[lantzn]

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Perhaps there will be other Apple products in my future.

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Count on it! /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Jon Seff]

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$600 (rounding up) for the 8GB phone (plus a contract reservation of sorts), and then you pay for a 2-year contract?
Or, if I understand, it's $600 for both a phone and all the voice/data service for 2 years? That would be a huge bargain, although I'd wonder what the voice/data service would cost per month/year after the end of 2 years.

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I can guarantee you that it does not include two years of service. Cingular is happy to subsidize the cost of the phone to get you on the hook for a two-year contract. That's how cell phone companies work.

[dbutenhof]

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Yeah we all Mac users in my area use Cingular because Verizon cripples the phones to not work with iTunes. Verizon sucks and are not Mac friendly. My daughter is a customer rep for Verizon and just shakes her head in disbelief at the company. She uses a Mac by the way.

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Yeah, Verizon has a bad rep for that. But I'm using a Treo, which syncs beautifully with my Mac. And I could put music onto my SD card just as easily, if I wanted to... but I much prefer an iPod.
I went with Verizon because they have the best coverage in my area... and, oh yeah, because I get a significant discount through a B2B arrangement with my employer. I switched from U.S. Cellular last summer with a 2 year contract, so even if I had any confidence in any GSM carrier's coverage around here I'm not changing any time soon.
The iPhone sounds cool for the iPod nano crowd, but it's not a "real" iPod without a disk... and as far as I'm concerned it's not a phone with GSM. Bummer. Not that a Mac OS X palmtop isn't tempting all on its own...

[greydog]

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I don't need the color screen. I need NOT to have a camera. I can get the sync capability elsewhere. I don't even really care that it plays music. I WANTED a TELEPHONE with Apple panache, not a multimedia access-fee sucker for Cingular. This makes me sad.

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Well, when you take away all the features you describe, what the hell would be the difference between an Apple phone and your Star-Tac? Pretty buttons? Amazing you would think with all the talent at Apple they should just take a hack phone and slap their logo on it.
Either you know little of Apple, or are just trying to bring down the morale.

[lantzn]

I've been using this company while waiting for the Apple phone. No contracts and they have family plans. Not a lot of phones to choose from but the free ones are serving my wife and I's needs until then. They backbone off of Cingular's network. I like them.
Consumer Cellular

[lantzn]

Uh Dude, you just DIDN'T describe an Apple phone. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[doglesby]

So Yahoo is offering push email... and .Mac? Surely it will.
If they take the phone out (and put in a real hard drive and include keynote for presentations...), I'd start saving right now. No cameras at work, and I'll be damned if they expect me to hand over my iPhone at the guard desk.

[lantzn]

Good point. Maybe it's just like in OSX on a Mac, when you click and drag your mouse to the top or bottom of the screen it just starts scrolling by itself.

[daneb]

Let's face it, the iPhone is awesome, but we need it to be 3G or CDMA, come on Apple! Let's hope the exclusive contract with Cingular doesn't last much longer than this year!

[KJ]

600 dollars is the straight retail price, with contract agreements the price will be less, how much? hard to say

[lantzn]

I also read in a live update at Macrumourslive.com that the price included the 2 year contract.
The page is no longer active but you could just watch the keynote.
Macworld Expo Keynote

[Nobody]

The power of the iPhone is the Mac OS X inside. The possibilities that it offers are almost endless. That is where the real iPhone revolution starts. Almost anything that you imagine will be possible.
FOR INSTANCE... use the iPhone as a wireless computerless presentation remote:
1. Make Keynote or PowerPoint presentation on Mac or PC-Windows.
2. Save it to the iPhone.
3. Bring the iPhone with you and use it to give the presentation. No wires. No computers. Just the iPhone and a wireless videoprojector on the ceiling.
When is this going to happen? All the corporate, education and domestic markets will love it. Huge halo effect!
Actyually, I posted this iPhone concept with pictures last year:
http://www.t3.co.uk/...ications/mobilephone/evidencemountsforjanuaryiphone

http://www.t3.co.uk/nestedcontent/galleryassetlistingnavigation?root=633162&resultpage=1
http://www.t3.co.uk/nestedcontent/galleryassetlistingnavigation?root=633162&resultpage=2
http://www.t3.co.uk/nestedcontent/galleryassetlistingnavigation?root=633162&resultpage=3

[stashmanguitar]

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So Yahoo is offering push email... and .Mac? Surely it will.

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If you're able to sync with .Mac, do you all thing that you would be able to sync with iDisk? There were rumors about iDisk being increased to 30GB. If Apple ends up increasing the storage, do you think an iPhone would be able to play or stream saved media from iDisk? That would be SWEET, and would compensate for the storage topping out at 8GB.

[Jon Seff]

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I also read in a live update at Macrumourslive.com that the price included the 2 year contract.
The page is no longer active but you could just watch the keynote.
Macworld Expo Keynote

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Next to the price on screen, it simply said "2 year contract." That means the phone requires a 2 year contract with Cingular for that price. I doubt Apple will sell an unlocked version or one without service.