Apple Phone Show Episode 4
Lots of iPhone Musings, and How You Can Win One!
Run Time: 39:29
Host
Scott Bourne: Podcastgearguy.com, Podcastingtricks.com and iLifeZone.com
Special Guests:
Chris Breen: Macworld Magazine and Playlist Magazine
Andy Ihnatko: Colossal Waste of Bandwidth and The Chicago Sun Times
It's time to talk iPhone but first, our first contest...
Win an iPhone! The details are at that link, but to summarize, it's very simple... Just place a link to the ApplePhoneShow.com on your blog or web page. Then send us a registration email with the URL and your contact info. The URL must be a primary page on your site, not a hidden page. The Apple Phone Show will be the sole judge of link acceptability.
We will randomly select one site from the list of submitted sites on August 30, 2007 and will contact the site owner. If the owner’s identity and contact information match what we receive in the registration email, that person wins the phone.
Okay now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's sit down with Andy Ihnatko and talk data plans, pricing, and other nuts and bolts.
We finally have a date for the iPhone! Apple has announced in commercials that the iPhone will release on June 29th! Scott guarantees that the first boatload will sell easily regardless of the price of the plans, or anything else. He has it on a reliable source that the price of the phone will be $999 without a contract. Andy points out that if it's a GSM unlocked phone, people pay money for it just like they always have. Scott points out that we don't know for sure the phone will be unlocked. Andy hypothesizes that for that price, you have to be getting something for it.
As we get closer to the launch date, people are less OCD about keeping stuff secret. Scott got the news from an employee at a television station who went in to a AT&T store and was told that they want to sell it primarily to new customers, and then was told that $999 non-contract price. Scott has this from two sources. Andy points out that it's odd we haven't seen some corporate confirmation leaked to the blogs like it usually is. Andy and Scott both agree that we don't know anything for sure until June 29th. Scott points out that the guy who gave him this info has a long-running relationship with the manager and the store he got the information from.
Andy correctly points out that the fun of speculation is coming to an end.
Scott also heard a rumor that they still haven't solidified the plans for the iPhone yet. They range all the way from $299 for a family plan to $39 for a single line. There's a possibility that they'll change the plans, but we obviously won't know until we get closer to the launch. AT&T is also, according to a few sites, boosting the speed of their EDGE network in preparation for the crush of users getting an iPhone. Scott thinks that in the first couple of months, the plans will be higher and then come down as demand cools.
Scott is hoping that AT&T proves their commitment to customers rather than just trying to gouge them. Andy agrees. They've got a successful product here as long as they don't screw it up. If the launch falls on its face, AT&T will have itself to blame. Andy thinks the importance of both the data plan price and voice price are both very important and also points out that people aren't going to accept an EDGE phone that costs as much to operate a 3G phone.
Andy points out that there are a lot of "skeptics" out there and they'll hate Apple no matter what. Andy says that a $100 a month data plan is probably a deal breaker. AT&T has a $50 data plan for BlackBerry users, and both Scott and Andy think that could be the upper ceiling for data price plans on AT&T. Andy thinks that people won't be pleased if it's perceived AT&T is asking for the world simply because they'll get it.
Scott points out that as long as they stay within their current price plan constraints, they should be fine. We don't know if there will be prepaid service, either. Andy does point out that AT&T is not in the habit of crippling phones to hurt customers, so that's a good sign also. Scott hopes someone at AT&T is smart enough to know that this will build long-term clients.
Scott also points out that this isn't a typical product, it's an Apple product, and the fact that Steve Jobs is behind it will definitely keep things moving along. As Andy says, you don't get into a spitting contest with Steve Jobs. If he's convinced he's right, he won't budge an inch. Steve most likely wouldn't allow Cingular to do something detrimental to the iPhone launch.
With WWDC coming up, Steve Jobs has hinted there might be something there for developers with regards to the iPhone. He also said that he wants to make sure upcoming software doesn't compromise the security and stability of the phone. Andy thinks that the software for the iPhone might be related to Dashcode, Apple's Widget Development software. He hopes that if Widgets are the development method, it's more than just 30 different clocks. Andy is hoping for stability, first and foremost, for the iPhone.
And now for the news!
Obviously, the big news is that we have a release date for the iPhone. The first ads aired on June 3rd, and they announced the June 29th date. In the fine print at the end of the ad, it says you have to agree to a new 2-year contract. Both Scott and Chris have seen a rumored price for an unlocked iPhone, but AT&T has not really stood up and said it's true.
The 4th commercial that arrived recently is about Safari. The message of the commercial is that it's the "real" internet. Not the mobile web and not some watered-down internet.
Chris says that buying the iPhone will only happen at the AT&T store or the Apple Store, but the Huffington Post says that Steve Jobs has warned people not to go to the Apple store to get it because it'll be a madhouse; you'd be better of going to an AT&T store. Some sites are reporting that he's gone back on that, but the Huffington Post is standing behind it.
There's a Pollhost poll that says lots of people are interested in the iPhone, and it dovetails nicely with AT&T saying 1.1 million people are on the "let me know" list to know when the iPhone is coming out. Apparently, the anticipation is definitely there for the iPhone and there are no shortage of people hungry for information on its arrival.
That's all for now... If you have any questions, comments, concerns, tips, etc., let us know at applephoneshow@gmail.com.
Or you can also subscribe to the Apple Phone Show on Podango.com's channel called iThisiThat.
Thanks to Apple Phone Show producer Vincent Ferrari for the shownotes!
Show theme by Steve (derx_2004@mac.com).
