sounds like all he really needed was a ipod touch a regular cell phone

I think that's the point, that's all he wanted, but without the hassle of carrying 2 devices.

i dont get it...

Great idea. Way to stick it to AT&T!

Unfortunately, I text like a mofo and actually use the mobile internet on the slow EDGE network - which means I have to keep bending over for AT&T.

I'm sure the lawyers are working on changes to the contract as we type.

This is a damn good idea. I might actually try it, if the logistics works out because I want one of these.

life without sms? might as well just kill me now.

@drwedge:

Let's not forget this is a revenue sharing partnership. Sooooo...

Great idea! Way to stick it to Apple and AT&T.

I'd rather get in my car and drive to a wifi spot than deal with edge on the iPhone.

then again, my phone is costing me like $9 a month. Yep. imagine that, people, im sticking with 1,000 minutes for an entire year. total cost with phone: $130. Now if only t-mobile coverage didnt suck so bad in the cuts.

but yeah, this guy has the right idea. anyone know what the same thing comes out ot if you DONT have another plan to leech off of?

So if you turn the iPhone into a no-feature cellphone.... you'll pay about the same monthly fee AT&T charges for a no-feature cellphone.

Wow... brilliant!!!!

/wonders how slow today's news is

@nutbastard: I could totally do that as well... if I weren't on verizon. My phone has wifi (i730) so I can use skype when i'm at work / home, no data (wifi again) Verizon has free in network calling and the people I talk to the most are on verizon. Now, if only verizon had 1000 min/ year plans...

Why did you have to turn off sms? I'm currently paying 9.99 a month for my iphone plan as part of a family plan and all I have blocked is internet. sms are just charged at 15 cents a message.

So, what does this do to the check they are sending to Apple for the cell phones where all data services are turned off? Does Apple still get the full bucks, or does AT&T just eliminate that iPhone from the Apple monthly check?

Or you can do what I did...

Get a prepaid SIM card, put $100 on it and disable EDGE. Use it whenever it is needed and you have 1 year to use the $100. If you want to text, then add the texting plan.

Better yet....Unlock it, get T-mobile, and subscribe to their data plan for $5.95! WAY cheaper than AT&T :)

so instead of $19.99 for unlimited EDGE he pays $14.95 to use it as a crappy 5yo cellphone....Brilliant!

Maybe I'm missing something

@lithivm: the cheapest rate is $59.99 a month. He is paying $14.95. What's not to get?

for those of you who want the data, you can get it for $29.95 a month.

I replaced a second phone with it, so $9.95 for the second line, and the data plan is $20. the primary phone is a non-iPhone phone and works fine.

That way, my company discount is applied to the 49.95 plan and to the 9.95, and not to the 20.00 data part.

paying 20 a month for everything including txt and Internet pwns all

you guys act as if the iphone plan is really expensive... compared to the blackberry plans this is a bargain. its really not bad at all..

@gadgetchic: Do you really think the majority of the readers/commenter's on here know how much things cost? And why they cost what they do? I am 100% with you that the iPhone plan is not very expensive at all, but you're talking to a bunch of cheap people that think they deserve everything for free. The best is the cheap skate that pays almost nothing for his monthly service but admits tmo sucks in his area! ignorance.

@gadgetchic:
you guys act like porches are expensive... compared to bugatti, they're a bargain

: \

@Andr3w:
you get what you pay for, i guess. for the record, AT&T don't work in the mountains, either, only verizon. I was aware of this when i signed up, realizing that i dont need to make calls until im in the valley anyways.

and for the record, im not cheap, im frugal. if you want to piss away your money on features i couldn't care less about, be my guest, and I'LL not even call you a sucker, the way you've labeled me a cheapskate. to each their own.

I KNEW IT!!!

This sounds great, but YMMV! This is exactly what I was hoping to do, but everything I read on the att website made it sound impossible. I've got a nice discount at att though my company, and their site specifically said I would default on all my discounts by adding an iPhone. Ridiculous!!! I'm not going to take any chances by adding a non-data enabled iPhone to my acct.

"I think that's the point, that's all he wanted, but without the hassle of carrying 2 devices"

you sound like an apple commerical.

Why would you want to Stick it to your carrier? If you dont like them - leave. If you continue to try to pay less and less for phones, they will just raise prices. You might as well go back to using smoke signals or paper cups with string. Yeah, stick it to the man!

why is it that fanboys are always trying to get something for nothing...? yet bend over everytime apple comes out with a new product...?

A secondary line is $9.99...he's still getting ripped off.

You guys act like ATT is to blame for the slow browsing experience on the iphone. It was Apple that chose not to add a 3G radio.

$5.00? Seriously? You disable SMS and EDGE for $5.00? That's the cheapest thing I've ever seen...

Yea you're really 'sticking it to Apple & AT&T'!! That $5.00 could well bring down both companies and then... and then... no more iPhone for you? Riiiiight. I'm sure you're really doing tons of damage there... it's not even worth the $5.00 to call and try and get this done! Most people's TIME is worth more than $5.00 to sit on hold with AT&T and argue whether they are allowed to do this or not.

2 companies band together to create the finest mobile device the world has seen and in the process hope to turn some good profits and you cheap assholes are going to cripple your own devices for $5.00?

@jriga Slow, steady clapping.

"I cant stand text messages anyway, so no big loss there..."
Ummmm.....and why do you have an iPhone?

I posted this comment yesterday but it has yet to show up so I try again.

I currently run my iPhone off a 9.99 family plan add line and have text messages. I called in a while back and just turned off data access completely. I still recieve text messages just fine.

I am wondering why you would have to turn off text messages? And why you would have to pay 14.99 a month instead of 9.99? This "tip" seems like bad advice to me.

@joebells: sorry I see the previous comment now.

"I'd like to spend top dollar on a cutting edge phone that has all of the features, none of which I plan to use or pay for."

well it is just a nice phone to use. I have data turned off and still find it to be a nicer phone to use than any other I've used.(My symbian nokia's were fairly nice but not nearly iphone level in my opinion)

Some of you are obviously not paying attention. I'm not sticking it to anyone, I'm paying myself $50 a month (not $5) for being smart enough to talk with an AT&T rep for 20 minutes. So in a year that's $600. About $3000 an hour.

I didn't lose anything. I have WiFi everywhere, so the EDGE network was a joke. Why pay for it when the phone works just as well without? We have free WiFi in both the city I work in and the one I live in, actually. Can't beat that.

Incidentally, AT&T will tell you that the phone won't work without EDGE, and no EDGE will kill the WiFi. Press them on it and they come back a little deflated.

So yes, I wanted a device with photos, movies, TV shows, a camera, a sweet iPod, a browser and WiFi...and now I have one. Get this, it's also A PHONE! Whoa.

I don't need SMS. There's one guy I know who texts me, and having "is it beer-o-clock?" pop up on my screen in the middle of a meeting is NOT worth 15 cents. You want to text me, send it to my email, or here's an idea...call! You think you NEED SMS? What you NEED is a real job and something to do with your time besides typing out WTF, LOL in your ECON 101 class.

Oh, and the 9.99 vs. 14.99 thing? That's a work discount. Perhaps I can be an even cheaper fan-boy now, thanks for the tip!

Brian

@BWGunner:

I have the iPhone with data plan. I rarely use the iPhone data plan like I initially thought I would. I rarely text. And I don't share a plan although I'm toying with the idea of transitioning to a family plan and getting my two kids each a cell phone. How can I get ATT to remove the $20 iPhone plan each month so I can just use my iPhone as a cell phone only (no Edge/Internet)? And will they do that and change my plan to a family plan? Another reason I want to drop my iPhone plan is that I'll be able to get my 15% corporate discount back.

Thanks

I don't use my iPhone plan like I thought I would. I rarely text and don't use the internet. How can I get ATT to let me drop my iPhone data plan (will save me $20 plus hopefully I can get my corporate discount back) with no penalties? What I'd like to do is drop the iPhone plan and change my plan from an individual plan to a family plan and add two lines for my kids.

Advice?

can someone please tell me how much an "iphone" costs with a two year agreement because i am thinking about getting one.

work discount? 9.99 is right on the main webpage of cingular for family plans for any and all. And I still don't understand why you HAD to give up text messaging? If you wanted to thats understandable but you make it sound like they are forcing you to or that you shut them off to save additional money which shouldn't be as it costs nothing to have them on your account just the money to send or receive.