Well, the iPhone 3G release is just days away now, yet for some reason, the hype doesn’t seem as awe-inspiring as last year’s did. Which is quite surprising, given that right after I watched Steve Jobs’ keynote last month, my thought on the new iPhone and the 50% price reduction was, “At last, Apple finally got the iPhone right.” And that’s a big statement coming from me, as someone fully certified as being immune to Uncle Steve’s Reality Distortion Field. But yet, in the past month, many revelations have come out to smash Apple’s party, and most of them from the cell carriers, the gatekeepers needed to allow the iPhone to function.

In the post I made yesterday on MacFocus Magazine I ranted about cell phone carriers and how they hinder the iPhone, which has been more than clear in the past month. Even ignoring how other cell carriers are screwing would-be iPhone customers (I’m looking at you, Rogers), the iPhone 3G comes with plenty more strings attached. I could start with the basic craziness of charging an extra $10/month for the 3G service for the iPhone, which not only eliminates the iPhone’s $200 price drop, it actually makes the total cost of the iPhone more expensive. I could then go to the unexplained reason for the iPhone no longer being activated in iTunes. Not only does it take one of my favorite attributes of the old iPhone and throw it out the signature-free window, but it’s going to make the already ridiculously-crowded Apple Stores much worse and cause people the hassle of having to go through all the usual cell phone heck. (Plus, not having an online option is going to mess it up for the people who don’t live near an Apple or AT&T Store; are people going to have to make iPhone pilgrimages now?)

Oh, and it’s nice that AT&T will finally offer an contract-free option (note how AT&T didn’t say “unlocked” anywhere) for the iPhone, but putting it at a $400 surcharge, plus tax, is ridiculous! It would be smarter to buy the iPhone for $200 or $300 (instead of $600 or $700), sign the contract, pay for one month of service, then cancel and pay the $175 early termination fee on the contract. By my math, that would save you over $150 over the contract-free option. And why exactly can’t the iPhone be activated with GoPhone pay-as-you-go yet?

That’s why I’m still not interested in an iPhone. The phone itself is nice, and finally is something I would desire except for it having to go through AT&T under a two-year contract at a substantial monthly fee. No thanks, I’m not that desperate to go mobile.

The alternative would be the iPod touch, which thanks to its imminent App Store upgrade will finally become the best non-cell phone PDA out there. (Palm originally beat it in my opinion by having open access to applications that actually did things, but now the iPod touch has that too, and with far better quality.) The only main differences now between the iPhone 3G and the iPod touch are the phone part, the lack of GPS (though the iPod touch still has the somewhat-less-accurate Skyhook function, but even the original iPhone didn’t have that), and–oh yeah, the ability to be online without access to a wifi hotspot.

See, that’s my one remaining issue here. Yes, the iPhone has the ability to be online wherever there is a good cell connection, while the iPod touch is restricted to just wifi networks. At that point, wouldn’t it just be smarter to rely on my laptop instead, since it also can only connect to the internet at wifi hotspots? Besides that, at present, the iPod touch (which clearly has less functionality) is $100 more than the iPhone. Granted, the iPod touch doesn’t have to be hindered by a service plan, but it does make one wonder if Apple isn’t planning to up the specs on the iPod touch this fall.

I have never been interested in an iPod because I’ve always said that I’m satisfied with listening to iTunes on my computer, and don’t really need my music elsewhere in most cases (except maybe a 12 hour flight, which I don’t do very often). I’m not strongly interested in an iPod touch, because it pretty much has the same, if not less, functionality of my MacBook, albeit in a smaller form factor and a different interface. I might be interested in the iPhone, since it does have a few tricks that my computer doesn’t, except for it being connected to AT&T and therefore being far more expensive than I could ever hope to afford in my current position thanks to that darned service plan crap.

What exactly is the place of these pocket-sized devices in my life? They may be more attractive to me than they were a few years ago, but Steve Jobs is going to have to full just a few more tricks out of his hat before I’m in the mood for one of these iDevices.

Tags: activation, AT&T, carriers, devices, dilemma, iPhone, iPod touch, laptop, rant, rate plans, services

Well, there’s now a number of sites that are now selling unlock keys for the iPhone, as TUAW reported, and a number of people have been wondering how long it will be until Apple posts an iPhone software update that overrides this hack. But personally, it is my opinion that it would be more beneficial to Apple to allow the iPhone unlocks than to stop them, and here’s why.

Apple has an exclusive agreement with AT&T to have the iPhone be restricted to AT&T’s network only, and I would assume that that means that in the agreement, Apple is also obligated to override any hacks that may cause the iPhone to be unlocked to other carriers. Obviously, we can’t see the specific details of the agreement, but I would think that if Apple wasn’t obligated to override these unlocks with software updates, then that would be because there was specific language in the AT&T-Apple agreement. But let’s try both scenarios.

Suppose Apple is not obligated to override the unlocking hacks. That means that suddenly, the possibility of an iPhone opens up to many more people. The people who love the thought of having an iPhone (those things have a 92% approval rating, after all), but perhaps are stuck on an existing contract, or just can’t stand the thought of contracting their life (okay, their money, anyway) to AT&T, now have a solution. They can buy an iPhone, unlock it, and then they’re good to go! This totally opens up Apple’s iPhone market a bit more, and I’m sure Apple would like that.

But then, suppose Apple is obligated under the agreements to override the unlocking hacks. What if they just refuse to do it? After all, for a cell phone network<->creator agreement, Apple certainly has more control over the iPhone’s software than most cell phone manufacturers. So what could AT&T do to force Apple to override the unlocks? Nothing. About all AT&T could do would be to terminate the exclusive agreement. But then, that would mean that Apple would now have a finished toy that’s already sold a million units in just over two months to dangle in front of the faces of the other companies like Verizon and T-Mobile, who no doubt are suffering due to Apple’s newfound iPhone dominance, and they’d be willing to sign up with Apple in a minute, which would, again, expand Apple’s potential iPhone market. Obviously, AT&T couldn’t kill something that’s been so successful for them just like that, so they’d probably have to let Apple allow the unlocks to stick around (see the previous paragraph).

Regardless of these, the fact that the iPhone has now been unlocked puts Apple in the advantage. Apple will win with a larger customer base, regardless of whether AT&T cracks down on them or not, and AT&T will lose. The only way that Apple can lose (and have AT&T win) is if Apple does go ahead and crack down on these unlocks, but that would be shooting themselves in the foot, and given Apple’s lax policy towards hacking the Apple TV, I think that Apple is probably going to be smart enough to live and let live for this time around.

Tags: Apple, article, AT&T, hacks, iPhone, opinion, unlocks

Internet celebrity Justine Ezarik has posted a video of the 300-page AT&T bill she received. She apparently has unlimited text messaging alongside her unlimited data and everything else plan, and AT&T took it upon themselves to not only print a detailed record of every KB she downloaded on the web, but also print a detailed record of every text message she sent! This adds up to 300 pages, however AT&T was thoughtful enough to ship it to her in a box. I wonder if they’re going to throw the shipping fee onto her bill as well?

I mean, I’m sorry, but some person had to pack all that stuff into the box instead of sticking it in the normal envelope, wouldn’t that person be smart enough to mention something like this?

For Apple to become “A Greener Apple”, it may mean a bit more than LED backlighting for laptop screens. Apple would potentially be a whole lot greener if they found themselves a new cell provider.

Tags: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, Justine, phone bill, Revver, stupidity, waste