Perhaps it's best to simply wait and see what happens when the damn thing is actually released before flaming and tarding up the joint.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Both the treo's the 600 I had and the 650 I got for the wife were so unstable when it came to corp email. I mean I paid about $400 for the 650 for and then some setup fees and automatic 2 year renewal plan when it came out. I wish I had a 30 day return policy on it. Seriously though. All "smart phones out there" well from the ones I have played with , Q, perl, treo are not all that stable. I dont care if I have to pay 1k for a dam phone. just so it does what it says it does. THe crack-berry is great for email but terrible for custom power apps. It will boil down to how well the iPhone does what they say it does. I still think the iPhone is to good to be true. Nobody has been able to do half the stuff Apple claims the iPhone can do as successful as it does. So I will wait and see before I get it. My cell phone is not a toy, not an P extension or image icon for me. It's a tool that makes my life easier. For $500 it has to deliver. I have to say I have not been burned my Apple yet, and hope they do indeed deliver on what seems to be the impossible.

snappy

loreal

You have an opinion that the iphone won't sell:

your reasoning:
cingular has a shitty network (cingular has 61 million customers - a growth of 16mm since AT&T wireless and cingular merged in 2004)

it's overpriced: (the razr sold 1 million copies in 3 months at $450 - but that was 1 million tools i guess. so 1/45 of cingular's customers bought the razr in 3 months)

it's impractical: impractical for what?
as a phone? it's got a speaker and you can talk into it to make calls.
as a internet browser, because it lacks a keyboard? maybe

maybe it won't sell, but you don't have anything solid to back up that opinion. the product designers had plenty of reasons to believe it will.

drewheyman

Penchum

techmate

keep holding out hope that you're going to get free service for 18 months...as it's apparent that's the angle you're wanting.

Who cares if no one's held an iPhone or not...it makes ZERO sense for any carrier to offer free service for 18 months to offset the price of equipment.

Sheesh.

Axtell

jbelkin

How the hell can anyone have "misguided opinions"? That doesn't make even remote sense. They're OPINIONS. I'm allowed mine, you're allowed yours. We arrive at different OPINIONS based on different information, starting point, pre-existing biases, and the like. That's what makes OPINIONS different from CONCLUSIONS.

But hey, maybe it's just your OPINION that opinions can be misguided. It'd be wrong of me to call that into question. If that's the case, I happily retract this post.

Brad

bobbyshame

Brian Lam, Gizmodo Sanitation Engineer

i'll happily stand by that.

drewheyman

Bingo, you got yourself an iPhone and no contract for about $850. Now you have to figure out if it can be SIM-unlocked or if it's worthless outside of Cingular's network anyway.

Cingular will have to make no concessions to sell as many of these things as Apple can get them. Curious whether they'll call it a PDA or a Smartphone. Smartphone's (like the 3125) are eligible for the $20 unlimited data plan. PDA's (like the 8525) are twice that.

blue_94_trooper

Looks like you apple dorks will have to mow more yards this summer in order to pay for both the phone and the bill...or you could buy a REAL piece of worthwhile technology *cough* Blackjack *cough* for less money AND not have to wait.

But then your altar to Steve Jobs would be incomplete without the iPhone, right?

Who in their right mind thought that any carrier would give FREE service for 18 months to fund a phone? If you did, I'd suggest an immediate brain transplant, as yours is obviously defective.

Axtell

This is the last you'll hear from me on the subject:

You're right. I called people idiots for paying $600 for a phone that is impractical and runs on a shitty network. I'll happily stand by that statement.

When (and IF) the Gizmodo authors decide to take their hard-earned advertising money and spend it on a crappy handset and tell us all how fantastic it is (in another 900 posts about it) well, then I'll happily pack my metaphorical bags and head to another news site. It's a contingent claim of idiocy, and a warning that excessive iPhone coverage is alienating their readers, who are ultimately their customers. For every foamy-mouthed Apple fan there's 22 (or so) people rolling their eyes and NOT CARING. The less of your site I read, the less compelled I am to return.

Brad

it was a cingular exclusive too, and only about $100 less than an iphone.

drewheyman

"the thing is only that expensive because idiots like you (Gizmodo authors, esp) are going to shell out for it"

You called them idiots for shelling out that much for a phone, not for believing the free service rumor.

You are the n00b.

hughjass

If you think a company will take a ~$1000 loss, just to get you to use the most anticipated gadget they've ever had (for 6 months)...then you're an idiot.

They don't need to PAY you to switch from Verizon...they have the iPhone to get you to switch from Verizon. Hopefully that'll overcome abysmal customer service, crappy voice quality and a data network that just outright sucks.

So no, the Gizmodo writers aren't idiots, unless they actually believed that story they posted (and weren't just reporting on Mad Money's made up news). If they did believe it, I'm happy to be banned, 'cuz I've read enough iPraise.

The Razr sold "like hotcakes" once the price fell. Only tools bought it at full price, and they discovered it wasn't worth the hype. Is it a decent $30 phone? Yeah. Will the iPhone be $500 cool? No. $100 cool? Maybe. You'll never catch me with one, not if they gave it to me WITH the full contract for free. It just isn't worth carrying.

Brad

BTW, it actually makes a lot of sense to see some very aggressive plan pricing done here. There are not a lot of people in the market for an iPhone who do not already have a phone. And anyone who has a phone but is not already on Cingular is going to have to pay a some amount of a fee for breaking their contract to switch or wait on average a year until their plan expires (assuming everyone has 2 year plans with random start dates). While people don't ally to wireless companies like brands toothpaste, it can still be a pain to switch, transfer data, etc. Now that $500 phone can be a net $700 purchase plus the hassle of changeover and THEN comes the plan fees....

There are a lot of people who can afford $700+ to be cool and AT&T can swing a little market on their side until the clones come- and they are on the way. However if they plan to get people to throw their current Verizon/Sprint phones out of the window without a second thought and lock themselves in for a price-fixed iPhone then Cingular would benefit in the long-term by pricing the plan downwards.

Cingular wins by higher volume multiplying the smaller margins while at the same time pulling people away from other carriers and Apple wins by selling more units which is the entire point of being in the business.

Huntred

huntred

Makito

fastm3driver

The report is nonsense. We've always said the only way you can get the iPhone is with a Cingular 'rape plan.' "

SexCpotatoes

Lupison

nuggett76

gizmodo banned me for the truth.

Joe Alien

Or, we could try the novel approach of not reporting right away on every unsubstantiated (and patently untrue) rumor that goes by?

David Schloss

ElPresidente408

Subsidy? Subsidy! They don't need no stinkin' subsidy.

1of3Stooges

pdateky

That means that discounts on the plan (e.g. reduced data cost) is a possibility. Unlike for other smartphones, Cingular is not paying $300 of subsidies. Those savings can pave the way to reduced data plan cost.

Also, Cingular's denial is rather vague. All it says is you have to have a Cingular plan. That does not exclude discounts.

cesjr

Nothing in there about it being free.

Coco Schwab

sebas0069

roo766

This is apple. tried and proven. The only way the price will go down is if, there are rerubs on the applesite, OR if in 6 months, there is a new iphone.

Bet on it.

StackyBotrus

Tommo_UK

Brian Lam, Gizmodo Sanitation Engineer

R2B2

wooties

Both the iPhone and the Pearl I have now would have the same monthly plan. Would I get $300 more enjoyment using the iPhone instead of the Pearl over those two years? Yeah, I dare say I would.

someToast

By the way, I noticed part two of your rant came 5 minutes later. Not sure if that's because it was too long to fit into the first one (probably not the case) or if it's because you have nothing better to do than spew forth random piles of steaming crap (probably the case).

By the time the contract is over, no one cares about *any* phone you own. They'll all be scratched and outdated after two years.

hughjass

The value of "cool" drops on a mass-produced item as more people own it, since the only barrier to owning it is capitol.

I predict that this, like every Apple product, will enjoy a short-term burst of sales, then drop off just as quickly. I predict that by the time the contracts are up, no one will care that you have a scratched up, half-functional, $600 "phone".

Brad

Do people out there think that Cingular/ATT/Apple are out to "help them out"? If Cingular could afford to get people to switch by offering them 18months of free service on a 2 year contract...why limit it to the iPhone? Why not do that on every plan?

Cingular won't HAVE to subsidize the phone, or offer a price break on the plan, because a bunch of dumb, blindly-following Mac_Acolites will sell a kidney to get one, no matter the price.

Vote with your dollar people: the thing is only that expensive because idiots like you (Gizmodo authors, esp) are going to shell out for it, not because that's actually a reasonable price. You're paying for "cool" - which is such an absurd concept it makes my head hurt.

Is it REALLY $1800 useful over 2 years? At $100/mo (taxes, etc) plus $600 (plus $70 tax...on the $850 of the phone)....you're looking at a lot of money for a damn phone that's not all that useful. Certainly not as useful as say...a laptop at that price.

Brad

C'mon Cingular!!! Give us FREE SERVICE!!!!!!

mikehock

Make you say "why the F not! I'm getting one" of course :P regardless of what ur plan is! They like money u know...

ProsumeThis

I'd look for free data service for six months, etc. Somthing that would roughly equal the 300 dollars subsidy they do on the high end phones they sell now.

mattjumbo

jmdecombe

But rumors shouldn't be posted anyway. I mean, really, 1.5 years of free service? That would be too much. Oh well, I guess you'll have to actually pay for this. The iphone's overhyped anyway. But I wouldn't mind having one either.

quikboy

if it's only Apple....i don't care. it's APPLE!

I will go into DEBT to buy this miraculous piece of technology.

Can I have one of those Chesterfield's now?

You're so cool....You're so cool....You're so cool....

Look! Demi Moore!

That there's an AK-47! When you absolutely positively have to kill every motherfucker in the room....

Just stop.

What? WHAT!

all my love,

CHRIS~!

cmarsh

But despite the rumor's utter absurdity... it's still too bad it's not true.

hughjass