Quote:
Originally Posted by Berry One
I do recall when first suretype 7100 appeared I paid $750 retail for it because I really really wanted to have that device. It was in 2005.
No, I was not taken advantage of by some eBay auction.  I went to retail store of a major wireless carrier and paid sticker price for the 7100 they were selling.
I don't see $1000 MSRP as something extraordinary for 9000 in 2008 and may pay that much when that device appears at stores.
Many people don't realize how much of discount from device cost they get when they sign for three year service contract with wireless carrier. Of course, it is not true discount but rather credit given for 3 years term and recouped through montly fees. |
It was newer technology in 2005 though. There is nothing groundbreaking or new about the features that come in the 9000 to warrant a $900-$1000 price tag. Like I said in my post, look at a device like the At&t Tilt that has all the same bells and whistles, PLUS a touch screen, and retails for $550ish. Even the iPhone with its amazing touch screen, and slew of technological evolutions, never tried to venture in pricing territory that high. It would really be a huge mistake to retail the 9000 for that much money, plain and simple.
Think about it, if a phone with a retail price of $500-$700 costs $300-$400 to buy after 2 year activation discount and rebate, how much would the $9000 cost to the consumer; $500, $600 after rebate?
Yes, the iPhone was originally sold at $599 for the 8gb model on its day of release. Yes, people bought it in droves. The 9000 is NOT the iPhone however and brings no new evolution of technology, or even new features period, to the table.
Docs to Go? Its not even the full version, and if it is, Palms have had it for years, and Windows Mobile PPC phones come with the REAL MS Office Mobile.
3G? My wife's $100 flip phone has that too.
WiFi? Yeah, again, this is not a new step in technology for mobile devices. For examples sake, look at the Curve 8320; it has WiFi and can be bought after rebates for around $100-$150.
GPS? Come on now...
Media Player? <sigh>
The 9000 so far looks to be nothing more than a repacked Curve wrapped with an 8800 series keyboard and has the addition of 3G for the first time in a GSM BlackBerry. How can that even remotely come close to selling for that high of a price?
I have another question. Why does everyone feel the need to compare EVERYTHING to the damned iPhone. Yes, I did it, but I did it on price, and technology; I didn't do it with the tone that everyone wants, needs, or buys a phone based on how it compares to the iPhone. I also don't know why everyone insists that RIM needs to release a product that directly compares to the iPhone. BlackBerrys have always been business tools first and foremost, while the iPhone is a consumer product through and through. Do you think the government and large corporations that depend on the way a BlackBerry works are every going to up and switch to the iPhone because it has a cool GUI/touch interface and great media capabilites? Absolutely not... It wasn't even until the release of the Pearl and the Curve that RIM really tried to market to the consumer sector anyway. Sure, they may want to work on a consumer oriented device to compete more first handedly with the iPhone, but why does everyone assume the 9000 is going to be it?
Also, I have owned an iPhone. I used one for 6 months before coming BACK to BlackBerry. Why?
-The iPhone can't do MMS.
-Touch for EVERYTHING isn't always good. Even Palm and Windows PPC -devices don't need to utilize the touch screen for everything.
-The keyboard, in a word, sucks.
-No MMS.
-One attachment per new email is awful.
-Can't save anything to the phone.
-No cut and paste.
-The email app is honky and doesn't work right half the time. Call Apple about it and they tell you it's At&t's fault, call At&t and they say it's Apple's fault.
-The only multitasking functions are the ability to listen to music while doing other things. Everything else actually closes when you leave it. There is even an article floating around about how this fact will put a huge dampening on many of the third party apps that are due to be released.
-Too many presses to do certain things... Want to make a phone call? If the number is in your favorites, you can double press the home key, but if it isn't, you need to get to your home screen, press phone, get to the dial screen or contacts screen, from the contact screen you need to scroll to the name, press it, then press the number you want to call... From my BlackBerry, all I have to do is start typing the first couple letters of the name and hit send.
-The up coming third party apps that everyone is so excited about will be extremely controlled by Apple. The only legal distribution source will be the iTunes App store, and the apps are not allowed to alter the core functionality of the phone past a certain point.
-Sure, the multimedia is nice, but you can't alter any of of your playlists, photo lists, or video files from the phone itself. You need to hook up to a iTunes to do any of this. The only exception is the phone's camera album, but if you decide to move those pictures into their own albums, you are now forced to sync with iTunes to do anything with them.
-The video playback isn't really that special. Sure, it's one of the best for a mobile phone, but it really doesn't even match DVD quality. I will tell you this, I only used it when I was sitting in a waiting room for my car, doctor, flight, etc; and with that said, I have never once wished I still had it while using the media player on my Curve to watch the same stuff. Same with music.
-Google Maps? So what, almost every web capable mobile phone under the sun can get this app and have identical functionality when compared to the iPhone.
-This may change when the 3G version comes out, but unless you are using WiFi, the browser is as much of a boon as it is a blessing. Loading full featured webpages in their full form on the iPhone over EDGE sucks. At least with the Curve I can use Opera Mini and get a remarkably similar experience (especially considering its free), plus the added speed of their proxy server system.
-You can't download anything directly off the web. See an awesome picture, guess what, you now have to go to your desktop, download it to there, and then sync it with the iPhone. Yeah, awesome...
-No user changeable battery. Yeah, imagine the true road warrior executive type who is constantly on the move, and who uses his mobile phone as his lifeline, not being able to change batteries when his dies and he is nowhere near a spot to plug in for 3 hours while it charges back up. Simply put, not going to happen.
Perceived worth isn't worth at all when it is defeated by a lack of physical worth. The only people I have met that are actually happy with their iPhone after long term use are those that have Jailbroken it and added illegal third party apps. Everyone, like myself, that used it the way it was meant to be used, gets tired of it after the novelty wears off. Strip away the fancy touch screen and user interface, and you are left with nothing more than a regular phone with a nice web browser that sucks over EDGE.