[bdhokie]

Let me say up front I agree the rates are steep and it makes me re-think my plan to get a 3G when available. I also wouldn't pay these rates for my wife who seldom uses data or text messaging. But - I think if you compare to other providers, it's about on par. Look at Sprint's new plans - they are more expensive and provide fewer options from a year ago.
If the phone works well in many places - a big "if" with AT&T - then I'd say we get what we pay for. Want a first class device on a faster network? It will probably cost a bit more!

[bdhokie]

I'll second that. The rates are justified if people will pay them. If they're really outrageous, AT&T and Apple won't sell many phones. But blaming AT&T for maximizing profit shows a lack of understanding of how the world works.

[wase]

Boy, I pay 59 bucks a month for 550 minutes on the Sprint Family plan...ATT is out of their minds to charge 130 bucks..plus, the second line is free with Sprint..
I understand the premium to have an Iphone, but that is just not right...

EDIT:

I forgot to add that I pay 30 dollars for unlimited data and sms with my Blackberry 8830...
Free unlimited nights and weekends

For 3 lines my total bill, with tax and everything listed above is 108 dollars..
How much would that be with ATT?
Message was edited by: wase

[mrturtle]

Does that Sprint plan come with unlimited 3G data? If so, then ATT truly is outrageous.

[louielu12]

If you remember, back when the original iPhone was announced, Apple had an easy to read chart of the plans. One part of this was the added monthly costs for current AT&T users.
I have a family plan (with 5 members in it). It has one original iPhone on it. To upgrade 3 of the other phones to iPhone 3Gs, would it be $30/month extra for each iPhone 3G, or is there something I missed? (We have the $30/month for unlimited SMS so I'm not worried about the extra $5 for 200 SMS/month).

[Mac007]

You still have SMS, it's called email.

[turnerc]

Give me a break, this pricing doesn't follow the economic laws of computing, and Apple/AT&T will realize it with diminished sales. My first Mac, bought in 1994, had a 160 MB hard drive and cost nearly $2000. Of course we get loads more computer for far less money now, and the same standard should be held for AT&T services. All the apologist dopes on here claiming AT&T has to pay for the upgrade to 3G miss the point: make it affordable, bring the people on board, and the money will roll in. Now it's become even more of a boutique item. I actually inquired about upgrading to the 3G iPhone when it was first announced, but I'll be living with my original version until Apple/AT&T realize their mistake, or I'll switch when the thing wears out.
By the way, I've been a Cingular/AT&T customer for going on 4 years, had the iPhone since last November, and a Mac user/owner for 22 years.

[tmedia1]

The cost of EVERYTHING is going up these days. :-(

[wase]

ATT is a money making machine; they didn't have to raise their rates to pay for ANYTHING; thats like saying the price of oil has to go up, so the Saudi's can afford to pay the higher gas prices...
They are just trying to exploit the fanatical IPHONE fans, knowing full and well that anyone who can't live without this thing won't care how much they charge for the airtime/service.

If I owned ATT stock, I would be applauding their nerve, but since I don't, their unbridled greed is pretty nauseating..

[doglesby]

turnerc said:

Give me a break, this pricing doesn't follow the economic laws of computing, and Apple/AT&T will realize it with diminished sales. My first Mac, bought in 1994, had a 160 MB hard drive and cost nearly $2000. Of course we get loads more computer for far less money now, and the same standard should be held for AT&T services.

Your time scales are way off. Comparing a computer from 14 years ago to computers today versus a phone from one year ago? I don't know anyone who buys a computer every year because the value isn't there. Similarly with the iPhone. As for the increase, twice the speed for 50% more money is pretty much on par for technology curves in my experience. The analogy is further flawed by the fact that the iPhone you are comparing to the iPhone 3G isn't really a year old. It has been improved and with the upcoming software update will be greatly improved again (running the same software as the iPhone 3G).

[doglesby]

I'm seeing a lot of simplistic analyses here. Yes, lowering the price will bring in more customers. That is no great insight. What no one has been able to show is that at&t will bring in 50% more customers with the old rates (that's the break even point). Do you really believe that at&t will sell 50% more iPhones with a $20 data plan instead of the $30 one? I don't.

Let's face it, what stings for current iPhone owners is that we bought an unsubsidized phone. The advantage is that we can get the $199/299 price even though we may have owned these phones for less than a year (I've had mine for 9 months). It was supposed to be easy, buy a new phone, tack on an extra year of service; but that $30 data plan no longer makes it a no-brainer decision. However, apparently you can sell your iPhone for $400 and buy a 3G iPhone for half that. That's 20 months of the extra data charge right there (you were already paying for the voice and $20 data plan). Hell, I might do that after all!

[bynkii]

turnerc said:

Give me a break, this pricing doesn't follow the economic laws of computing, and Apple/AT&T will realize it with diminished sales. My first Mac, bought in 1994, had a 160 MB hard drive and cost nearly $2000. Of course we get loads more computer for far less money now, and the same standard should be held for AT&T services.

That's funny, because when I bought a 160GB drive for my MacBook, not six months later, the price on that drive had dropped. Almost...as if the early price was higher to pay for development costs, and then once those had been paid, they could cut the price of the drive.

Quote

All the apologist dopes on here claiming AT&T has to pay for the upgrade to 3G miss the point: make it affordable, bring the people on board, and the money will roll in.

Odd, Sony and Microsoft both tried this, yet I don't hear about the PS3 or the Xbox 360 being profitable yet, and both have had to drop their price to jack sales. Still not profitable, still not really selling that well. Perhaps there IS something to that whole "making profit from day 1" idea.

Quote

Now it's become even more of a boutique item. I actually inquired about upgrading to the 3G iPhone when it was first announced, but I'll be living with my original version until Apple/AT&T realize their mistake, or I'll switch when the thing wears out.

I almost guarantee that the price will drop. When it does, the people who paid the early adopter tax will, for the most part, cry like the big babies far too many Apple customers are, because they "got ripped off".

Quote

By the way, I've been a Cingular/AT&T customer for going on 4 years, had the iPhone since last November, and a Mac user/owner for 22 years.

Um...huzzah?

[bynkii]

wase said:

ATT is a money making machine; they didn't have to raise their rates to pay for ANYTHING; thats like saying the price of oil has to go up, so the Saudi's can afford to pay the higher gas prices...

Ah, so you know for a fact what AT&T's 3G rollout cost? Care to share with the class, since you seem pretty confident of yourself.

Quote

They are just trying to exploit the fanatical IPHONE fans, knowing full and well that anyone who can't live without this thing won't care how much they charge for the airtime/service.

Wait, taking advantage of people with more money than sense? The devil you say!

Quote

If I owned ATT stock, I would be applauding their nerve, but since I don't, their unbridled greed is pretty nauseating..

Yeah, because Apple is the living example of ungreed!

[wase]

Since when do "rollout costs" have anything to do with what the monthly service charges are going to be? Do you actually think that they haven't already recovered all their "rollout costs" from the margins they realize from their day to day wireless operations? This whole "upgrade" to 3G was paid for a long long time ago.
Do you actually think they haven't already amortized the roll out costs for this across their entire wireless business unit?

As far as taking advantage of people with more money than sense, I guess that is sort of the American Business model at lots of major corporations now a days, isn't it? Just because its the way it is, doesn't mean we have to like it, does it?

And, finally, of course Apple is not the epitome of "ungreed"; just like every public corporation, they are obligated to earn the most money for their shareholders, which is exactly what they are trying to do, and, are obviously doing a great job of it.

I just wonder when they made their big "splash" about the reduced "cost" of the 3G, if they had any idea how quickly the public would figure out that this was truly NOT a price reduction, over the term of the contract...

Maybe a $100 dollar "coupon" to cool the fires will be offerred a month or 2 after this phone doesn't fly out the doors the way the initial IPHONE did......