Is the iPhone Really Worth It?
Today is the release day of the iPhone 3G. The Apple store touts the phone as “Twice as fast, half the price.” Now I am an Apple fanboy and we now have 3 Macs in our house (I’ll let Amanda share her news). I do know that having an affinity for things Apple comes at a price. Entry level for a Mac is considerably higher than for a Windows machine. This being the case, when Apple proclaims “half the price” the frugal gland in me starts spasming (sorry for that mental image).
Half the price? Really? If you remember the phrase, “There is no free lunch” you will go far. Whether it’s that “free” TV you get for going to see a condo, airline miles, brownie points, or whatever it is, nothing is free.
The same is true with the iPhone. Although the entry point for the 3G is $199 where the first-gen iPhone was $399, there is no pricing renaissance happening here. As Gizmodo points out, the new iPhone is really more expensive than it’s predecessor:
For us, we would have to go with the cheapest family plan, which would raise our monthly mobile phone budget from $100 per month, to $160 per month! Plus, we would loose our unlimited text messaging. Where did all that savings go?
The Joy of Tech came out with a humorous yet thought provoking comic about this topic (click to see it):
The financial adviser in the comic points out the power of compound interest and the effect that seemingly small amounts of money have over time. The numbers in the comic are a little far fetched, but the message is still solid.
The point of all of this isn’t to bash the iPhone. (Our contract with T-Mobile is up in a month, and we will consider switching when we have our August budget meeting.)
The point is that we shouldn’t get caught up in marketing hype or gadget envy. Your thing may not be tech gadgets, but what about clothes, housewares, or things with a motor?
Before making big purchases we should not think “how much a month”, but we should think “how much”.
but, but…”how much a month” is all that matters!! Rent-a-tire, here i come!!!
dude, have you seen those “money call” commercials?!?!
amanda hit pause on the commercial and read the small print and was appalled at the terms.
I would love an iphone, but can’t justify it. I’m stuck with my BlackJack for now. But I want to be a Mac junkie so bad.
this new iphone // cost less than my ipod classic //
all that is missing in the iphone is a good video camera. Long live gadgets.