Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Are you gonna get an iPhone?

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-05-2007, 12:35 PM:

According to Billboard, the Apple iPhone will be available at retail on June 29.

Do ya want one? Are you gonna get one?

I don't have a cellphone at all right now so I guess I won't be getting one.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-05-2007, 12:37 PM:

What is the problem with Apple and their stupid i naming???

And what is an iphone and why would I possibly want one?

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 06-05-2007, 01:05 PM:

Yeah, those IMac and Beatle guys should figure out how to market themselves before they slip into obscurity.... [Wink]

About five years ago I was talking to a VC (venture capitalist) who told me the future was in the integration of electronic do-dads. The IPhone is just one more step on the way to the future. (One of the unintended consequences of cell phones is the reduced sale of watches by almost 40% in the US alone. Why would a kid with a cell phone ever need a watch?)

But to answer Mike's question, I don't plan on getting one yet, or even for a while. At least not at $400-600. I'll let the kids de-bug it for a couple of years before I jump.

Steve Jobs has his eye out on making the cell phone obsolete. If you have a tool that's about the size of a cell phone that hooks to the internet with a web browser, takes and stores pictures, loads and plays music, receives and sends emails, tells the time and probably will do a lot more in the future, what do you need your Nokia or Motorola for?

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 06-05-2007, 03:07 PM:

I have been wondering for years why Nokia or RIM haven't sold a phone identical to the Apple, not Linksys, iPhone. One of the senior engineers at RIM actually told me I was nuts when I bugged him about it in the spring of 2002.

I'd consider buying one if they release a CDMA version. I'll probably wait for the iPhone nano though. Yes, there will be an iPhone nano, there will.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 06-05-2007, 03:37 PM:

Hell no will I buy one of those.

Firstly, Apple's marketing this as being a "smart phone" despite the fact that it's gotta be about the only smart phone on the market where you CAN'T install your own software. In fact, that was one of the selling points of most smart phones: the ability to use their stuff along with putting on other stuff of your choosing.

So Apple will be one of the most expensive smart phones out there and functionally beaten by the others on the market.

Secondly, I'd beat the shit out of that touchscreen. I tend to put my wireless phone in my pocket which would simply kill that screen in a day.

And thirdly, I simply don't have $600 to spend on a phone, especially when that's the price WITH a 2-year service agreement.

So until they are cheaper, add functionality to install stuff of my choosing (or when it gets hacked; it'll happen), and they come up with a design with a simple screen cover (if I spend $600 I shouldn't have to buy that as an accessory) I will steer clear of them.

Though I wonder what will come of the lawsuit from Cisco. iPhone is a trademark of their's. In fact, the trademark predates the iMac.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 06-05-2007, 04:09 PM:

quote: Chris Slycord
Though I wonder what will come of the lawsuit from Cisco. iPhone is a trademark of their's. In fact, the trademark predates the iMac.

That was settled long ago.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 06-05-2007, 04:28 PM:

This is clearly being marketed for the style/design/fashion kudos rather than functionality or versatility. Like the ipod, my guess is that this thing is deliberately being marketed at non-techie types, for whom locked down configurations and not being able to install additional software (translation: the thing is idiotproof) is a blessing rather than a curse. The Ipod still sells well, despite there being cheaper, more versatile and higher capacity rivals on the market. I guess the same thing will happen here: people who want trendy, consumer-friendly technology will buy it. Those who want power, versatility and functionality and are prepared to sacrifice snob value and user-friendliness will go for an alternative smartphone.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-05-2007, 05:15 PM:

Me? Spend $600 on a mobile phone? Nah.

There's too many other things I want or need to buy that I feel are far more important than some touch screen cellular phone. My truck needs new tires. I just spent $600 on a Adobe CS3 software suite upgrade. I'm trying to set aside some money for the eventual purchase of a good quality HDTV. On top of that, I need to get crowns on three teeth. That's going to be damned expensive.

The only way I'm going to be hauling around a iPhone anytime soon is if Cingular/AT&T gives me one for free.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 06-05-2007, 05:44 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I don't have a cellphone at all right now so I guess I won't be getting one.

Do they actually have cell phones in Montana?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-05-2007, 06:19 PM:

Oh yes, they're just as ridiculous here as they are in California. [Roll Eyes]

Of course many Montana residents these days are former Californians so it figures.

quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Yes, there will be an iPhone nano, there will.

I'll wait for the iPhone Shuffle, where it calls your friends at random.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 06-05-2007, 06:50 PM:

That feature will be available with the iPhone nano and a case of beer.

Posted by Kyle McEachern (Member # 2250) on 06-05-2007, 07:07 PM:

quote: Daryl
I'd consider buying one if they release a CDMA version.

The exclusivity contract with AT&T that Apple has is for some ungodly period of time like 5-7 years. CDMA iPhone ain't happenin.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-05-2007, 07:10 PM:

I dislike the concept of cell phones and refuse to get one.

That said, I might actually re-consider my position if anyone ever makes one with sound quality at least as good as I get with a 50-year-old Western Electric 500 set.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-05-2007, 07:35 PM:

I too dislike the things and went cell-less until just this last month. The airline I work for requires me to have a cell so I finally had to come over to the dark side. The company recommended I go with what was Cingular so quad-band GSM is the way I went - at least I can use it (with local SIM cards) when I start traveling overseas again (everywhere except Japan dammit!). The phone itself is a Moto KRZR, a $300 phone which cost me all of $10 when I signed up for the service.

iPhone for me? Not a chance.

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 06-05-2007, 07:43 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I'll wait for the iPhone Shuffle, where it calls your friends at random.

Brilliant! [Big Grin]

Posted by Joel N. Weber II (Member # 3530) on 06-05-2007, 07:45 PM:

But Scott, does your local CO have analog trunking to other COs to properly duplicate the telephony experience of 50 years ago? [Big Grin]

Leo, I think the term ``user-friendly'' is somewhat imprecise.

There can be a tradeoff between learning curve, and the efficiency once you have climbed that learning curve.

It baffles me to see the large number of years of schooling most people in our society consider appropriate, vs the amount of time most people are willing to spend learning to use a computer.

The emacs text editor is certainly not a low learning curve piece of software, but I find it a lot friendlier for certain operations than dumbed-down editors that lack the features to let my fingers type concise commands to make the edits I'm making.

That said, there are times when software that's easy to learn is the right solution, and there are also plenty of pieces of software which don't work well for any group of users. (I was trying to go to a URL listed in a PDF file earlier today, and it wasn't set up as a hyperlink, nor did dragging the mouse across the URL highlight it. A coworker was able to find some obscure option to be able to highlight the text and copy it, but I don't think the difficulty I encountered benefitted anyone.)

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-05-2007, 08:04 PM:

i WOULD NEVER CONSIDER iT SiNCE AT&T iS THE SOLE PROViDER. AT&T(CiNGULAR) HAS THE LOUSiEST SERViCE iN THE NATiON! WHEN MY CONTRACT WiTH THEM EXPiRES i WILL GO WiTH A DiFFERENT PROViDER..... Then my cell service can get back to normal.

Mark

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 06-05-2007, 08:10 PM:

quote: Joel N. Weber II
The emacs text editor is certainly not a low learning curve piece of software, but I find it a lot friendlier for certain operations than dumbed-down editors that lack the features to let my fingers type concise commands to make the edits I'm making.

As most people who've used emacs say "EMACS is a good OS. The only thing it lacks is a decent text-editor."

What that means is:
EMACS = bloatware

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-05-2007, 08:15 PM:

My local CO (BSTNMABEDS2) has a 5ESS and sound quality on my home line is way, way better than anything I have ever heard on a digital cell phone. Which just goes to show how pathetic the cell phone carriers (all of them) are. (Actually, the same office also has a DMS100, serving a handful of exchanges, not including mine.)

Agreed that emacs is bloatware. I understand why the coders love it, but I'm perfectly content with vi for everyday editing needs.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 06-05-2007, 08:55 PM:

I don't mind cell phones. Alltel has been very good to me. Like a lot of people my age I don't even have a landline, just my cell.

That being said-I have a cell phone so I can talk to people. Not so I can take pictures, surf the web, play music, or any of the other bs that phones do these days. My current phone may not be 'cool' but it works for what I use it for-making and recieving calls. That's all I need. $600? You're out of your mind Steve Jobs if you think I'm paying that for a damn phone.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-08-2007, 02:21 AM:

I dumped my celphone service to those 'gas' phones like Tracfone..no 2yr contracts, credit cheks and no age limit.

www.tracfone.com

It's an easy way to budget your income and it puts more responsibility on celphone usage knowing that, like a car, you run out of gas, you gotta fill it up to use it.

(Maybe, this is what Mark should look into if he's having probs with the Cingular/AT&T service since that is the provider that I dumped for the Tracfone...and what's great about Tracfone is that you can "port" your old cel number to your Tracfone. This way, your contacts that has your number don't need to be contacted with a new cel number...)

Posted by Joel N. Weber II (Member # 3530) on 06-08-2007, 11:41 PM:

Last I checked, most of the big cell carriers also offer prepaid service if you go looking on their website. Some carriers offer much more affordable service than others.

The salespeople in brick and mortar stores who are after a commission are unlikely to be found pushing the prepaid service, though.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 06-09-2007, 12:12 AM:

Yup, after taking over my brothers Tmobile account for 6 months I switched over to the prepaid account, which is $100 for 1000 minutes. These cards are good for 1 year, and is equal to 10 cents a minute. Since they offer 1500 minutes service for 40 bucks a month and after roughly $10 taxes that's like 50 bucks a month total, that's $600 a year for your contract service. That would be 6 cards you could purchase to equal the service, or 6000 minutes which is 500 minutes a month roughly. Depending on your usage, the prepaid service may be the way to go, if you use it for emergencies only or to say "I'm running late" etc... stuff like that. One good thing about Tmobiles prepaid service is that they do not charge $1 (or 10 minutes in time) if you use the phone. For instance, on Verizon, if you use the phone 5 minutes on Monday, you get 15 minutes deducted from your time. If you dont use it tuesday, no time is deducted.

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 06-09-2007, 02:28 AM:

I'm surprised they didn't spell it iFone to make it more 'hip' [Roll Eyes]

I don't even own an iPod!

Posted by Joel N. Weber II (Member # 3530) on 06-09-2007, 10:34 AM:

When I was looking at Verizon's fine print back in Jan/Feb of this year, I got the impression that their prepaid plan always charges $1/day regardless of whether you used it that day.

T-mobile appeared to have slightly better rates on prepaid service than Cingular back in Jan/Feb, but the thing I missed is that it appears that Cingular would have probably let me recieve some text messages ``for free'', whereas I think T-mobile charges me for each message.

Even with a 20 minute conversation a month and not being overly careful about how many automatic text messages the computers send me, plus other random small usage, it looks like I've used up just over 1/4 of that $100 in just over 1/3 of that year. However, I do usually make a point of finding a landline phone when I'm having a long conversation.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-09-2007, 01:06 PM:

Verizon's one of those services that I can't stand. Our company uses Verizon for their celphonce service and I've had more dropped calls with Verizon than when we had NEXtel before.

Only reason that we went with Verizon is that a couple of the office people had Verizon for their personal cels and the rest of us used the NEXtels. But one mgr on the NEXtel was talking to her fam all the time (whom had Verizon) and she rattled up megaminutes and excessive celphone bills.

SO, to please that one mgr, the rest of us had to switch over to Verizon to get in this so-called "family plan", but also took a large bite in reduction in our monthly peak minutes.

Also, in my favor, is that I get most of the minutes okeyed due to being business calls with rare personal calls..

Luckilly,I don't have to pay for their service which is the only thing nice about it.

...so retarded....

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 06-09-2007, 01:25 PM:

Joel, yeah Tmobile does charge 1 minute each for a text message sent and received. I kind of wish they had an add on package for text messages.

Posted by David Graves (Member # 4069) on 06-09-2007, 01:35 PM:

I'll pick up an iPhone in another year or two. Right now, there are too many problems

-Too expensive- it's guaranteed there'll be deals from AT&T once the hype dies. But $600? Please.

-More storage space- to replace my iPod I'm going to need more than 8 gigs, sad to say. It's all flash, so right now they could do 32GB- that'd work.

-Needs to be full 3G- right now there are phones that take advantage of AT&T's high speed network, but the iPhone only uses EDGE, which is painfully slow for browsing. Supposedly the phone automatically finds open wi-fi and clicks over to that for web browsing when possible- but isn't that 9 out of 10 times going to mean you're stealing someone's unsecured wi-fi (their fault, for sure, but still...)

-Needs to include GPS- $400 to replace my cell, my iPod, and a full GPS unit is something to consider.

-Needs to be open for people to make new programs. I hear they're actually doing this, I hope it's true.

I use a Windows Mobile Smartphone right now, and there's nothing smart about it. It's buggy, the programs are insanely expensive and don't work, and it crashes all the time. I welcome Apple to the game (I long ago switched from PC to Apple and I don't regret it), but they'll have to represent a bit better before I plunk down $400-500.

Posted by Patrick Dunn (Member # 3333) on 07-20-2007, 05:24 PM:

I bought the Iphone, I think it's awesome, even though it was $600. I also got unlimited text and internet use for $40 a month. I heard that when they are going to be releasing upgrades through Itunes to add more features to them.

Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 07-20-2007, 09:58 PM:

Not me. No phone is worth that much dough. My neighbor has one and HATES it.

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 07-21-2007, 07:53 AM:

quote:
Are you gonna get an iPhone?

No. (Well you did ask.)

Posted by Patrick Dunn (Member # 3333) on 07-21-2007, 01:25 PM:

Am I the only person on Film- Tech with an iPhone?

(This message posted from my iphone.)

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-21-2007, 01:32 PM:

quote: Patrick Dunn
Am I the only person on Film- Tech with an iPhone?

Hopefully!

Mark

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 07-22-2007, 11:52 AM:

HELL NO I don't want one of those clunky, over priced things.

For many years the cell phone makers have been trying to see how small they could make a cell phone, now for some strange reason they are trying to see how big they can make them. DUMB! Everyone that I know that has gotten one of the big clunky type cell phone etc things has also lost it, and had to buy another one. It is too big and clunky to carry on you, so you must put it down somewhere, then poof! it's gone.

Another problem with trying to put too many things into one box, if something goes wrong with one part of it, you lose everything else as well.

The reasons that I have never bought an ipod are that the thing is way over priced, and they don't give you anything with it (not even a charger), and I don't like the games they play with making it very restrictive, and hard to use, in the name of corporate profits for the record companies. The iphone(y) sounds like the same sort of thing.

I was in Lenox mall the day after that iphoney thing came out, and had to laff at all the brain washed fools standing in line for one of those stupid things. Have fun paying the monthly fees for all the useless crap on it.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-22-2007, 12:48 PM:

My daughter told me you have to send the phone in to get the battery changed... something like $80 or so????

If true, that'd do it for me.

Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 07-22-2007, 01:00 PM:

You could try to blend it.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 07-22-2007, 02:33 PM:

No IPhone for me, no way.

Yep, I read you had to send the phone in to get the battery changed. $80.00

I've had Verizon service for years and never had an ounce of problems with them. YMMV.

I will have service where family members who use other providers don't.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 07-23-2007, 09:05 AM:

quote: Bruce Hansen
For many years the cell phone makers have been trying to see how small they could make a cell phone, now for some strange reason they are trying to see how big they can make them.

The reason for this is simple. When Cell phones were simply phones the race was on to make them smaller. Motorola had prototyped a wrist watch phone. The problem is that now people want to text (which I'll never understand), take pictures, surft the web, etc. on their phone. To accomplish this they need bigger screens. The phones are getting bigger because they need bigger screens (and in some cases full keypads).

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 07-23-2007, 10:52 AM:

quote: Bruce
I was in Lenox mall the day after that iphoney thing came out, and had to laff at all the brain washed fools standing in line for one of those stupid things. Have fun paying the monthly fees for all the useless crap on it.

There's no extra fees other than the monthly service contract with Cingular, and if you dont have a cell phone service and are looking for one, the iphone offers some really cool features. One thing that may be a legimate laugh is the guys who already have a contract with say Tmobile, who bought the iphone, and now have to pay the penalty to end their contract with Tmobile and switch over to Cinegular. Ouch.

Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 07-23-2007, 11:00 AM:

There is no way in hell that I would get an iPhone. There is no amount of stuff in that phone that would convince me to buy one. I'm happy with what I have, which is simple and basic. I figure that I buy only what I need and don't need those extra stuff. Besides, in my opinion, it's way to overrated and hyped.

Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 07-23-2007, 11:12 AM:

When my 3310 dies, I might consider buying an answering machine...

Honestly, I just want to be able to make calls, message and be woken up in the morning, everything else is just expensive icing on the debt cake. Nice but unnecessary. Plus the more expensive the phone is, the quicker it gets lost/broken/stolen.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-23-2007, 02:37 PM:

We used to sell cellphones at the store where I work in the daytime. I am SO glad we're out of that business. I got so sick of phones going obsolete so fast, and everytime a new one came out, along with it we had to buy the adaptors, cases, batteries, etc and simultaneously eat all the obsolete inventory from the "discontinued" models. We still have extra crap sitting around from the early Motorola flip-phone days.

I used to think that a company would probably do quite well by coming out with a phone that just makes phone calls and does nothing else...but I think the truth is, most of the cellphone companies' profits are in the extras like texting, voicemail, internet and all the other extra stuff.

I once complained to our regional rep (Cellular One at the time) about the poor signal in this area....I said, "Why don't you forget about the ringtones and the games, and put some money in to improving the signal?" and he said, "Because we make a hell of a lot of money from games and ringtones."

As always, follow the money.

Posted by Tim Rectanus (Member # 3282) on 07-23-2007, 02:55 PM:

I never considered buying an iPhone but as a AT&T/Cingular customer with a Samsung Blackjack, I have to admit that I have a serious case of "Plan Envy" for these things. $40-$50 a month for what I pay double for on the same network, Bollocks! 40 bucks difference over a year is $480 in monthly costs, pretty close to the $500-$600 purchase price for the iPhone which I have to say, has me thinking about it. But at the moment, no I will not be getting an iPhone.

I think the more directed question would be, If you were potentially in the market for a smartphone, would you buy an iPhone?

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 07-24-2007, 05:23 PM:

I picked up a Samsung u740. I got a 1GB micro SD card with it. It plays music. It calls people. It has a full QWERTY pad for texting. It flips open two ways. It's fancy. It was a fifth the price of the Iphone. I can change the battery at will.

I downloaded Monopoly and SimCity!

If Iphone is so special, it will still be around, and better, in three years. Cheaper, too. When it comes to fancy newfangled popular gizmos, I'm fine just waiting it, seeing what competition does. Wait for people to complain about crap and have them fix it.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-24-2007, 05:35 PM:

Here's a little news on Apple today:
Bloomberg News Article

quote: Bloomberg.com
Apple slumped $8.81, or 6.1 percent, to $134.89, its biggest drop since January. Activations of the company's new iPhone by AT&T Inc. in the first two days of shipment are a ``disappointment relative to Street thinking,'' said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Demand for the iPhone has had a ``significant decline'' in the past 10 days, according to CIBC World Markets. ``Among the stores we visited, most visitors were not looking at the device, and only a very small subset bought it,'' wrote CIBC analyst Ittai Kidron.

IMHO, I think the sales pattern is similar to that of Sony's Playstation 3. The company introduced a new product at a higher than normal price point at a time when the American marketplace really may not be very receptive to that (high fuel prices, credit markets in trouble, the housing market in a serious slump, etc.).

Overall, the iPhone just doesn't seem like a very good value. Who gives a fart if you can watch a YouTube video of a dog riding a skateboard on it? Why pay $600 for that entertainment when you can boot up a regular computer and watch the same clip for far less?

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-02-2007, 04:29 AM:

quote: Paul Konen
You could try to blend it.

I wonder if they make a 24V d.c. version of their blender? If so, I want one. I could hook it up the the battery on the bus, and blend all the 'phones of my fellow 'passengers' on the way home who insist on playing 'Gangsta Rap' type music all through the journey. I don't inflict my music on them, and I wish they wouldn't inflict theirs on me.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 08-13-2007, 06:22 PM:

I love my cell phone and my cell phone loves me. So no i phone
for me. [Big Grin]

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-13-2007, 06:47 PM:

No iphone, no more fiip phones either. Had 3 different brands of flips and after about 3 years the cases of all three fell apart at the hinge and dumped the innards on the ground. I'm pretty hard on these things and the flip phones are just too fragile.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 08-17-2007, 12:09 AM:

I can understand that the iPhone is not for everyone, and I'm not here to convince anyone otherwise. But look what I can do.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-17-2007, 12:12 AM:

Awww, don't do that! Now Brad will make me resize the graphics to fit on the iPhone browser! [Wink]

However they look like they fit fairly well, actually.

I am a bit curious why the top of the browser takes up 1/4th of the screen, though. Show a picture of the Esquire IMAX video playing full screen.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 08-17-2007, 12:50 AM:

Done.

Tap once to bring up the video controls

Double-Tap to view in original aspect ratio, like Joe intended.

The browser status bar can easily be flicked out of the way

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-17-2007, 04:13 AM:

Hilarious look at the iphone

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-17-2007, 05:15 AM:

Great. Now Brad has formatted the site for the iPhone. Look what you did! Whatever you do, don't show a pic of your old 1982 PC running at 320x200 in CGA! [Wink]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-25-2007, 08:21 AM:

If you're feeling seriously geeky and know where to poke your soldering iron, you can now unlock your iPhone!

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-26-2007, 10:18 PM:

Gotta love that kid....17yr old and he's bringing down Apple AND AT&T! Talk about shoving a hot pocker up the establishment's ass!! Hot damn!

And no, I wouldn't by anything that encourages people to watch movies on a 3 inch screen....just another way to make movies some little worthless piece of crap no different than some You Tube [dlp]

Anyway, who can see anything on that postage stamp screen without a magnifying glass? -- only the youth, I suppose, who instead should be out GETTING IT, like we were when we were that age. [beer]

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-27-2007, 03:33 AM:

quote:
If you're feeling seriously geeky and know where to poke your soldering iron, you can now unlock your iPhone!

Or if you're geeky and don't feel like soldering, you apparently can unlock your iphone with a software hack. You'll just have to wait for it to be available.

Linky

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-06-2007, 06:04 PM:

So now they've dropped the price to $399 for the 8-gig model and discontinued the 4 gig model. Early adopters should be pissed, but since they're under the Apple "spell" they probably will not be. The thing has been out what, six weeks? I smell a ripoff.

I would advise my clients to wait about a year when they'll be giving them away for free, if I had "clients."

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 09-06-2007, 07:54 PM:

It's been out 2 months, and they also just announced they'll be giving the early adopters a $100 rebate to use in the Apple store. As with any technology the price continually drops at certain points. I'm sure they'll eventually be free, just as Motorola's Razr is now, I remember when they were first out they were like $349, now they seem to come with Cracker Jack boxes. Also, if you advise anyone to "wait", then you'll never buy anything, as there's always something new around the corner. I'm considering buying a Macbook pro for instance, and I'm holding out until October when they release their new operating system. There's already rumors that the next line of MBP will probably be updated sometime next year but that's just the way it goes. One good thing about some Apple products, like their laptops and pro desktops for instance, is that they tend to hold their value, so if you want the best and the latest, you'll likely only suffer a small difference in price to what you paid originally.

Posted by David Graves (Member # 4069) on 09-06-2007, 08:01 PM:

Agreed. The most frustrating things is that they're always going to update and do the latest and greatest. But the good news is they tend to make good- they released a new OS about a month after I bought my PowerBook. I went to an Apple Store to buy it (yes, perhaps due to the spell), and offhandedly grumbled to the clerk at checkout that I'd just bought a laptop a month ago (NOT from Apple)- and the clerk called over the manager, who heard my story and promptly send me home with a copy of the new OS- for $9.99!

I'm still using the laptop, 3.3 years later, and it's still smaller, more than fast enough (runs EVERYTHING I throw at it, including the new Final Cut and the new Photoshop), and works better than any of the FOUR Dell laptops I've gone through at work. Getting a little slow for intensive video work, and it's long out of warranty, but I'm just going to keep backing up and running til the wheels fall off or I get envious of the new features. Only problems were a glitchy HD and a glitchy DVD drive, both of which were replaced overnight by Apple for free (including a data move!).

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 09-07-2007, 01:54 PM:

But does this "quality" idea really hold true anymore? Macs now use Intel parts and essentially are just high end PCs. In fact, the Mac Pro motherboard was designed by Intel (a first for Apple, letting someone else do that work) and AFAIK now that the exclusivity deal is coming up, Intel has released a new PC MOBO that's almost identical to the one in the Pro.

So really, in the end the Mac Pro is a high-end PC, only one that doesn't support most video cards (though that's supposed to change in the new version of the Mac Pro).

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 09-07-2007, 03:26 PM:

Tom's Hardware has a new article about the latest models in the Mac Mini, iMac and Pro Pro lineup. They have lots of nice things to say about the MacOSX operating system. However, they come down pretty hard on Apple for the price of these systems in ratio of features offered.

The Mac Pro motherboard is nice in that it has dual 64-bit front side buses, which makes a tower running 2 dual core Intel CPUs faster than a quad core tower at the same clock speed but sending all the data down one front side bus. However, some PC manufacturers have similar boards on their high end dual processor systems. Other companies that build machines for gaming typically offer a greater variety of video cards and other hardware configurations (not to mention usually offering the newest hardware sooner).

Many people have been seriously wondering if Apple isn't more interested in selling iPods and iPhones instead of paying attention to its core business of selling computers.

I think there's a good chance that somewhere down the road Apple will just start selling OSX for anyone to use, regardless if they own a Mac or not.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-07-2007, 08:27 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
wondering if Apple isn't more interested in selling iPods and iPhones instead of paying attention to its core business of selling computers.

I would say "probably," because I think there's more profit in iPhones and iPods than on computers. They probably get a percentage of every phone subscription, and of course they make $ on every song download sold thru iTunes without having to stock any actual inventory.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-08-2007, 01:46 AM:

I was not interested in the iPhone because I am very happy with my brand new Nokia and my T-Mobile service I had enjoyed since 2001. All the other features on the iPhone are great and I was very happy Apple announced iPod touch that have them all except the phone and built in speakers.

-Claude

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-03-2007, 02:48 AM:

This woman thinks she's going to get a million dollars with her iPhone... [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 10-04-2007, 02:46 AM:

She claims she was cheated out of the resale value? Who buys a cellphone to resell it, and who would buy an old cellphone when someone wants to upgrade? Newsflash: EVERYTHING technological loses resale value eventually! Right?

I'm still loving my Samsung 740. Screw the Iphone.

Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 10-06-2007, 12:48 PM:

no NO [B]NO[/B....No iPhone. Just another costly electronic
piece of crap.

Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 11-02-2008, 01:06 AM:

It has been 392 days since the last post.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-02-2008, 01:06 AM:

So a year later has anyone changed their mind and gotten an iPhone? I had no interest in them until the 2.0 software came out with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, basically push-email for mobile Exchange users. I had to borrow my boss's iPhone to get ActiveSync working for our office, and along the way kind of grew attached to it. The ActiveSync feature has turned out to be the "killer app" that, once people see it, they gotta have it. Several other employees have gotten iPhones after seeing the push email work.

So I have an iPhone 3G, 16GB. It's officially the most useful "gadget" I've ever owned.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-02-2008, 01:19 AM:

I'm not sure what I'd do with one, so I am still not interested. Does it record conversations? That's the only use I could ever see... to use against people whenever it suits me best.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-02-2008, 01:25 AM:

It doesn't record audio, or videos. Both seem like strange omissions since the device is clearly capable of doing it. There are 3rd party apps to add those functions, but you have to "jailbreak" the phone to allow it to load apps that don't have some Apple cryptographic key.

One great feature the iPhone has is wi-fi. If I'm at a wifi-enabled location all day every day (which I am where I work) I can get much more solid data connections for mail and browsing. Don't have to rely on 3G all the time. Any multipurpose device like this gots to have wifi.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-02-2008, 02:26 AM:

That is incorrect. There is italk and econote which are both free. There is a pro version of econote that is like $1. There are more applications out there like this that do not require you to jailbreak your phone.

I have one and I have to agree, it was worth the money even though Steve Jobs is annoying and has to call everything "i".

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-02-2008, 02:39 AM:

quote: Brad Miller
even though Steve Jobs is annoying and has to call everything "i".

i certainly agree!... i can also align two of the Christie DLP projectors with mine... i just don't reccomend slipping up and dropping it... the front glass screen explodes nicely when impacting concrete!

Mark

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-02-2008, 10:11 AM:

I can understand why someone like Brad would need a fancy phone since he has to run a business and do lots of other nonsense, but what would a normal person do with all of those extra features? [Razz]

I just wanna make a phone call and text people to annoy them.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-02-2008, 10:24 AM:

Obviously I need to take a closer look at their iPhone apps.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 11-02-2008, 12:03 PM:

Now that android (google's open-source phone platform) is out, I have even less of a reason to be interested in an iphone. Though the only phone currently fully-supported is tmobile's G1 but that'll definitely change soon.

Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 11-02-2008, 12:23 PM:

Iphone also has a VNC application that's compatible with the 3 most popular VNC programs out there.

I've already found that app to be useful on a number of occasions.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-02-2008, 01:48 PM:

I think its the Application addition that I-phone has that'll ultimately blow the rest of the wanna bees out of the water....

Mark

Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 11-02-2008, 08:46 PM:

I thought the same thing until T-mobile released the G1. It is a touchscreen phone that is running Google's Android operating system. It's touted to be "open source, open platform" so there are no pricey SDK's or evaluation steps for software. I see the Android platform as a healthy competitor to the Iphone. Applications can be made at minimal cost, with less red tape as compared to the "App Store"

Prior to 2.0 firmware, I was running a jailbroken phone with apptapp installer (like app store, but with all unsigned code). It had many of the applications that appstore has available. The BIGGEST improvement with 2.0 was the Exchange functions. In fact, I like Apple's enterprise software better than the windows mobile platform phone I had prior.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-02-2008, 08:55 PM:

The iPhone's Exchange functionality sealed the deal for me.

Has anyone actually seen the G1? I read one review that said "Looks like it was designed by the Russian military".

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-02-2008, 08:57 PM:

No, and I was in a T-Mobile store just a week ago...

Mark

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 11-03-2008, 02:25 AM:

The guy running the other half of our booth had one. I thought it looked nice and seemed pretty responsive. And a bunch of people on a linux message board I'm on seemed to really like it. Probably didn't hurt that a lot of them also wanted to get in on the development side and write some simple and useful apps for it.

Also, you may not have seen one in the store because they might've only put them on display at stores in the metropolitan areas that tmobile already has a 3G network.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-03-2008, 09:04 AM:

How much does it cost to own an iPhone (not including the original purchase price)? I am with THE NEW AT&T (they are so damn new it is mind-boggling). Would I be able to continue the path of newness that is AT&T with an iPhone?

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-03-2008, 09:18 AM:

I have the least-expensive plan which is $70/mo. There's little or no text messaging included (I hate texting) but it has like 400 minutes of talk time and unlimited data.

Note that if you are in the middle of your current AT&T contract (as I was) you may not be eligible for the upgrade price on the iPhone. [Mad]

You can find out here if you're eligible for the upgrade price. If you're not, add $200.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-03-2008, 09:51 AM:

Jesus in a cumdumpster, that is expensive! That's more than my ISP.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-03-2008, 12:48 PM:

I partially justified it by dumping my landline, am porting that number over to the iPhone. That saves me ~$20/mo.