[krizoitz]

@hillstones

You're wrong, I along with many other v1 iPhone users are definitely going to be getting the iPhone 3G.

Why?

1) Faster data
2) Built-in GPS
3) Better reception
4) Longer battery life

But what about the things you mentioned, like the greater price of the data plan? Well for me personally, $10 extra a month is worth the speed, I allready get unlimited texting on my family plan thanks to my younger siblings unlimited texting family plan, and my iPhone will sell on eBay for as much, maybe MORE than i paid for it at this point. Yeah the contract will end up costing me $40 extra over the life of the plan, but subtracting that from the $200+ i'll get off my old phone? Definitely worth it.

[flowney]

I think I'll buy a 128 GB iPod touch and then go visit with the good folks at Touchmods.org for a VoIP solution.

[flybynight]

Agreed that last year's business model was better for the consumer... but I'm sure a lot of people will just see the initial $199 price and think the new deal is better. As for the lines... who says they want shorter lines than last year? It's all about the buzz and hype. "Apple can't activate the iPhone 3G fast enough to keep up with demand!" It's a good problem to have...

[MorrisTheCat]

flowney said:

I think I'll buy a 128 GB iPod touch?

Uhm?you mean the one that doesn't exist yet? If I read that correctly, you're frustrated at the lack of improvement in the Touch, as am I, since I will likely never get an iPhone, as long as it's locked into AT&T.

Anyway, I agree that this 3G rollout plan seems to have taken a step back in comparison to last years rollout. I had hoped that Apple would be able to continue to influence the telco industry to change it's control freak ways, and for a short while it looked like it was achieving that. But with this change, it seems things are creeping back toward the status quo of them forcing customers into their way of business, and overcharging for services. So much for that.

[BenUNC]

Here's to AT&T not wanting people to steal from them. I can't say I blame them. If we as a culture hadn't ferociously circumvented their plans at every turn with the last iPhone release, buying 30 of them to unlock and sell on Ebay, etc, then we might still have the convenience of iTunes activation. But, we didn't. We broke the rules, so they changed them. Good for them.
It's business. And good business, at that.

[weshsu]

While neither Apple nor AT&T wanted unlocked first gen iPhones, AT&T did not lose a penny because of it. Those phones were never destined to be tied to an AT&T plan, so it's not unrealized income. Apple won because they simply sold more phones than were activated with AT&T.

The reason why AT&T is requiring all phones to be activated in store is because this time around, they are investing money into each unit to lower the up front costs. They have every right to demand that users be tied to them for 2 years. They are essentially bribing everyone to stick with AT&T for 2 years. But, this time around, unlocking does play into the equation, as AT&T has real money they will lose if a phone is sold but not activated with them.

But, that doesn't mean they can't find a way to let us activate at home. Simply gather all of the pertinent information in the store. Make us sign an agreement. We take the phone home. If we don't activate within a certain number of days, they fine us heavily to cover the cost of the subsidization as well as a penalty fee. Make it cost more than it does for people who will buy it and cancel the plan in a month and pay the $175 early termination fee.

While AT&T says activation will take 10-15 minutes. I've activated enough phones through AT&T Wireless/Cingular/AT&T to know that it takes much longer. Maybe I just have bad luck, but every year when I switch phones for someone in my family plan, it always takes 45 or more minutes from when I enter the store to when I leave. And, that's with 1-2 people in front of me. I can't imagine how long people will wait when there are 300-500 people waiting in line. Granted, Apple will hopefully have an army of 10-20 people activating, but still. If AT&T's activation network gets overloaded like it did last year, everyone from that person on back in the line will be screwed until the network load goes down. I can only hope AT&T has vastly improved their activation network based on what they learned from last year's deluge of activations.

[justme2]

What about the phones that are sold at the Apple Stores or ordered online? Are customers going to have to go find an AT&T store to get their phones activated that day? And what about folks who are switching from another AT&T phone or the iPhone Mark I?

[louielu12]

justme2 said:

What about the phones that are sold at the Apple Stores or ordered online? Are customers going to have to go find an AT&T store to get their phones activated that day? And what about folks who are switching from another AT&T phone or the iPhone Mark I?

You won't be able to buy the phone online, from Apple or AT&T.

And hopefully Apple (and AT&T) will be smart enough to have a fast system. Maybe have current customers in one line which will move quickly (they better know what plan they want), and new customers in another, slower line. Or, as others mentioned, either do the rebate plan, or make you give them your information, and at home you take care of the details.

And what about people who have numbers on their SIM cards and want them transfered? I'm not liking this new plan at all.

[justme2]

Well, I'd assume that you'll still be able to go home and sync it to your iTunes to get your Address Book, music from iTunes or other info, same as the current iPhone; sounds like you just can't do the initial activation through iTunes (hope it doesn't mean that you have to go back to the AT&T store if you have to restore your iPhone for some reason, since I'm planning to pass my old iPhone along to my husband).

As far as plan, I'll just go with my current family plan with the extra $10 or whatever data fee -- no big change there.

Apple better make sure to publicize the fact well before the 11th -- and AT&T better have plenty of staff on hand that day.

[louielu12]

justme2 said:

Well, I'd assume that you'll still be able to go home and sync it to your iTunes to get your Address Book, music from iTunes or other info, same as the current iPhone; sounds like you just can't do the initial activation through iTunes (hope it doesn't mean that you have to go back to the AT&T store if you have to restore your iPhone for some reason, since I'm planning to pass my old iPhone along to my husband).

As far as plan, I'll just go with my current family plan with the extra $10 or whatever data fee -- no big change there.

Apple better make sure to publicize the fact well before the 11th -- and AT&T better have plenty of staff on hand that day.

Well of course you can sync your contacts with iTunes. I'm saying that people with AT&T phones that don't sync with their computer and want iPhones need their contacts to be transfered, which takes like 10 minutes.

And it said in the article (or another Macworld article) that you can reset original iPhones and still activate them through iTunes.

I'm sure, just like the first release, we will hear more details closer to launch date (but I bet Apple will "forget" to mention things like no included SMS messaging and $10 more for unlimited data).

[hillstones]

krizoitz said:

@hillstones

You're wrong, I along with many other v1 iPhone users are definitely going to be getting the iPhone 3G.

Why?

1) Faster data
2) Built-in GPS
3) Better reception
4) Longer battery life

But what about the things you mentioned, like the greater price of the data plan? Well for me personally, $10 extra a month is worth the speed, I allready get unlimited texting on my family plan thanks to my younger siblings unlimited texting family plan, and my iPhone will sell on eBay for as much, maybe MORE than i paid for it at this point. Yeah the contract will end up costing me $40 extra over the life of the plan, but subtracting that from the $200+ i'll get off my old phone? Definitely worth it.

You get SHORTER Battery life with 3G. I guess you missed that part. 5 hours talk time on 3G vs 10 hours on 2G. I don't have reception problems with my phone. They are assuming the plastic back is to provide better reception, but no one has ever seen one in action yet. Apple won't let them hold one long enough. I doubt you will get more for your iPhone on eBay considering someone would buy the new model at half price of what you paid for yours. You will pay $340 more for the plan, not $40 over the life of the plan.

[hillstones]

KPO said:

What this does is make it harder to buy a 3G iPhone as a gift for someone else. IMO, they should offer the phone for $400, and rebate the $200 at the time of activation, with the option for an immediate rebate with in-store activation. The big winner over the past year seems to have been AT&T. Not only are they rid of the revenue sharing agreement, they are also locking customers into a higher-cost data plan (more in line with their other phones), in exchange for $200 upfront. Basically, from a marketing standpoint, the iPhone has become just another phone, sold in exactly the same way under the same business model. So much for the "AT&T partnership allows innovation like self-activation at home" argument. It's too bad.

Excellent point. No more iPhones as gifts!

[louielu12]

hillstones said:

You get SHORTER Battery life with 3G. I guess you missed that part. 5 hours talk time on 3G vs 10 hours on 2G. I don't have reception problems with my phone. They are assuming the plastic back is to provide better reception, but no one has ever seen one in action yet. Apple won't let them hold one long enough. I doubt you will get more for your iPhone on eBay considering someone would buy the new model at half price of what you paid for yours. You will pay $340 more for the plan, not $40 over the life of the plan.

No, they are correct. You do get "better" battery life, but not always "longer," depending on the settings you use. If you want longer talk time, set it so that you talk on 2G. The only benefit of 3G talking is that you can surf the web at the same time, but how often will you do that? There is a better battery in iPhone 3G, and EDGE web surfing is probably longer than on the original iPhone. 3G takes up more recourses, so it will inherently deplete the battery life faster, but only when using the phone with 3G (talking or surfing).

[louielu12]

KPO said:

Actually, 3G uses up a lot more battery life during voice calls than during data exchange. If you could switch to 2G for voice calls and back to 3G for data (obviously staying on 3G when you need to surf and talk at the same time), you would save more battery life than by talking on 3G and using EDGE. AnandTech did some tests a few months ago using some common 3G phones in both 3G and 3G mode. 3G does have better call quality, though.

That wasn't my point at all. All I'm saying is that the iPhone 3G has better battery life, but it uses newer technology that - at least in the case of call time you were talking about - will inherently use more battery life. It's one price to pay for the latest and greatest thing (and while the actual "price" is cheaper, you pay by having more expensive monthly costs and waiting in long lines).