The following is a letter I wrote to Joseph De Avila of the Wall Street Journal in response to his recent article about why some apple fans won’t buy the iPhone.
I’m one of those apple fans that owns quite a bit of their products. Here’s my run-down of products:
- brand new iPod shuffle (red) product from the new ipod line
- 17″ powerbook (2004 model)
- 14″ ibook (2004 model)
- 17″ iMac (2006 model)
- Apple TV (it’s about 2 weeks old)
- airport base station (wireless device – 2004 model)
Have owned several ipods in the past including the 4th gen 20gb clickwheel (2004), the 5th gen video ipod and a 1st gen ipod shuffle (the white stick one). I also use iWork ’08 and iLife ’08.
So, maybe that seems like a lot of stuff to some and that possibly puts me in the “apple fan-boy” category because I have so much – but I find that the products work great for my family of 4 which I may add includes my wife who recently graduated from KU School of Social Welfare using that iBook as well as my 2 little girls – my oldest who is 4 already plays around on my iMac with me and will be entering kindergarten next fall.
Basically, I gave you all that background to illustrate that I love the products that I own and I have a bunch of them because there is something very nice about being able to integrate all of your digital products seamlessly. I can take a digital photo of my girls, upload it to my computer, use that computer software to manipulate it and then beam it wirelessly across the house to my Apple TV to watch it on the big screen instead of being huddled around the computer.
So, when it came time for an iPhone purchase that was a no-brainer. I have countless songs/movies already in iTunes. I use the heck out of the native OS X apps (Mail, Address Book, iCal, etc.) every single day. So it would make a ton of sense to have a device for mobile use that would integrate into my already apple driven lifestyle – not because I have to have it but because, well, I kinda need it to work like that. I’ve had a Treo before and don’t get me wrong – it does have all the stuff that the iPhone doesn’t have; removable battery, expandable storage, smaller price tag, arguably a better network, etc. but what that wonderful device didn’t have was a seamless way to integrate in to the products and media that I already have/own. May not sound like a big deal – but it sucks. It’s doable but it sucks. I’d much rather spend that time with my girls and staying up late on the palm web site help section.
Basically, here’s the deal – can’t believe I’ve gone on this long – I am with Sprint, my wife is with sprint, my sister, mom, brother in-law, parents-in-law are with Sprint – everyone I know is with sprint – say what you will about them, at least we are all on the same dang network. I’m not about to get into coverage and who’s better, frankly I don’t care much about that (not the point of this e-mail). But if I were to break my contract (for a whopping $200 bucks) and go to AT&T. I’d still have to wait for my wife to break her contract also (another $200) just so the 2 of us could talk mobile-to-mobile on AT&T. That wouldn’t help us at all for talking to other people in our network.
From what I’ve read on the blog sphere lately, people have been saying that Apple must have been worried about hitting their mark and that’s why they dropped the price – I’m not so sure about that. If they wanted to hit that 10 million number out of the park they would have provided an unlocked phone. I’m actually surprised thy even hit the 1 million mark on just one provider. I’m just bitter apparently and I’ve gone on too long. Just wanted to add my story I guess to those you’ve already accumulated for your article.
Long story short, I want the iPhone (might go so far as to say I NEED) the iPhone but I will probably not buy the iPhone as long as it is only on one carrier. All I can hope for now I suppose is that AT&T gets unhappy with Apple for building a device that is apparently “hackable” and will sue them for allowing T-Mobile (which I mean come on) you know apple knew other sim cards would work on that phone.
For now – I shall continue to use my 3 year old Samsung VGA1000 (A620) phone that I got when I first signed up with sprint. Am I available for upgrrades – sure as long as I renew my contract (ARRGGHHH!!!!). And the second I do that – some deal will be reached with apple and other cell phone providers and I’ll be even more irate. Man – who needs all this drama – thanks for listening.
Stay tuned for an update – I’ll most likely have a new phone by the end of September.
I hear ya! I was on Sprint for 10 years. And yes, I say “was” because I switched 2 days ago. All the pieces came together at once — the price drop, my phone went on the fritz, and in the process I found out that my contract was up. And I gave in.
Incidentally, I don’t think getting a new phone automatically makes you start a new 2-year contract — unless you take the $150 rebate.
I’m sort of the opposite of your story… been a pretty loyal anti-Mac snob until *very* recently. The wife wanted an iPod, so I gave in and got a 5th gen (I think) 30 gig. Then, we got a nano. Then, suddenly EVERYONE I KNOW had switched to Mac…seemingly overnight. I can feel myself slowly (but surely) being lured over to the dark side.
And just as your Treo doesn’t fit into your life/work flow, now I’m in the same boat. The iPhone is an astoundingly beautiful piece of machinery, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna shell out money for an upgrade of Outlook when I don’t even use it. Fortunately, I do most things (calendar, todo lists, etc.) online, and the iPhone is obviously awesome at web stuff. But I’d like to sync my contacts with something other than the Yahoo! address book.
Sorry for the rant, been meaning to write my own blog post and this just got the juices flowing!
So, what phone will you get before the end of September??
sounds like you’re a perfect candidate for the ipod touch! ..and an SDK in February. Looks like a good new years gift to yourself!