Comments on: Yes, Original iPhone Owners, I Am Sympathetic

By: joecab

joecab — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:25:29 +0000

“But at the end of the day, it’s just a phone.”

I disagree. It does a LOT more than that, and just because it can also make calls I wouldn’t even call that its primary function. This new breed of smartphones is a completely different animal and our old ways of classifying phones ain’t gonna cut it here.

But you’re right about the carrier policies. If it’s going to be tied to a carrier, it should get the same inlocking deal as anything else tied to them. Lets hope next year really is the end of the exclusivity and things will get more relaxed and competitive.

By: ecco6t9

ecco6t9 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:49:31 +0000

I’m sorry but being exclusive is not anti competitive at all.
Sprint and Verizon could of easily out bid AT&T for iPhone rights.

By: @eric_andersen

@eric_andersen — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:35:40 +0000

“That’s one of the most consumer-unfriendly moves in the history of the cell phone business”

^OK, but it was also one of the most successful launches in the history of the cell phone business. Though it did make me wait.

By: Harry McCracken

Harry McCracken — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:20:41 +0000

@Sherif I’m very willing to accept counterarguments on which phone gets the honor of being the most important one ever (and hey, if you caught me on a different day I might change my mind).

The points in favor of the iPhone: The interface (perhaps the first one that’s better in many respects than those of traditional PCs) and the app store. And the fact that it has a real browser. And, of course, how incredibly influential it’s proving to be.

Oddly enough, the PHONE part of the iPhone has nothing to do with its importance as a phone…

–Harry

By: Sherif

Sherif — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:13:58 +0000

“The iPhone is an exceptional product–probably the most important cell phone in the history of cell phones … ”

More important than the Motorola StarTac (or for that matter the MicroTAC; check the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_MicroTAC)? More important than the Blackberry or the Handspring (both of which pioneered the smartphone market that Apple entered)? The iPhone *is* exceptional, but there are many other contenders for the “most important cell phone in history” title … including many that haven’t been built yet* ;-).

(* The future!)

By: Backlin

Backlin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:05:02 +0000

“The iPhone is an exceptional product–probably the most important cell phone in the history of cell phones, and an amazing gadget in spite of some significant flaws. But at the end of the day, it’s just a phone. And carrier policies relating to it should be the same as for any other phone they sell.”

^There’s one reason as to why it took so long to find a contract-free iPhone. Another reason being AT&T knew they would get exclusivity for at least five years, so there was no incentive to offer an unlocked phone. Something for the anti-competition crowd to chew on there.

I know that some countries require cell-phone manufacturers to provide an unlocked option to help spur competition. I don’t see that coming any time soon under this administration, however.