Dan Knight
- 2007.07.24
The iPhone Is a Premium Product
Reginald W writes:
Dan,
I'm in Canada, so I don't have access to the iPhone, but I'm
following things in the US. Some comments on your article and
others I've seen on the Net. If you want to make it into an
article, gopher it. Dunno on a title, will let you decide to read
and trash, or to post it.
Any company makes a product to sell to the public that hopefully
the public will be able to use and like better than the
competition. If it is priced better, if it is more usable or more
durable or more effective or more functional and the public likes
it better, it sells and the company wins. If the public doesn't
like it or the competition sells something that is good enough,
then the company might lose or it simply retries, as does the
competition, if they are watching.
Systems are more than a single product, they are a series or
family of products that can work together, to do more than a single
product or to be variations of the product to be used in different
circumstances. They may all do the same thing, but do it
differently. Cars and trucks are similar, can do different things,
but use the same roads.
Most of what I see are a lot of whining about how the iPhone is
not this, it's not that, it forces me to change something that I've
chosen to do! How terrible!
Forced to AT&T:
For Apple to get the best bang for its development dollar, going
with a single carrier (Cingular/AT&T - remember Verizon turned
it down) is better, as they only have to develop a single radio
system (GSM vs. CDMA) and support only one carrier. Apple being new
in the phone business can not afford to support multiple carriers
or multiple radios until they get more experience in this new (for
Apple) product line.
The only other GSM option is T-Mobile, and from what I have
read, it's coverage area is minimal, so even if you could take an
iPhone to T-Mobile, everyone would be complaining about the lack of
coverage area more so than they are complaining about ATT. The fact
that some people will have to change carriers to use an iPhone is
just the cost of admission to the iPhone game.
Soooo Expensive:
What part of "Apple is a premium product provider" do you
not understand? Apple has never been and likely never will be a
lowest cost product supplier. They have tended to the higher side,
and only in the last while have they provided better bang for the
buck for consumers in their various product lines. The products
they sell, for the most part, are higher quality, last longer, are
simpler and end up being more functional due to not including
everything including the kitchen sink, the bathtub and hot tub.
For those on a budget, get over it. Save your money to buy it or
buy something different. Enough people will pay for the
functionality that Apple will sell lots. Over time, the price will
decrease on used equipment. Apple tends to have specific price
points that they stick with, introducing newer product at the same
price points so the older equipment retains its value and sinks
only when new models are introduced. This is the iPod model, and it
is only after several revisions did Apple bring out different form
factors to the iPod at different price points. I don't see Apple
doing it any different for the iPhone.
It's first Generation and it doesn't include....:
Yeah, so? Everything starts as new, as first generation.
What part of new product don't you understand? What part of Apple
makes things simpler by not including everything (see above) don't
you understand?
Apple says they will be doing updates to the iPhone over time;
this is why they are accounting for each iPhone sold over the 24
month contract of the iPhone. Leopard will add considerably to the
functionality of the iPhone when it is released, as Apple adds all
the improvements to their OS and Server. To have functionality in
the iPhone that can not connect to their current OS is stupid.
Think of the bitching that would occur when you can't actually use
the functionality of the iPhone.
Think of the buzz that Apple will generate when they add
features to the iPhone, hopefully at no cost to the iPhone user
(other than them having to buy Leopard for their Mac most likely).
I've owned a number of cell phones and have never had an
update to the phones I've owned. I'm not really aware of many
updates to cell phones, although I am sure they exist if I were to
really look. Most phones are carved in silicon and don't change
until a new model is released. Apple promises the iPhone will be
different, and I believe them.
Activation blues:
For the first time, a cell phone can be activated at home, at
your time, at your leisure. No more waiting while the sales rep is
in the back doing whatever it is they do. If they sold a half
million iPhones over a weekend, how long would you be waiting for
each sales rep to get it activated? From what I've seen and heard,
the system for activation worked superbly and only those special
circumstances (old phone number from ages ago gone through several
carriers to now switch to AT&T, different address from current
address, switching carrier, etc.) were the problem areas. Anyone
getting a new phone number or already on AT&T's network (for
the most part) breezed through activation. This says a lot about
the integration between Apple and AT&T and one of the reasons
for limiting sales to a single carrier.
No Rebate from the carrier:
Boo hoo! I wanted it cheaper! Initial cost is one thing, monthly
costs are different. Look at the total cost comparing a cheaper
phone and its voice/data plan and do a full comparison over the
term of the contract. "You can pay me now or you can pay me later"
applies especially to cell phone pricing. There is no free lunch,
and the consumer pays the costs one way or the other. Some costs
just don't get noticed as much, but from what I see, I'd
love to have the iPhone pricing plan here in Canada!
Either way, the carrier is going to charge as much as they can
for what they provide, governments are going to tax as much as they
can, and people will still use phones to communicate. Either buy it
or buy something different or nothing at all. No one is holding a
gun to your head to buy it.
Edge is too slow!
Yeah, so what? I've not really used the Internet on my phone
'cause my carrier mega-charges for it - and it sucks on my phone
anyway. Looking at the iPhone Internet access, it rocks!
Considering what battery life would be with a higher speed network,
the bitching would just change from slow to bad battery life. That
is just life.
As you stated, AT&T has increased the speed of EDGE with the
rollout of the iPhone. Considering they have added a half million
or so customers, don't you think they will increase that rollout to
keep their customers happy? It does take time though, and going
into new areas to expand their coverage does take time, but with an
increase in customers, it also makes it possible to afford to do
so. Cell towers and the infrastructure to connect them together is
not cheap. Didn't AT&T just buy a smaller GSM carrier around
the time of the iPhone launch to increase their coverage area?
Perhaps they will buy T-Mobile and take over their territory as
well, which would eliminate the idea of taking the GSM iPhone to
another US carrier as well.
When Apple goes into the European market, it may have to change
the radio in the iPhone to accommodate the local markets there. Is
this any different than different power supplies and power cords?
Every market it slightly different in how it operates, the laws
that apply, the technology that is used in those areas. It may use
the current iPhone and see how well it flies there or perhaps there
will be newer chips that allow for lower power consumption on the
G3 cell networks or other tricks that Apple might be able to
implement after analyzing their US rollout to see what works, what
doesn't.
It won't work with my Exchange server:
Sure it does, if you configure it properly, but your server
security might be less, but then it is Windows after all. It is a
consumer device, not a dedicated business device.
Don't buy it if you need to connect in a certain way to a certain
server or need to have an admin be able to cancel your phone/data
if you lose your phone. Use one of the approved phones and go on
with your life. Simple.
No other software/games/SDK:
Its a new product, for Pete's sake! It's been less than a month
that it has been released. Leopard isn't here yet to add extra
bells and whistles, and Apple is not going to jeopardize the
functionality of their new product so you can have a game of Pac
Man or Tetris on your cell phone. Tough!
Apple will be criticized for how the phone operates, how it
interacts with the user and with carrier, and how long it's battery
lasts. Keeping the iPhone system running smoothly for a new
product line is important for Apple. It will do everything in its
power to keep the experience good for the consumer and the carrier
to limit any damage to Apple. Perhaps in a year, they will be able
to offer a SDK for developers and other programs will become
available but for the moment, what you see is what you get.
I can't buy a song with only the phone/I can't add my own
ringtones/I can't....:
Designing and building any product is based upon decisions on
what to include and on what to leave out. The iPhone is no
different, and there are lots of likely reasons for each. Buying
songs on the phone turns it into a computer and different than
being an iPod, thus song licensing is going to differ. DRM requires
a lot more power, and Fairplay would have to be written to run on
the iPhone rather than being limited to what iTunes allows to be
transferred, thus keeping the iPhone simpler.
Ringtones are likely a licensing issue that may get resolved by
Apple or by someone hacking the iPhone to allow different songs to
be used.
As stated above, people don't like to change. But change happens
every day. The iPhone itself is a huge change from other phones,
but people tend to like new toys when it benefits them. If the
iPhone doesn't work for you (too expensive, too slow, I don't like
AT&T, no 3G, it doesn't have....) then don't buy it; it is as
simple as that. Go buy a different phone that works for you. It is
your choice, and moaning and whining and bitching about not being
able to have everything sounds like a three year old to me. But
then, maybe that's just me saying "tough. It's not the be-all,
end-all item for everyone. Deal with it. Buy or don't buy or wait
for it to change. Either way, bitching about it is unlikely to
produce any immediate results."
A lot of what I've seen is whining from those hoping to generate
traffic on their websites or who have a bias against Apple. Most
everyone likes the iPhone for what it can do over the competition,
except for those competitors.
Would I buy one? Love to, but it's not available here, and who
knows when it will be available. The iPhone name is currently used
by another company in Canada offering VOIP. Rogers is the only GSM
carrier in Canada, and their data plans are exorbitant, as are the
CDMA competitors (Telus and Bell Canada). I use a phone as a phone,
and I want a simple phone for what I do. Price comes into the
equation, but I won't complain about it being too costly. It is the
price they charge, and I'll either pay it or not.
While I am a long time Apple fan, I'm not a fanatic. I'll buy it
if I need it, I'll pay a premium if it is a premium product and I
can justify the product and the premium. Otherwise, I'll choose the
commodity product and just live with it.
Reginald W
PS. I'm a long time Apple user (Apple ][+ with a 4-digit serial
number in 1979, Mac 128
summer 1984, worked in three Apple dealerships (sales and tech
support, mostly Apple) and three schools/school boards (tech
support, mostly Apple) as well as doing on-site service/support
(Mac and Windows) by myself for a number of years. I've gotten out
of the computer field and only look after my own machines and a few
family and friends now, but I still keep an eye on things to see
what might help me in my current endeavors.
Reginald,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The iPhone is
indeed a premium product, and for brand new software from a new
player in the mobile phone industry, Apple has done a marvelous
job. It's only going to get better for us as time goes on.
Dan
Error in AT&T Plan for iPhone
Tim Harbison says:
Regarding the statement in the article named in the subject
line: "I think the basic 450 minute plan with unlimited Internet
access is a decent value at US$60, especially as all calls to and
from AT&T users (wireless or land line) are free."
I'm not sure where you got the impression that calls to AT&T
landline users are free. Under the plan, mobile to mobile calls to
other AT&T subscribers are free. Calls to land lines, be they
AT&T or another carrier, use up your anytime (or weekend, as
appropriate) minutes.
Tim,
I was under the impression that AT&T
Unity Plan applied across the board; that service treats all
calls to AT&T customers - wireless and land line - as no charge
calls. Checking their website, I see this is not the case. I have
corrected the article.
Dan
Value of an Old Quadra
After I suggested she boot from
a floppy or System CD and running HD SC Setup to wipe her hard
drive, Carol D'Agostino writes:
On second thought, my Mac has a CD drive and I am floppyless.
Tossed them all. There's no other way? Sorry for being such a
bother.
Carol
Carol,
You have to boot from something: a floppy disk, a
hard drive, or a CD-ROM. Your final option is to use an external
SCSI hard drive.
First, copy the System Folder from your Quadra's
hard drive to the external, and then open and close the System
Folder on that drive. This will "bless" the new System Folder. Also
be sure to copy HD SD Setup to the external drive.
Next go to the Startup Disk control panel, select
the external drive, and restart the computer. It should boot from
the external drive. Then run HD SC Setup to wipe your internal hard
drive.
Dan
Excellent. I'm sure this will do it. Thanks.
Is there a market for the Quadra 610 or an Apple LaserWriter 320
printer, and a full page Radius black and white monitor? I was
going to offer them on freecycle.org, but it seems as though there
may be a collector interest in the Quadra. I saw a recent market
value for $375, which seems high for an old computer. Any
thoughts?
I appreciate you helping me figure out this puzzle.
Thanks again.
Carol
Carol,
That $375 price is very outdated, and there's
nothing to make the Q610 a collectable. I can't even find them
selling on eBay, and one dealer I found who lists them has a $30
price on the computer. For a private sale, I think you'd be
fortunate to get $50 for the whole setup - computer, monitor,
keyboard, mouse, and printer.
Dan
Dan Knight has been publishing Low
End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.
