AT&T: Squeezing the life out of iPhone

[cmschmidt]

There are certainly phones being sold without forcing voice plans down your throats.

Blackberries are one example.

And why couldn't I use the iPhone sans voice? Email, web browsing, YouTube, movies, SMS, Google Maps, pictures, syncing with your Mac seamlessly... etc. I don't plan to use it as a modem. I plan to use it as a communications device. I just can't use voice (being deaf and all).

Frankly, I could go as far as calling this discrimination...

while i now understand why you don't need voice, i dont' think you can call it discrimination. AT&T is not keeping you from using the device with a voice plan. you just don't want to pay for the part you can't use. big difference.

 

[zelman]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm unaware of any phone, anywhere that can be bought and used for data only without a voice plan involved. There are wireless modems that have plans like this, but no phones that I know of.

but maybe I'm wrong...

The T-Mobile Sidekick is HUGE in the deaf community. You can get it with a $30/month data & text only plan. Cheapest voice + sidekick plan is $50.

 

[dagomike]

I'm really getting sick of people using the contract as an added cost to the iPhone. Everyone is already paying for a cell, so the only added cost is the DIFFERENCE between the iPhone plan current plan.

 

[Jimmyz]

Before I chose a data plan, can I change my data plan at any time? Lets say that I realized I am using texting more than I thought, so I want to upgrade my 500 free texts to 1500, can I do that without penalty?

 

[cmschmidt]

Before I chose a data plan, can I change my data plan at any time? Lets say that I realized I am using texting more than I thought, so I want to upgrade my 500 free texts to 1500, can I do that without penalty?

yes. you can always change between data plans and text plans. as long as you dont' cancel the contract you're ok.

 

[jlwillia]

I'm really getting sick of people using the contract as an added cost to the iPhone. Everyone is already paying for a cell, so the only added cost is the DIFFERENCE between the iPhone plan current plan.

I'm getting sick of people assuming that their argument is ALWAYS correct. In my case, I do currently have a cell phone. HOWEVER, I don't pay for it because I am on my parents' plan. I recently graduated from undergraduate and will be going to law school. My parents said I could stay on their plan if I so desire, but would not pay for another plan (or the iphone). So for me, the cost of the iphone is actually $60 x 24 months (2 year contract) + $499 (for the phone) = $1939.

And for those of you who are trying to compare that to the cost of a macbook, you are also incorrect. The $1939 cost of the iphone is NOT the net present value. You would have to discount the 60x24 over a two-year period. I don't have my financial calculator with me at the moment, but it may be true that it is somewhere close to the cost of a Macbook.

At any rate, I'm still thinking about buying an iphone. It will have a big impact on the cell phone market.