[LINK] the Apple iPhone rort

[Adam Todd]

At 01:28 PM 11/07/2007, David Goldstein wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I'd put this posting below on my website - 
>http://technewsreview.com.au/ - and thought I'd post it here and see 
>what the response was. It's based on an article in The Guardian 
>today that makes a few more points on the new must-have iPhone. 
>Well, must have only for those who are slaves to marketing hype. It 
>makes points that have been made before.

Must Have?  If it's a MUST HAVE, how come they only made a small 
number and locked it to one network?

People MUST HAVE food and water to survive.  I don't see those items 
coming in restricted quantities being locked to one retail store (yet!)

If people are stupid enough to fall for the MUST HAVE iPhone well 
that's their own stupidity.

There was one selling on Ebay for $4500.  Some guy from Sydney flew 
to New York to buy one to being back to Australia.  Of course he 
can't use it, in fact it won't even boot up because it's locked and 
has to be activated on the AT&&T network - doesn't that raise eye 
brows!  What a waste of money!

Who'd by a Version 1 hardware/software item anyway?  Wait till 
version 3 or 4 :)  (Oh hang on, if everyone did that, then no one 
would buy the V 1,2's and we'd never get to Version 3.)

>To have an iPhone one must agree to a contract with AT&T, previously 
>described as one of the worst mobile phone service providers in the US.

I agree with that sentiment.  I've been warned about AT&T for casual use.

>So if you want an iPhone, and you are already contracted to another 
>company, you have to terminate that contract with the related fees 
>that involves.

See this couldn't happen in Australia.  It falls under Restrictive 
Trade.  Of course Telstra will probably be the iPhone network in 
Australia and the excuse will be that their network is the only one 
compatible with the phone.  Which is cr@#!

I think Steve Jobs is doing himself and Apple a massive disservice by 
locking the phones to a single network.  What about people who want 
to travel with their iPhone?  You have to buy one for each country?

What a bogus process!

You can't even use it as a glorified ipod without activating it with AT&T!

>"The only solution to this problem is a political one. Decisions 
>that legislators and regulators in Washington make now will 
>determine what the internet looks like in the future. The US 
>Congress is holding a hearing this week - call it the iPhone hearing 
>- to discuss the new technology and its impact on consumer choice."

What, how to maximise profits and taxes by limiting choice?

>So all this, and combined with the rort of having to send your phone 
>to Apple just so you can exchange the battery, and other lock-ins, 
>I'd hope smart people would boycott the iPhone. Even if it's just to 
>somehow enable consumer choice and stop the drift away from a "free 
>and open internet".

Sadly there are people who are sold on what they are told, rather 
than what they know.

Like those who are buying $14,000 RRP NEW cars from Motor Finance 
Wizard, who sell the car 4 years old for $17,000 - go figure.