Who's bying the iPhone?

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I'm interested to see how users use the AT&T data service (slow+shitty) vs. the built-in Wifi.
 
Sloane Peterson said:


You work in it? What do you mean? Ok well, don't buy it then. Who says you have to? If you don't want anything you don't have to buy it, but tons of other people will, so it won't matter. I just know it's like any other novelty item, especially from Apple. They sell like no other.

IT = information technology = fixing, maintaining, installing, purchasing computers.

I'm not saying people won't buy it, but I'm agreeing with Martina that while everyone WANTS it, not THAT many people are going to buy it b/c 1) it's way too expensive and 2) not to many people are keen on switching providers, especially to AT&T. Like she said, it's way out of reach to a large segment of the public, plus the other segment that's not switching phone service just for a fad. I do not think this is the same as iPods because 1) those are way cheaper, 2) they don't affect your phone service and 3) I think a LOT more people care about music and media than music, media AND communications (I'm thinking of the hundreds of little kids I know that have iPods....why would they ever get an iPhone?)
 
Yeah of course kids wouldn't get Blackberries either. This is a smart phone on a whole new level. It's like those other phones that kids and most of the public don't have...because not too many normal people need such amenities on a phone. I mean if you are in business where things like that are applicable, sure, you're going to drop some dough to get a phone that meets your needs. The iPhone is really just all that plus the level of coolness that only Apple can produce...it just looks amazing and it's revolutionary in that it has touch screen and visual voicemail, etc.

But, I agree with you. It's very expensive and it's kind of crappy that at&t has the monopoloy on phone service for the iPhone. I mean where I live, at&t does not even have service. So that sucks for me.

It definitely won't be as big a seller as the iPod because iPods are available to a wider market segment: adults, children, teens, and you don't even need any special things to use them. You just need a computer, which the growing majority of people have. iPods can be as cheap as $50 now (for a refurbed Shuffle) and compared to $499, that's extremely affordable to mainstream customers.

So yeah the want sometimes isn't the only factor in purchasing. Often, it comes down to affordability and practicality.
 
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Liesje said:

1) it's way too expensive and 2) not to many people are keen on switching providers, especially to AT&T. Like she said, it's way out of reach to a large segment of the public, plus the other segment that's not switching phone service just for a fad. I do not think this is the same as iPods because 1) those are way cheaper, 2) they don't affect your phone service and 3) I think a LOT more people care about music and media than music, media AND communications (I'm thinking of the hundreds of little kids I know that have iPods....why would they ever get an iPhone?)
oh lies, I love discussing with you, so, for
#1: explain why is it too expensive? Is a smart cell phone (2 contract w/Blackberry=$299) plus an iPod (most sold, the nano, $199) plus other stuff the iPhone only have, and it comes with the dock and that stereo headset (it's far better than the one that comes with iPods, though it looks like the same) and I'm sure more is going to be added with the software updates Apple has promised. also, remember this is a 1st gen product, so imagine what's up next.

#2:A LOT of people have sitched with providers, also a lot of people are reporting that the EDGE network is been faster than before. Also, the iPhone is about to be hacked, so you can use it with any network.

Now, referring to iPods:
1. At first, they weren't this cheap (which are not very cheap, just normal I think) and they were uglier, of course, that changed but look at the iPhone and tell me if the prices don't justify it. Yes they do...
2.no, but then you'll have like I used to have, 3 gadgets for your life, a cell phone, an iPhone and an electronic agenda. This is a simple, single, well intergrated device.
3. That is not true at all, if you go and make some research you'll discover that the most gigant market is the cell phone market. Is way bigger than the market of Digital cameras or game consoles ormp3 players (which 65% is of the iPod) and even PCs...
Apple's goal for the iPhone is 1% market share in the cell phone market which is 10M iPhones sold. And they already sold up to 700,000 up to date, so I don't see how problamtic this would be. And remember that at thend of the year the iPhone is arriving in Europe and in 2008 to Asia and Latin America.
come on, you don't know that, technology is everywhere. For example, my niece is first grade and half of her class has/use real cell phones. Why not buy an iPhone? Some people have lots of money and kids that always want to be in the hype. What I mean is that techonolgy is chaging every person's life, including kids.

Ok, that was fun, love and peace
-FCA
 
fca780 said:
Apple's goal for the iPhone is 1% market share in the cell phone market


Sloane Peterson said:
not too many normal people need such amenities on a phone.


Well, there you have it. :wink:


Why not buy an iPhone? Um, it's $500 plus $60/mo, that's why not. The though of dropping that much cash for something I don't want, I don't need, and I think is ugly and annoying makes me giggle. If someone handed me an iPhone today, I'd sell it or give it to someone else.
 
Ooh boy, my friend receives his iPhone tomorrow. (his dad is bringing it back from Chicago) I can't want to see it in person and to use it. :) Even though it's not mine, I still can't wait to test drive it.
 
I played with one today. I admit I was impressed, didn't think I'd like it or thought it would be hard to use. In fact I think I wanted to hate it.

i didn't it's very nice. I can see it taking over. For all the blackberry users it's just more user friendly with more features. I'm sure there are drawbacks. I doubt the batterlife is very good. And I certainly can't justify the expense for me.
 
theres only one thing that could convince me to buy an iPhone, or any phone for that matter:

a limited phone list setting. this could be a mode that i switch to (much like switching the ringer to "work mode" so that it is silent, vibrating, or a different ringer altogether.) too often have i drunk dialed the WRONG people. yes, i could just delete the numbers, but in these particular cases, they are friends. it is just awkward when you know someone is interested in you, and you aren't interested in him, and then you drunkdial him and the next day you have to break his heart.

only then would i consider paying $600 for a phone. that sum of money is worth it compared to the consequences of the above mentioned situation.
 
fca780 said:

oh lies, I love discussing with you, so, for
#1: explain why is it too expensive? Is a smart cell phone (2 contract w/Blackberry=$299) plus an iPod (most sold, the nano, $199) plus other stuff the iPhone only have, and it comes with the dock and that stereo headset (it's far better than the one that comes with iPods, though it looks like the same) and I'm sure more is going to be added with the software updates Apple has promised.


Regarding the blackberry v iphone issue: The iphone is too expensive compared to the blackberry. I know many people with a blackberry. One guy bought the blackberry himself, the rest are "work" phones. I simply don't see companies, besides apple of course, shelling out $500-600 for a phone. The iphone was made for a different market than the blackberry, it seems.
 
WildHoneyAlways said:



Regarding the blackberry v iphone issue: The iphone is too expensive compared to the blackberry. I know many people with a blackberry. One guy bought the blackberry himself, the rest are "work" phones. I simply don't see companies, besides apple of course, shelling out $500-600 for a phone. The iphone was made for a different market than the blackberry, it seems.

Yep. My employer (which is a college) provides the higher ups with Blackberries or Trios or something similar. They'd laugh in our faces if people were asking for iPhones and being serious.
 
Liesje said:

Why not buy an iPhone? Um, it's $500 plus $60/mo, that's why not.

It's not even the $500 initial cost (this is really only slightly more than the high end Blackberries), but it's the monthly plan. Once you pay taxes on that, you're talking closer to $70, nevermind that this is the most basic plan (most people I know who use Blackberries for business are paying closer to $100).

Even though iPods were initially quite a lot more expensive (I think I paid just over $400 for my 2nd gen one waaaay back when) than they are now, there was no monthly subscription fee. So you can swallow a one-time $400 bill. But how many people are going to be able to afford $500 for the phone + $800 or so more every year for service?

Limited market. If they made iPhones with an iPod and a simple phone (no e-mail service), and let people go on $25/month plans like they do now, well then that would make a huge difference.
 
Liesje said:


Yep. My employer (which is a college) provides the higher ups with Blackberries or Trios or something similar. They'd laugh in our faces if people were asking for iPhones and being serious.

Yeah, but a lot of businesses (most biglaw firms I'm familiar with) simply have a tech budget and they don't care what you buy. So if they give you $500 allowance for a phone, should you choose to get an iPhone and have to pay on top of it to get one, they don't care.

Of course if your business is providing phones, I can't imagine that very many would actually provide iPhones. I think you're right that a lot of them would probably look at you like you've grown a second head.
 
anitram said:
Of course if your business is providing phones, I can't imagine that very many would actually provide iPhones. I think you're right that a lot of them would probably look at you like you've grown a second head.

They do provide the phones. The only cell phone I've ever had is the one I have right now through work, so I never use it b/c each team or sub-dept has these shared plans and we can't use those minutes for personal stuff. We don't get to pick our phones, they just hand you a phone pre-programmed with the numbers of all the people you'd need. I got the phone of the guy who I replaced, so I got his number and had to change the voicemail from him to me. The VPs have a bit more choice b/c their own departments (not Information Technology) are supplying their devices, but we use Nextel and Verizon as our providers. No one is going to get an iPhone b/c we have Nextel towers on-campus, nothing from AT&T. Also, no technology budget I know of is going to allocate $500+ per person for a single gadget that as far as I know will not sync with our e-mail and calendaring system. At a small private college, that just is not going to happen.
 
Did you see on the news people are finding out that you can't change, or even take the battery out yourself? You have to mail it back to them and pay $79 plus shipping fees. What a sneaky trick. I'm glad I didn't buy one.
 
I guess it's like the iPod.

That would really irritate me as a business person - most people who travel a lot or use their cell phones heavily have 2 batteries so they can swap them often.
 
How weird! Yeah, at work we have a stack of batteries and a charger the batteries sit in. I never even charge my own phone, I just take a charged battery (or two) and leave my old one in the charger.
 
Butterscotch said:
Did you see on the news people are finding out that you can't change, or even take the battery out yourself? You have to mail it back to them and pay $79 plus shipping fees. What a sneaky trick. I'm glad I didn't buy one.
Always been this way with iPods. Much like the iPods, I'm sure there's an alternate way to change the battery yourself involving a very thin putty knife and some careful prying.

Most people don't want to go through this, however, including most of the iPhone's target demo, methinks.
 
anitram said:
I imagine they'll make a nano version of it

Haha, vindicated!

Apple may introduce a model of its iPhone this year that is 50 percent cheaper than the handsets that went on sale in the U.S. last month, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Kevin Chang said.

The new model, based on Apple's thin iPod Nano, may cost less than $300, Chang said today by telephone from Taipei, citing a patent Apple filed in the U.S. and components suppliers he declined to identify. Apple began sales of two iPhone models priced at $499 and $599 on June 29.
 
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