iPhone dreams: Dazed and Confused

by maleger | July 11, 2008 at 01:20 am

730 views | 42 Recommendations | 8 comments

Opinion and Gestalt psychotherapy

Today, july 11th 2008, Apple and Rogers are releasing the new iPhone 3G into the Canadian landscape. I was all set to get one: I had figured out how to rationally justify the expense, I had demonstrated how I was going to use all the features and, more imprtantly, I had convinced my wife I needed one. But now that the day has come, I will stay home.

After carefully considering all the options, trying to understand all the options and the features, I determined that I just can't justify comitting a 3 year contract and between 3000$ to 5000$ of my hard earned money to my cell phone bill. So I will continue carrying a cellphone, an iPod Nano and a Laptop with an attached GPS. I will continue to pester at the weight and annoyance. I will make do with what I have and wait.

As Barry Artiste pointed out in his opinion piece Six iPhone Disappointments , there are issues that I do actually care about, but would of been ready to put aside to help me feel good abot my purchase:

No Flash
No Replaceable Batteries
Video Recording
No Cut-And-Paste
No Multimedia Messaging Service
Bonus: No Voice Dialing

But I will stay at home today, dazed, trying to understand why Rogers are holdig me back from my iPhone dreams. I will stay at home, confused, still trying to understand the complex rate offerings. And next week, I will go purchase a Blackberry. I hope it will sync with iTunes on my iMac. I'll have to maintain my techno-guru status with my students with my other gadgets. Maybe an Asus eee running Linux will help deal with the cravings.

Latest update

I purchased a new MacBook and got a free iPod Touch (Student back to school deal), then got IM Skype, Skype unlimited North America and a SkypeIn number. I can make Skype calls with my iPod Touch and it does a transfer to my cell phone as a local call, shich is part of my SkypeOut plan. So I have to carry my iPod and my cell... but it only costs me 30$ a month for my cell + about 40$ total for the Skype and IM Skype. I needed the MacBook anayway, so the iPod is basicly free !

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Rob Walker

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:35 on July 11th, 2008

maleger, thanks for bringing us your thoughts on this story.

Apple sent me an email telling me about the iPhone the other day, this is the response I sent them:

"Actually, while both my partner kate and I were interested in buying iPhones and using them for work and commuting, we're very concerned with Roger's pricing plan and 3 year contract. This is the longest contract in the history of cell phones, and it makes us uncomfortable.

Also, there is no unlimited option, unlike the american AT&T plan of a similar price. Until these issues are resolved, we won't be buying your products, which is unfortunate as we really want them!"

Too bad Rogers is doing this, at least Apple is ticked off too.

Jarrett Martineau

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:11 on July 11th, 2008

maleger, there were a paltry half dozen sad sacks sitting outside the Rogers store in downtown Vancouver this morning, patiently waiting to sign up for 3 year contracts. I wouldn't exactly call that an enthusiastic product launch.

I wonder if Apple and Canadian telco's will ever get their acts together and start delivering products with improved feature sets, coupled with reasonable rate plans. I'm dreaming again, aren't I?

Jordan Yerman

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:13 on July 11th, 2008

How about the OpenMoko phone?

The pricing is the deal-breaker for me, since I never use voice-dialing or MMS anyway.

How about you, gentle (or not-so-gentle) reader? Are you in or are you out?

Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:15 on July 11th, 2008

maleger, I like this story. It's good stuff.

I will not be buying an iPhone - I would want one, but it seems to be too much red tape to go through for my liking.

PEP

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:16 on July 11th, 2008

maleger, I like this story. It's good stuff.

I've decided against the iphone, for many reasons, from lack of voice capabilities to again, Apple's seeming sense of being well, far too precious! I tried to watch the vide at apple.com about the new phone. Went through the same thing as when I tried to watch a video about another Apple product awhile back.

It told me I needed Quicktime. Already had it. But had to d/load, re-install. Took a lot of time. Then the video stopped spontaneously, several times, and would only re-run to that point, but never advance.

So I decided that any technology company that couldn't quickly, reliably, clearly, and effectively provide information to a consumer who might buy their product should be regarded as a company whose product might have problems, too. The boy taking $1 to the bank type thing.

Now, reading the reviews, I'm glad I decided no.

JeffHuang

at 14:10 on July 11th, 2008

All the hype and now all the disappointments.

maleger

at 14:15 on July 11th, 2008

Yep !

I looked at the other options. The OpenMoko seems really cool, but ay 599$US, it's a bit much, The Plam Treo and other models are also pretty expensive. If I buy a MacBook, I get a free iPod, so I could get the MacBook (I need to replace my laptop anyway), get the iPod Touch and keep my cell phone... Still I hesitate.