[doglesby]

Your phone upgrade expires?!!! That's the first thing I've heard about at&t that makes me nervous. The upgrade is supposed to be how they keep you from switching at the end of your contract. Do they expect to keep all of their customers because of the iPhone? Seems a dicey bet to me. Why not specify a group of phones (which would not include the iPhone) for the upgrade rather than telling you it "expires"?

[doglesby]

You do realize that's not news, right? We've all known that for 5 months. The release date is the news.
Or have you been repeating that message all this time? Because that doesn't get annoying.

[TheMacOracle]

It's interesting to note that the date on the phone in all three ads is today, June 3rd, but if you look at the story on the front page of The New York Times in "How To" you will see a story titled "Chrysler of Verge of Sale to a Private Firm". Of course that did end up happening several weeks ago.
Just an interesting factoid that they knew exactly when these ads would start airing. You will also note that the icons on the home screen have been shuffled a bit compared to the screen shots on the web site from January and the calculator button is now gray instead of brown. [Why the heck do we notice these kinds of things?]
- TMO

[Nobody]

I love the concept, the commercials are awesome, and I want one REAL bad. But I think Apple and Steve Jobs have made a strategic error in the marketing of this for one simple reason..... It's WAY TOO COSTLY for a cell phone market that is much more mature compared to what the mp3 player market was when the iPod was first released. When the iPod was first released, almost no one already had an mp3/music player. This release is a completely different story. Nearly everyone already has a cell phone. Just how many people are going to ditch a FREE cell phone for a $600 phone PLUS an EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE SERVICE CONTRACT!?! As much as I want one, and might eventually buy one, I think I'm going to pass on the first run of these. And geez, I really do want one, but c'mon, the pricing appears to be borderline price gouging in my opinion if you combine the phone AND the 2 year contract. My message to Steve Jobs is..... HEY STEVE..... Noone else has your NON-SALARY + BILLIONAIRE STOCK OPTIONS PERKS!

[iron_chef]

High prices? Well Duh.
that's kinda expected when you launch a product.
The original RAZR was $400. And it didn't do as much as the iphone.

FYI, it's much harder to raise prices if you find yourself with a hot product.

I think Apple's trying to position this more like the ultimate internet devicephoneipod. This thing can't be compared to cellphones for pricing.

[moose_n_squirrel]

Quote:

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the pricing appears to be borderline price gouging in my opinion if you combine the phone AND the 2 year contract.

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Of course it looks that way. you left out the fact it includes the functionality of a full iPod, plus a full-featured Web browser. You're comparing iPhone to what a free phone can do? Apples and oranges.
They're not trying to win the free phone market. They're trying to win the Blackberry market. A Blackberry can be similar in price.

[gfair]

It's good to see the Microsoft street team participating in the forums and throwing around a bit of FUD in a desperate attempt to disuade people from the bargain iPhone.
So people think this device is expensive? It's costly, yes, but then so are a number of other devices in the same range. The iPhone isn't the most expensive device on the market; that honor belongs to a Nokia phone.
Maybe the 'Softies should try adding together a Pocket PC and a 4GB Nano? Pocket PC price with 2 year contract: $200. 4GB Nano: $200. That's $400 for a refurbished phone and a new iPod, since the phone doesn't even come with 1GB of user memory, so you need an iPod to match capabilities.
Step up to the AT&T 8525, which is $600 for a much better device, but only 51MB of user memory, so you still need at least a 4GB iPod. Now you're at $650 at 2-year contract rates.

The truth is, the iPod is priced at the top end of the market, but it has plenty of company, and what you pay for is cheaper than what you would have to pay for any other device, because few, if any, come with the same memory that the iPhone includes.
The iPhone easily beats top-end Pocket PC and PDA prices. In fact, it's a downright bargain. I was only using the 4GB Nano for my figures, but the iPhone comes with double that memory, 8GB total.
Add in the fact that it's designed by Apple, and I'd say this is a no-contest comparison. I'd never consider another top-end PDA, the iPhone is just too damn good for what you pay.

[JCMaximilian]

I am not a techie, but I really have become a convert to Mac/Apple. I like the ads for the iPhone, but I keep wanting to know more, especially in terms of software that will be on the iPhone. Couple programs on my Palm that I would find very hard to do without are Adobe Reader, Documents to Go (although I wished they supported ODF since I use NeoOffice), and Pocket Quicken. Fortunately I still have another year on my cellphone contract, so hopefully these and some other programs for the iPhone will be developed. Also, why don't they put a memory card slot in the iPhone?

[MHenigan]

Quote:

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High prices? Well Duh.
that's kinda expected when you launch a product.
The original RAZR was $400. And it didn't do as much as the iphone.
FYI, it's much harder to raise prices if you find yourself with a hot product.
I think Apple's trying to position this more like the ultimate internet devicephoneipod. This thing can't be compared to cellphones for pricing.

---

Actually the Motorola V3 Razr was $500 when it first came out. I know as I got it for Christmas that year and my partner bought one for himself as well. It was very cool to have and I still love it to this day. Yes it was a lot of money for a phone, but it was High-tech at that time and it was nice having something no one else had. I can remember bringing it to my next user group meeting and having to show it off to the whole audience as everyone wanted to see it. Weeks later several members had one because of us showing off the one we had /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Whenever anyone saw us with it, they had to see it.
As for the iPhone I will be getting one in July for my birthday and eventually my partner will have one as well. It is high tech and it is something we HAVE to have.

[srookard]

I continue to be amazed by the comments on price. When the iPAQ 5455 came out - I paid $700, add my 4GB nano at $250, and my POS (piece o sh*t) i730 phone at a few hundred and I have easily spent over $1000 for things that are converged in a singular device at $600 with the iPhone.
I've watched all the ads, and if not for lack of service in my area - I would be waiting in line for one of these bad boys.

[murphtall]

Quote:

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When the iPod was first released, almost no one already had an mp3/music player.

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wrong! there were dozens if not hundreds of mp3 players when the ipod first came out. they just all sucked./
~KM

[roadwarrior]

The only reason I'm aware of why the Cingular name is still used at all (transition's been long enough, after all) is because of a legal dispute with NASCAR over their right to change car logos/colors to match AT&T, because of Nextel being the "official sponsor" of the series.

[Scorp_56]

If the iPhone walkthrough on Apple.com didn't already sell me, this fresh batch of commercials almost certainly did! Just the thought of being able to sync my computer with a phone without having to pay extra for the "privilege" of doing so (I'm stuck with Verizon, 'nuff said) has me giddy.

[d00d]

If you're "stuck" with Verizon, how are you going to use the iPhone?