fishy). The thought crossed my mind, though.

    My previous phone was an HTC. I think it's pretty good hardware, but I thought Windows Mobile was pretty unstable/slow.

    I think where the iPhone really shines against HTC phones is in its media playback capabilities (the thing is basically a widescreen video iPod) and web browser, which is better than anything out there.

    The iPhone also picked up better battery life, email integration, an app store, GPS, call quality and security features, but it still lacks a few basics like a video camera, MMS capabilities, and voice commands.
     
    #11 boulder_bum, Jul 10, 2008
  12. chinalfr2

    chinalfr2 Member

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    Don't anyone learn any lesson here? First, you paid $499 iphone as an early adopter. Then, the price dropped. A lot of people got burned. Apple issue $100 certificate to early iphone adopter. Apple also promised no 3G on iphone. Less than a year, new 3G iphone arrived. With 2 years contract, ATT users cannot break the contract and switch to the new 3g iphone. If anyone really want the hype of 3g iphone, you will have to dig/shell out more money, both phone and cell phone plan. What's next?

    At the end, you as a consumer got screw by big corporate like ATT and Apple.
     
    #12 chinalfr2, Jul 10, 2008
  13. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    Just wait.

    People complained the first iPhone didn't have 3G. Now it does.

    People are still complaining about it being locked to AT&T and they'll complain even louder now that AT&T is soaking them for every piddly thing.

    Eventually the iPhone will not be tied to AT&T either. But for now it is. And AT&T can soak you for everything it thinks it can get away with. Including charging monthly for web, charging extra for text messaging, charging extra for every little, diddly thing it thinks it can get away with.

    Sorta like the airlines.

    I don't need any of that stuff. So I don't own an iPhone. When it's no longer tied to AT&T, I might reconsider. The only reason I have any cell phone at all is that my Mother insisted I have one before my Dad had back surgery. She bought me a cheap Tracphone that doesn't really do anything. It runs off minutes bought from a card. I keep it plugged into the car and OFF. I think there's over 170 min. on it. Shows how much I need a cell phone.
     
    #13 Godiva, Jul 10, 2008
  14. mojo

    mojo Senior Member

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    The first reviews are out and apparently battery life doesnt quite live up to what specs are.
    They said it doesnt always last an entire work day.
    Im getting an external AA battery,or lithium and or solar charger on Ebay.(They have a lithium which gives 32 hrs of video on a charge.)
     
    #14 mojo, Jul 10, 2008
  15. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    I hope the OS you're referring to is the OS of the phone and not OSX which is based on the FreeBSD operating system as they dumped their "own OS" with the end of 9.x

    Mike
     
    #15 mingoglia, Jul 10, 2008
  16. omgitsroy326

    omgitsroy326 New Member

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    Sprint Sero...

    30 bucks a month
    includes 500 minutes (you can upgrade minutes 1200 i think for 49 a month and more for higher minutes, but 500 is enough for me)
    nights and weekends starting at 7pm
    unlimited text, picture messaging
    unlimited internet
    i believe free roaming

    my total bill after gov tax and etc comes out to be around $35.... I saw this deal and trashed the over priced Iphone... and with the Palm's Centro...

    Iphone is a very very nice phone... but paying close to 75 bucks a month for it wasn't worth it...
     
    #16 omgitsroy326, Jul 10, 2008
  17. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    There's nothing incorrect in the post you responded to.

    A big piece of Mac OS X may be based on FreeBSD, but Apple maintains their version separately, so they really do "control" it. You can even download the sources and run the basic OS on your own PC. It won't make your PC a Mac, but you will be running the same base OS.

    Apple - Darwin - Releases
     
    #17 priusenvy, Jul 10, 2008
  18. kjconrad

    kjconrad Junior Member

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    I hear all these reports about how the iPhone 3g actually costs more than the original iPhone because of the price difference of the plan... Do people really have to stretch that far to slam the iPhone? The 3G is on the 3G network, while the original was edge only... it's a better service of course it's going to cost more!

    Lets be fair and start slamming cable and dsl companies for being so much more expensive than dial up providers! Or frankly any service that charges more money for better services!! HOW DARE THEY!!
     
    #18 kjconrad, Jul 10, 2008
  19. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    actually, you are wrong when you say "no other company charges to access your corporate email. Verizon Wireless 5 GB BIS (blackberry internet service) is 29.99 a month... BES (blackberry enterprise service...allowed connect to a more secure email environment) is 44.99 a month...

    considering the i-phone does not have

    1) user replaceable battery
    2) expandable memory
    3) dedicated keyboard (i tried their virtual kwyboard...honestly i tried... there was just no way...

    i fail to see why anyone would bend over backwards to get one.

    *edit* as far as cancelling and the re-enrolling as a new customer... i would check on that "churn" parameters... most companies, you terminate service, contract or not, and attempt to sign up as new user later, you only reactivate your old account if done within 90 to 180 days... so you would be right back where you started from.

    and as far as AT&T treating the iphone differently, i dont see that at all... or rather i SHOULD say that i have seen the exact same thing done several times with other phones, other providers...
     
    #19 DaveinOlyWA, Jul 10, 2008
  20. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    That's different, though. There is no "3g tax" for any other phones that AT&T offers, and no other providers charge extra outside of standard data charges for their high-speed data packages. When I use my Sprint HTC Touch in an EVDO area my data usage doesn't cost me anymore than when I'm in a 1X area.

    I would love to have an iPhone due to it being one of the most advanced pieces of hardware available in the mobile phone market, but I'm way too spoiled by my 2 plans on Sprint that combine for 1250 daytime minutes, and everything else Unlimited (except Navigation, I don't need that), all for $70 total. The only thing that can come close to that on AT&T costs over $160.
     
    #20 Danny, Jul 10, 2008
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