Thursday, September 06, 2007

Weird iPhone

I can tell that iPhone is indeed a damn cool gadget. But to take it home with you, and use it, you need to subscribe to AT&T for a 2 years plan. Until now, it can't work on other network.

This is actually a weird arrangement, that is, limiting your users coverage, but it turns out that:
...Apple gets $3 a month for every existing AT&T subscriber who has bought an iPhone and $11 a month for every new customer. That looks like about $150 per user for Apple, on top of the margin on the phone itself. So although Apple can make money selling iPhones to anyone, the company gets considerably more if it drives those users to AT&T. Which is what it is doing...(from John Naughton of the Guardian website)
I dislike the idea for a personal motive: AT&T's is not the cheapest plan. But I can not blame Apple to sign the contract with them. Apple has the right to do so.

So does the consumer to unlock the machine and use cheaper network, I must say.

But, alas, AT&T lawyer seems ready to bring you to the court, preventing that unlocking business. The law, so far, doesn't say anything yet on this matter. But if the law rules against unlocking iPhone, as Naughton wrote in that column, the law is an ass.

By the way, unlocking iPhone would not be a problem in Mangga Dua, would it? Has anyone tried it?

3 comments:

  1. well, er... actually you don't have to drive that far. Ratu plaza will give you the pleasure of unlocking the device for around US$ 15 - 20. anyone interested can call me for further info. =D

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  2. For me, iPod Touch is more interesting than iPhone. And yes, the people here have successfully unlock the iPhone on not using dedicated AT&T operator.

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  3. I was a Cingular/AT&T customer. They actually had a procedure for you to unlock the phone. If I remember correctly, they provided me with a code to unlock. And if I'm not mistaken, it was free - either because I had passed the contract or because I was leaving the country for good. Otherwise you can pay for the code (?) But either way, it's always easier to buy the phone somewhere else (outside the U.S.).

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