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Rumor Smashed - Iphone Will Not Come With 1.5 Year Contract

gizmodo.com — Sad, I might have bought one.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 26, 2007

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  • sithmat, on 10/12/2007, -8/+69The RIAA couldn't do it. The MPAA couldn't do it. But Cingular has Steve Jobs by the balls.
  • drjekelmrhyde, on 10/12/2007, -4/+35You mean people actually believed this shyt
  • dizzledaking, on 10/12/2007, -14/+43Astounding that you are *trying* to convince yourself it's worth it! That is the job of Apple, not you. You don't really owe them anything *at all*. Corporations, such as Apple, are in the business of making money. They need to be loyal to their customers, not vice verse.

    Btw, you suck fanboy.
  • chaimpot0k, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24NO ***** ALERT
  • MrPink, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23It does sound way too good to be true. If you got the cheapest plan from Cingular at the least it would be $40 a month. Take that times 18 months that would be $720. So you would get your iPhone for free.
  • Jsmakr, on 10/12/2007, -7/+24iPhone > Iphone
  • paulmdx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17@omaryak: Wow, you sure listen to the BS Steve Jobs tells you..

    I've used both Palm OS and Windows Mobile smartphones and I've never had my phone freeze in the middle of the call. Quite simply that's just *****.

    If you don't believe it's a serious defficiency, you're a bigger fanboy than you perhaps realise.
  • Dominatus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18Uhh a 1 gig miniSD card is less than 20 bucks bro
  • RyAnderson, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Nobody but Apple and Cingular know anything at this point.
  • diulei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12C'mon people. Like Cingular/AT&T (and even Apple) would give consumers that big of a break.
  • paulmdx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13"near-desktop functionality"

    Apart from the most useful feature: being able to install 3rd party apps. That 'near-desktop functionality' means jack.
  • scootinger, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18And why would anyone think that Cingular would do this? The way things are looking right now they probably aren't even going to be able to keep enough of these in the stores anyway. Cingular doesn't need an incentive to sell the iPhone - the phone itself is (seemingly) enough to get people to switch to Cingular.
  • mjrpes, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I was also disheartened to learn the iPhone will not come with a 60" plasma screen. Sad, I might have bought one.
  • DigitalN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9its not how many diggs, its how many diggs in a certain time period.
  • themaestro8, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Wow, when I left Rumor had only had, like two beers... missed a great party.

    Damn.
  • CraigB12, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I'm going to blog about them giving free phones away... will that get to the front page too?
  • Daveecee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10More like "!=" ≠ "≠"
  • apotropaic, on 10/12/2007, -9/+17Apple, deal? LOL
  • colincornaby, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Unlike the PS3, it doesn't matter if no one has one. Apple doesn't care if they break sales records. The iPhone is a new market, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose. The PS3 needs market share to convince people to make games for it. The iPhone? 3rd party apps are banned.

    Honestly, for the class of phone it's in, it's pretty cheap. It's meant to compete with Windows Mobile and Palm smartphones, not the RAZR. For a lot of people (namely the Windows fanboys), this seems to be a concept they can't grasp. In the market segment that the iPhone is competing in, all phones are at least $500. Apple isn't going for the wide user market yet, they simply don't care. Eventually Apple will come out with the cheap iPhone for the masses, but some people need to stop pretending Apple's goal is to compete with the mass market phones.
  • ArnoldTPants, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9No *****. Anyone that believed that is an ***** idiot.
  • Daveecee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8It's iPhone. Is this concept of a lowercase "i" that Apple has used for years now STILL this difficult for some people to understand?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@BlackAdder

    I have an SE phone, and I hate the damn thing.

    I only got it because it was the cheapest thing going with bluetooth, which I need because otherwise entering contact information into any cell phone (this one included) is torture.

    It has two separate address books with two separate interfaces, stored apparently in two separate places-- but it doesn't make it clear which is which (you just have to know). It's packed with features that I'd probably use if they weren't so badly implemented, but as it is they just clutter up the interface and get in the way of the few features I do use (because I have to). Something as simple as changing the ring volume or setting it to vibrate is awkward, and involves using an interface that's activated by pressing a key, and is completely separate from the icon/menu interface. Hell, even setting a number to speed dial involves some arcane input sequence I can't even remember, and does not seem to be possible using the menu-driven UI. Convincing it to behave reasonably with a bluetooth headset is like trying to talk a wall through a driving test.

    So, yeah, not everybody is pleased with their SE phone. To be fair though, every cell phone I've ever used has had an absolute ***** UI, and I've never understood why.

  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6You prove why no one will ever regard you as an intelligent human being Jbuckner. seriously. You relaly think "Apple doesn't have paid web sites too? FAR more?

    Seriously...don't even bother answering. you are worthless to even debate with. You are not equipped with the gift of common sense and logic and you do not live in reality.

    You DO relaize that EVERYTHING that Apple has introduced in the last 20 years other than the iPod has been a miserable failure, right? Are you listening to music on your iPod HiFi right now? Remember that device? The device that Steve Jobs (and probably you right here on Digg) boasted would make the home stereo system obsolete. How many were sold? four?
  • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Yeah, All I see is when I drive by college is kids with headphones or cell phones stuck in their ears like the whole world doesn't exit. Then they cross the street in front of my van, they don't even look at the traffic at all!
  • LordVoldemort, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10"Sad, I might have bought one."

    Woe is Apple.
  • zephc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Flash memory, not a hard drive (no moving parts), otherwise it might be more than 8GB
  • g3r4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It wasn't so much the price of the RAZR, it was that there was 4,578 models of the same phone. The market was saturated with RAZRs of varying names. Other companies started ripping them off even, just because people were only, seemingly, purchasing this wallet of a phone called the RAZR.
  • Beaver6813, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5He got dugg down because people are tired of people always questioning digg and why stories reach the frontpage in like every frontpage article.
  • DRTED, on 10/12/2007, -19/+23I can see why it will get smashed, the IPHONE makes for a great door wedge...
  • djm91, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8The Iphone seems cool and all, but I don't totally support it.

    BEFORE I GET DUGG DOWN!!
    -this is Apples first ever PHONE, let alone phone/ipod/multimedia/touchscreen device theyve ever made
    -how are you going to drive and dial a number (unles you want to set up voice dialing for your contacts)
    -it cant be too durable if the screen itself is the actual heart of the phone
    -the signal it gets cant possibly be anything special, they have to store a harddrive, all the workings for the touchscreen, battery, ports for USB, Now where would there be room to fit in any decent antenna?
    -its $600 (and this phone is aimed more toward teenagers/young adults)
    -in a good 3-5 months EVERYONE will have them (just like the Razor went from $500 to buy one get 3 free)
  • KaneElson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Well yeah that is why PDA owners buy screen proctectors.
    I have one here and it is not noticable once applied, but it means you can wash or replace a piece of flexible plastic instead of replacing the case of your PDA/phone. They are rated to have 99% light penitration. http://www.eximscreenprotector.com/

    You should also probably get a leather case (or silicone/hard plastic) so the devices case doesn't get scratched up .. but that is obviously not as essential.
  • sych0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm sure this is true, 1.5 years of free service is completely unbelievable. But, I no longer trust anything from gizmodo after their stupid cisco iphone traffic-grab
  • BlackAdderIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@caketank

    You're the first person I've met who didn't feel their SE phone was worth the money, but it's information worth having, so digg for you.
  • djm91, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3totally agree. I remember when i first saw the Razor and i was thinking wow thats really really cool. Now all i gotta do is go to the Cingular store and the guy offers me a 4 for the price of 1

    oh and all different colors too!!!
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I hear Japan is nice this time of year...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah..and for the 5 people on the planet that actually thought for a second that the rumor was true, theis is bad news. Forhte rest of us with even one ounce of common sense, it is nothing.

    Anyone that thought that Cingular was going to take a LOSS on this was just plain stupid. Cell providers profit margins are huge. But they are NOT 80%. And that is what they would have to be for them to subsidize the iPhone's purchase price, AND give 24 months of service at the price of only 6 months.

    Thkn about it for a second. ACtualy use your brain for something other than whining about how amazing Battlestar Galactica is. A customer getting an $80 a month contract would end up paying $980 for a phone that cost Cingular at least $650 and two years of service. Meaning that Cingular would get $330 for providing 2 years of service. Sorry, but it costs them more than $14 a month for that service.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Itunes is free because it is used to sell you something.
    otherwise it would kind of like having to pay to go in a store. which only happens in trade shows :)
  • ReqX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Interestingly, the RAZR was $600 at launch and there weren't any discounts.

    My, my how things have changed.
  • nicku, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah, Cingular's base plan for 1.5 years would be over $700. I won't expect to see any deals on these till at least 6mo after the launch. You have to let the fan boys pay the premium before trying to pull in average Joe.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Apple DOES give away free iTunes...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+81 good point the iPods are not exactly the most reliable things..are the batteries replaceable on iPhone?
    2 good. stay off the phone when you are driving.
    3: electronics do not work like that.
    3: the electronics are tiny. the phone is bigger. plenty of space.
    4: price will probably come down. how long is at&t got exclusive on it?
    5: who cares if everyone has something. if it is good it is good.
  • monkeyflingpoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Nobody will be talking about the iPhone if Apple announces a new widescreen touch iPod during the Superbowl. (Even if it isn't a revolutionary mobile phone or a breakthrough internet communications device) And remember, Apple has history for making great Superbowl commercials...

    http://digg.com/apple/Apple_to_Announce_Touch_Screen_Widescreen_Video_iPod_During_Super_Bowl
  • lbytesxk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2you're right, iPhone should only be affordable to every Apple fanboy sheep retards
  • Cronus6, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Allow the installation of 3rd-party apps and it's not a mobile phone anymore; it's a handheld computer..."

    So my Windows SmartPhone is REALLY a handheld computer. Wow, thanks, I had no idea it was that cool.

    I love my freeware SmartPhone apps, games and utilities, Apple is really missing out on a good thing here. Personally I think they are trying to be greedy by this move.
  • Zero2aHero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Since it's Gizmodo, are we going to have to wait until Monday to find out if this is related to Linksys or Apple?
  • t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've got one of those exim protectors on my Palm TX - it's awesome. You can barely tell it from the original screen.
  • allancorbett, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I see what you're getting at but I always miss calls 'cos I'm listening to music in my headphone whilst my phone is in my pocket...
  • bdizzlefizzle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sorry, but this is BS. We don't and won't know until it happens, but thestreet.com was quoting an AT&T exec from their analyst conference call. I would tend to believe that over some sales rep in a Cingular store who has zero visibility into such matters.

    And this would be a good idea for Cingular since you HAVE to use Cingular to use the iPhone. So they loose money on you for a while, but they are so sure you'll love the phone and the service that you'll stay with them for a long time, and thus it's worth it. Plus, you'll spend more than the average person, thus driving their ARPU higher (ave rev per user), which, along with churn, is the main metric analysts look to when valuing a wireless company. I think this is a great way to take massive share.
  • KaneElson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Tell me how it is any better than say a HTC universal.... atleast the universal allows third party apps and is by a company who knows what they are doing in terms of PDAs and phones....
  • Herolint, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@bsolidgold

    You forgot to mention that the Trans-Am has a primer finish and is blaring Molly Hatchet out of the one working speaker.
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