[leehljp]

The Data Plan is Precisely what is holding me up. Your premise is flawed to the life of your own mind. It does not make sense to you that others are different. The fact is most people who look at the price and back down aren't going to post comments or come back again and again, - thus leaving you with the idea that not many people would want an iPhone without a data plan.
I want my iCal, Address Book, Games, Dictionary, multi-language Dictionaries, WiFi AND "phone" all in one. But with the price of Data, and the fact that I don't need "data" every minute like I do the phone, I will have to wait. I am not so impatient that I can't wait until I am at a WiFi place, from which there are almost as many as pay phones used to have.
But as it is now, I carry a cell phone and my 'touch'. Sure would like to have them as 1.

[kevininma]

"Yes but this doesn't discount that it can be a useful all-in-one device without a Data plan does it?" Yes, of course it can be useful, but Apple branded the iPhone from the beginning as a cell phone, an iPod, and an Internet communicator (24/7). Nothing less. When the iPod was introduced, it was branded as a music player, and in all versions including the shuffle, the iPods were at least that. So anything named iPhone will be an Internet communicator.

Apple has an iPhone and an iPod touch (which is an iPod and wifi Internet communicator). It certainly could introduce another iPod that could be an iPod and a cell phone (no data, no wifi), and call it the iPod cell or something like that. But I believe Apple is betting that the market for iPods will last as long as, if not longer than, the market for cell phones that aren't smart. In other words, people with non-smartphones will either go to a cell phone and an iPod (in particular, iPod touch), or go to a smartphone (iPhone).

I think Apple is probably right about where the puck is going. A Rubicon Consulting study in April last year found that 50% of those who bought the iPhone moved from non-smartphones to iPhone. I'd like to see an updated version (post 3G) of that study.

[kevininma]

"I am not so impatient that I can't wait until I am at a WiFi place, from which there are almost as many as pay phones used to have."

Well, most people didn't need to have a cell phone every minute either. But even when pay phones were still plentiful, people were willing to pay at least $30 a month for limited minutes, rather than wait until they got to a pay phone. Because there was something freeing about being able to call (or receive a call) at any moment.

To many, there is something freeing about being able to look up any info (or receive any info) they need at any moment. At some point, the value of an expanded Mobile Me (all your files/all your music/etc available 24/7), location-aware/ navigation/ traffic services, or some other apps will make it worth the extra $30 a month rather than have to wait until you get to a wifi access point.

Of course, if wifi access points take off, well then we won't need cell phones anymore, and Apple is already there with the iPod touch and its apps, including VoIP apps such as the soon-to-arrive Skype. We know Jobs studied this possibility because the CEO of that company that pays you to use your home access point (can't remember the name) blabbed about it. My guess is Jobs decided that wifi access point proliferation was a very low probability in most areas.

[spinoza2]

?The internet with you all the time is still a LUXURY and not a NECESSITY.?

I agree with kevininma that, like broadband Internet a few years ago, we're still relatively early in the development of ubiquitous cellular Internet, and so at least for now it seems like a luxury for a lot of people. It's similar to when the Mac was introduced back in the mid 80s, when most computer users thought it was more a toy rather than a serious computer (?What is that silly mouse thing, and why the graphic interface? Only a wimp would use a computer like that!?).

And there's also the adage, 'What's one person's luxury is another person's necessity.' I suspect most Americans would consider me bizarre in that I have never had cable television (I consider TV a waste of time and money), that I prefer bike riding over using an automobile (my late model Volvo sits in the driveway most of the time), or that I'm, more or less, a vegetarian. I save a lot of money with habits like this, money that can be used for more important things, like iPhones... :-)

[leehljp]

Well, most people didn't need to have a cell phone every minute either. But even when pay phones were still plentiful, people were willing to pay at least $30 a month for limited minutes, rather than wait until they got to a pay phone. Because there was something freeing about being able to call (or receive a call) at any moment.

There is room for the iPhone both With and Without a Data plan, especially at $30 Extra for the Data. Apple made the iPhone so that it can be used without the "data" plan, but it is the "carrier" that demand the extra boot, making it all or none. Just think of how many more Apple could sell if the phone did not have the Additional $30 a month tied on to it for D A T A, but had all of the other features.

To many, there is something freeing about being able to look up any info (or receive any info) they need at any moment. At some point, the value of an expanded Mobile Me (all your files/all your music/etc available 24/7), location-aware/ navigation/ traffic services, or some other apps will make it worth the extra $30 a month rather than have to wait until you get to a wifi access point.

My complaint is DATA plans. I have no need for that at that price, and as I read other comments here, so it seems for many others. So it is "freeing" but at what cost?! Home users (that could increase the installed user base even further) don't need or want that "freeing" feeling just to go to the store or mall. Even in small business situations that have to watch expenses don't need that kind of "freeing" for $30 more per month. $30/$40 a month is OK, but $70 per phone is too much.

There is room for both, but the problem is the real world of commerce per se, not Apple. Monthly subscriptions are fairly well guaranteed income and this is what companies want - not " User's Choice". "Choice" and "non-data plans" are money lost, therefore AT&T wants it tied in, whether it is used or not. Apple has been fighting this kind of mentality in the music and movie industry for a few years now.

IF you want that "freeing" feeling, then more power to you. I too want that "freeing" feeling to use an iPhone without data and use WiFi for that - instead of a separate cell phone and WiFi capable iPod touch.

There is room for both and it would increase the installed user base, if the response to this article is any indication.

[PadreCohen]

As Mr. Moren wrote, I use my iPhone for Web surfing, text messaging, and so on, far more often than for its mobile phone capabilities. Nonetheless, there's a large segment of the market that has no use for a huge data plan.
The iPhones most obvious feature is a UI that's so obvious and simple, a user doesn't need written directions to make a bloody call. Although there are several cell phones that do little but make and receive phone calls, their UI's are so Byzantine, they require a manual.
Apple could make an iPhone equivalent of the iPod Nano, a phone with a great UI, but without the features that most cell phone users find redundant. Whether Apple wants this market segment is another question.

[leehljp]

?The internet with you all the time is still a LUXURY and not a NECESSITY.?

I agree with kevininma that, like broadband Internet a few years ago, we're still relatively early in the development of ubiquitous cellular Internet, and so at least for now it seems like a luxury for a lot of people. It's similar to when the Mac was introduced back in the mid 80s, when most computer users thought it was more a toy rather than a serious computer (?What is that silly mouse thing, and why the graphic interface? Only a wimp would use a computer like that!?).


The irony of this made me laugh. It is a "LUXURY and not a NECESSITY" - but then Kevininm's argument is in defense of the Extra $30 for Data plans and how "freeing" it is - versus having an iPhone without a $30 Data plan.

That "Does not compute."

[paulchsieh]

Yes, yes, yes, - an iPhone with no data plan, or an iPod Touch with a voice plan. One small gadget to take along, day in and day out... I threw out my netbook because I have iPod Touch... I would like to threw away my cell phone, if iPhone without a data plan is there...
Please, please...

[paulchsieh]

Well said...

[Imagine_Engine]

myoung,

Actually in Canada Rogers currently offers 1 GB for $30.00 or an iPhone user can opt for the iPhone 500 MB Value Pack add on for $35.00 which gives 500 MB, call ID, who called, visual voicemail and unlimited SMS. Rogers now offers data protection meaning they will alert you via SMS when you are going over your limit including information on KB usage as well cost and will not charge over $100 for data. So if the data plan is $30.00 then the only extra charge for overage would be seen as $70.00. Excluding international roaming which is pay per use. Though if the user continually goes over their data bucket they may request rightsizing to the next best data plan for heavy data users such as those that tether their iPhone. For example there's the $30.00 Flex Rate Data Plan which adjusts based on the user usage starting at 500 MB which automatically rightsizes to the next tier going as high as $85.00 for 5 GB. Call Rogers Data Customer Care at 1-866-931-DATA (3282) for more information.

[fbcooper]

The comments on this article make MUCH more sense than the article itself.

[skipaq]

Everything about Apple says the next generation iPhone is going to be an upgrade with the possibility of the current version being the lowest cost. That is what they have been doing for years with the iPod. A stripped down iPhone is going backwards. Apple doesn't do backwards. What is really going to be interesting is what happens with Wi-Fi as opposed to cell. Sure would like to know; but for now I use an iPod touch and a regular cell phone. Love the 'touch' even more with a GPS upgrade.

[cat4ever]

I'd MUCH rather have an iPhone without the phone plan, just the data plan. I can't stand the phone in my house, last thing I want is to carry one around. But a data plan, with ubiquitous access to the internet (not to mention e-mail) for $30/month, then you got me.

[pantheon]

There are some exciting things happening in this area for the iTouch. Boingo makes it possible to access wifi hotzones for $7.95 / month and Comcast is testing public wifi hotzones for their subscribers. I'm thinking of leaving my voice mail message set to tell callers to contact me via email. :D