Published by deborah.woehr on 10 Jun 2008 at 08:38 pm
Beware of iPhone G3’s Hidden Costs
I’ve been drooling over the iPhone since it was launched. The biggest attractor for me is mobile web surfing and email, not to mention the design. But it was out of my price range. That, and I already have a perfectly good cell phone that I don’t use all that much. So, I began looking at portable Internet tablets, such as the iTouch and the Nokia.
That said, I asked one of my colleagues how her son liked the iPhone that he got last Christmas. She said that he loves it and that I should wait until June, when the new iPhone hits the market. June is here, and the iPhone G3 was released with better features, such as faster Internet speed and a lower price tag. The new phone costs $100 less . . . initially.
Christopher Null calculated the real price of owning one of these phones in his article, How the Cheaper iPhone 3G Actually Costs You More.
For the price they’re charging their customers for this phone in monthly fees and add-ons, you could buy a brand new MacBook Pro or two PC laptops. Ridiculous.
Scot on 11 Jun 2008 at 5:20 pm #
Deborah,
“Twice as fast; Half the price.” Hmmm. I think with all the new gizmo’s coming out lately, we really have to step back and ask ourselves whether buying the latest and greatest will add any particular value to our lives. We seem to always want the newest thing, but the question is whether we actually need it. Dell does similar advertising. They offer their newest computer for $389, which sounds great. But then when you total all the add-ons it needs to be a viable product, you’re actually looking at a computer that comes out at $1,400. Still a good price I suppose, but a let down compared to the starting price.
I’m beginning to think a cabin in the woods sounds more inviting all the time.
Scot
deborah.woehr on 11 Jun 2008 at 6:58 pm #
A cabin in the woods sounds great to me, Scot.
What surprises me is the fact that I’m not hearing too much complaining about the classic bait and switch practices by these companies. I also agree with your point about necessity.