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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.'"
and why have I never heard of it?
Sweet informative mod.
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.
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?
More likely, a stolen phone will be programmed to automatically take a picture of the person holding it, read their fingerprints on the touch screen, silently send out its GPS-derived position, and then use a Sony battery to burst into flames in the thief's hands and pockets!
Seriously, if this thing doesn't have the latest security protection against theft and misuse, it's a waste of money.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
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.
GSM is one of the three cell protocols in use in America right now. AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM, Sprint and Verizon use CDMA, and Sprint-Nextel uses iDEN/TDMA. When you're roaming, you're probably using the "other network"'s towers
"I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
You're obviously USian.
b ile_Communications
GSM is the standard protocol that the world uses.
Except for the US. It uses IS-95.
So, because the iPhone uses GSM, it'll only work with two US carries, and THE REST OF THE WORLD.
GSM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mo
IS-95: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IS-95
Lame.
This device will bomb.
I love it when Taco posts anonymously.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Some Cisco thing, I think.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Yes, there will be rabid KoolAid-drinking fanboys that will throw away a phone + plan bought yesterday and buy one of these. However, the fans would most likely have held off buying phones since the January announcement. There will be a lot of people who have plans that have expired or will expire in the next few months. Apple can achieve their sales goals within the normal upgrade stream.
AT+T already has almost 60M subscribers. Apple has set a target of selling 10M iphones in 2008. They coupld probably do that within the AT+T client base without getting anyone to switch.
From a manufacturing stand point, the last thing Apple wants is for everyone to dump their phones and buy iphone on the day of release. Manufacturing huge numbers is very difficult. With the goal of selling 10M phones in a year, almost 1M per month, they'd rather have customers roll in slowly than in one big wave. Plan lock in helps because it means that people will wait until their current plan completes (or nears completion), thus providing a smoothing effect.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I live in the UK, and when I walk into a mobile phone shop, I get shown a selection of phones, all of which work on every tarriff (orange, o2, virgin etc.) and I look, and a nice helper comes up and explains all the features, and after a lonhg explanation I choose a phone I would like. After this, we sit down and I say how much I will use the phone, and the sales assistant will say, well, you could go for pay and go, and that means the phone will cost you £150 (average high end example) and that I can top up any time I want and the amount I top up will give me so many minutes. He will also say you can get this phone on contract, and will present me with several 1 or 2 year contracts for this phone ranging from £15-£50, and of course minutes, and off-peak minutes and data transfer provided will vary. However, what will not happen is when they ask me if I want a contract, they will never charge me for that phone, that's how it works, the phones don't cost them much to produce, and they are gaurenteed your income for 1-2 years so they don't charge for the phone, in absolute extreme cases they will charge £50 for a top end phone on a short contract. Does that really not happen in America? Or does it work the same way for everyone but Apple in America? I mean $600 on a phone where you are probably paying out $75 a month for 2 years anyway?!
I don't know, but it seems to have become a little bit smaller recently.
Apple uses big-handed model to "shrink" iPhone
Really, I don't mean that as an insult, I used to be that way too... carried a cellphone and pager, was constantly "tied" to something. Then I just got away from it. I don't think I could go back. I see people with all this gear strapped to them, and I feel sorry for them. Pagers, multiple phones, blackberries, etc. I see people sending emails while driving... saw a guy the other day - while driving - talking on one phone and sending a text message on another phone.
I think a lot of people want to seem important. Put it down. Walk away. You'll feel better. I know I sure as hell do.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.