So the new iPhone was announced yesterday, the 3g S. Aside from the new firmware which all phones will get, it has a faster processor, up to 32 gb storage (!!) and a better camera. All of these features are, of course, very nice, but nothing compelling enough to make me throw my 3g out the window and rush to upgrade.
But then again, this is the 3rd generation iPhone, and it’s not really about greasing the converted for a few more quid. It’s about refining a design enough and seeing if you can’t entice some new users over to the Apple side.
So, what I think *is* compelling is that they are keeping the current 3g iphone in production and lowering the cost to $99. Now *that* is a sweet deal. Yes, it’s still tied to AT&T, but this really is the greatest phone I have ever used! As per the costs of the AT&T plan, they do stick you with a mandatory data plan, but I’m paying less for the family’s three phones at AT&T than I ever did at Verizon or Sprint, so I don’t see a problem there. I can also get a signal in my lab with AT&T which I never could with the other two, so for me, at least it works. In any case, the cost of entry for an iphone has just gone down a rather substantial notch, and that is a beautiful thing…
…now if I could just manage the thing from linux…
*waits underneath Dave’s window with a catcher’s mitt and an AT&T account upgrade*
That is pretty cool – and quite out of the ordinary nowadays – that a company keeps their “old” items available and in production. Makes it seem like they actually care about their customers… *one single tear falls from Winnie’s cheek*
Plus it’s much more likely to expand the number of iphone users than the more expensive models…
My iphone screen cracked yesterday, so now I can’t use the thing. This $99 iphone thing is somewhat lessening the blow…
How much were they going to charge you to fix if off -contract?
Didn’t ask about the price yet. I apparently can’t buy a new one until September, I may wait until then…