Slashdot Mirror
AT&T Gears Up for the iPhone
ElvaWSJ writes "In preparation for its exclusive launch of the cellphone industry's most anticipated device, AT&T is pulling out all the stops. It is adding about 2,000 temporary employees to cope with the influx of shoppers in the first few months. And it is planning for enhanced security to control the potentially large crowds and avoid theft of the phones, which will go for a steep $499 or $599, depending on memory capacity. Some sales agents expect to see people camping outside the night before. 'Apple, which plans to start selling the phone in all of its 162 retail stores on June 29, did not disclose any plans around training or staffing for the launch. Apple will also start selling the phone online on the launch date, but AT&T will first launch only in its stores ... AT&T, which is requiring iPhone shoppers to sign up for a 2-year contract, has not yet revealed the service fees it will charge iPhone customers.'"
I'm a fan boy, I'll drink the Kool-Aid and ask for seconds but WE KNOW this... Let me know when we are going to get the pricing info.
tell me when we get the contract terms, and let me know if I can get it pre-paid.
please give me some real info, Mr. Ramero.
The iPhone will bomb, and bomb carpetly. The iPod sold well because of music piracy. People needed a portable device to listen to all the music they were downloading off P2P, and the iPod fit the bill perfectly.
The iPhone offers no improvement over the iPod except the opportunity to switch cell providers and play with the shiny touch screen. This device will bomb.
... without giving money to AT&T. :-(
What is so special about the Apple phone that it needs "special" service fee? If it's a phone, and if it's using the same GSM spectrum in the same way as any other cellular GSM phone, it should cost the same as plans for their existing phones.
Is data going to cost more? Again, will there be something different in the way this iPhone sends/receives data for such things as mobile internet? If not, why does it need special pricing?
No,
you get a 2 year deal with AT&T. Then *maybe* you can get it on T-Moble. (Chances are it'll be broke or obsolete, like any other phone)
And, btw, its the same AT&T who is filtering their internet traffic to keep you from seeing the naughty stuff (see article from yesterday).
Of course, this new censorship, and end-run around net neutrality on the basis of helping the MPAA "take a bite outta crime" used to be something slashdot would be pissed about.
The old slashdot, not the new slashdot - which bravely promotes Apple products 24 hours a day.
AT&T is an awesome company, censorship is great. Besides, why would you want access to torrent sites, obviously it's better to buy everything through iTunes. God, I fucking love me some DRM in the morning. Apple has the hippest, trendiest DRM out there.
AT&T is the same company that cooperates with the government, installing multiple secret rooms used to filter (and store?) your Internet communications. Unfortunately, this isn't some kind of big-brother schizophrenic paranoia.. it's real.
I'm an Apple fanboy myself, but for this reason I canceled my AT&T service and will not purchase an iPhone until they can be unlocked or subscribed with another provider.
More here and here. If you want to watch a Frontline about the domestic survellience program, check it out here.
Oh, and every Apple Fan bashing web traffic whore posing as a "tech journalist".
Simple put, they want it to fail. They are tired of having every single lame attack on Apple being repulsed by reality of Apple's success. The company that was supposed to be dead 20 years ago continues to make "tech journalists" look like fools and that's a damn good thing. The invented reasons why people don't want an iPhone are now more numerous than the feature set, and most of theses asses have never so much as seen an iPhone in the flesh.
I wanted the iPhone to be a success for Apple's sake, but now I want it to be a runaway smash hit just to continue to annoy the naysayers and expose them as the frauds they are. Maybe, someday, they'll stop letting their irrational biases taint their Apple articles and maybe, just maybe, stick to the facts and be the journalists they are actually paid to be.
Yes, I realise that this is a pipe dream.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
I can understand there being a ton of excitement over this thing, since it's supposed to do to cellphones what the iPod did to MP3 players.
HOWEVER...
The current state of cellphone service in the US is such that 90% of existing cellular users will not be able to buy this phone, because only a small handful of users will be nearing the end of their existing contracts. Furthermore, the high price of this phone is going to dissuade some people that were on the fence already. Furthermore...Cingular isn't exactly a shining beacon of customer service these days, and their presence in some markets is outright laughable.
I just really don't see how they can expect a lines-around-buildings type of launch for this thing except in a few urban areas in high-profile stores.
Am I interested in the iPhone? You better believe it.
Am I prepared to get one? Absolutely not.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
There just isn't anything else to say about Apple's phone. The only thing surprising is how much money Apple is spending to get the constant press coverage or Slashdot type stories all over the Net.
I got to check one out a week ago and after all the silly hype it was like "heh, yea this looks like what one would imagine a phone designed by Apple would be like". There simply isn't anything compelling about the phone. It sure as hell isn't something that would ever compel me to give up my current phone which I love.
You know what I don't understand? How everyone is so excited to pay $499 or $599 for a CELLPHONE, but everybody bitches about paying $499 or $599 for a Playstation 3. One allows to you talk, surf the internet, and play music on a tiny screen; the other allows you to play Playstation games, surf the internet, watch blu-ray discs, upscale DVDs to 1080p, etc. Oh yeah - its easy to understand - hate Sony, love Apple. Am I the only one who can't comprehend spending that much money for a cell phone? I mean, I know everyone wants to eat up whatever Jobs is offering, but come on...its still a cell phone. It's going to have a new version released in a year or two at most.