Any body have an Iphone?

Why does travel mean you should have a phone that is unlocked? Unlocking just allows you to change carriers, which would get expensive very quickly with the early termination fees.

And there are far more phones being sold through the individual companies themselves than are being sold on ebay. 99% of people will never transfer a phone between companies, a number yes, but very rarely the phone.

I forgot about push to talk with Nextel. So, yes, there is at least one other case of a phone (phones rather) being tethered to a specific network for a feature to work. Granted, other carriers offer lots of the phones Nextel offers, you just don't have the push to talk feature. So, it's similar, yes.

John, people unlock phones to travel so they can use their own handset (which they already paid for) on another carrier. Granted, this only works if you are on a GSM provider in the US. But, if you were to go to Europe for business or pleasure, you could just swap out the SIM card and use your current handset on Orange or some other network overseas. That's what the rest of the world has been doing for years. It's only the US that really cracked down on locking phones (until recently where a provider has to unlock a phone for you if you ask).

This is what thousands, if not millions or people all over the world do on a regular basis. I have a SLVR phone I purchased while traveling in Europe. So, I have a SIM card for Europe. When I'm in the Turks & Caicos, I have a SIM card for Cable & Wireless. When I'm in the US, I have a SIM card for Cingular. For people that travel extensively, this is crucial.

I'm not the only person that does this. But, I guess it really only applies to people that actually leave the US.

Again, I've worked for two different carriers and since you are now able to transfer your number from one carrier to another, a large amount of people take their handsets from one carrier to another.

A mention was made of visual voice mail and the iPhone's exclusivity. The iPhone is indeed the only phone that's ever been tied to a "carrier". That was the first point you attempted to argue and then turn to another point altogether to distract from the first point. The second point pertaining to the phone's carrier specific features is moot since you can't take it to any other carrier (see point #1).

djDaemon said:

Well, I certainly recall it being a timed exclusive deal with Cingular, though I'll concede I'm wrong, since you seem rather certain about that.

However, you're saying that no other phone has ever been exclusively tied to a carrier? Not ever?

What you recall here is a carrier specific model, not a carrier specific phone. While Cingular may have had exclusive rights to a particular model of the RAZR phone, that phone could have been taken to another GSM carrier and activated to have all the same functions work.

The first one that comes to mind is the V3i model of the RAZR. Motorola made a version with their own music player in it and also one with iTunes. Both were labeled with the V3i model but the iTunes version was only available from Cingular. BUT! I could have taken the V3i from Cingular with iTunes on it and activated it on Dobson's network for all the same functions to work just as it did on Cingular's network.

One more time, just for fun...

Just because a phone can be unlocked (or in the iPhone's case, 'cracked'), doesn't mean people will do it.

And who cares if the RAZR 'Vi86m5-q9' is the phone model tied to a carrier. For crying out loud, its still a specific phone, tied to a specific carrier. Besides, how many people took their brand new Cingular RAZR V-whatever, unlocked it (thus incurring a ~$150 fee, right off the bat) and took it over to another carrier? Probably the same number of people who 'cracked' their iPhone so they could use it on another network.

And one more time just because you still don't understand.

The point was in the first place that these other phones CAN be unlocked and taken elsewhere.

The iPhone CANNOT be taken elsewhere, it will ONLY work on at&t's service.

I don't give a rat's ass how many people do it or not, the point still remains that it's POSSIBLE.

And people think Microsoft's bad as far as having the market on PCs, just 'cause Jobs didn't agree with Gates and thought he had a better idea. Sounds and looks to me like he's a control freak. In my eyes that doesn't make things better, that just makes him Hitler. Everyone bows to Jobs' feet but he couldn't develop an operating system that was compatible with multiple technologies so he kept it in house and said, "no one's getting my recipe", only because it can only work in a specific environment. As much as I hate to admit it, Gates is a mastermind and Windows based systems will always rule the PC world.

djDaemon said:

For crying out loud, its still a specific phone, tied to a specific carrier.

NO IT ISN'T. You can go buy it from a 3rd party and take it to ANY GSM or 3G (whatever tech. the phone was manufactured with) network and use it.

I have to send my phone in for repair and didn't have another GSM spare laying around so I called my Mom who lives in Oklahoma and had her send me a spare she had laying around from a former Cingular system in Oklahoma. Pop out the SIM card from mine, put it in hers and BAM! I have another operating cell phone. Try that with an iPhone.

*** Edited 8/1/2007 11:35:06 AM UTC by Loopy***

The point is - how many people actually use that feature?

And the fact remains that you can, in fact, use the iPhone with other carriers.

Exactly, it's possible, but few people ever do it. So why is it so evil that the iPhone can't do what so few people do anyway? Especially in a world of subsidized phones, why would you switch carriers, take your phone with you, when the new carrier is ready to give you a "free" phone, new?

Because, Jeff - Apple is evil and wants to eat all the World's children, obviously.

djDaemon:

What kills me is the overwhelming overreaction to this thing. Yeah, they've sold quickly, especially for a device in this price range, but compared to other popular devices, such as the RAZR, they're sales are minuscule. And yet, CP has decided to jump on the hype bandwagon and provide wallpapers for it.

I wonder if CP's wallpapers gave the iPhone the extra hype it needed.

I can't imagine having a life so free of responsibility or even just interests that I'd dig up a thread that's nearly old enough to drive and try to revive it. But you do you.

Yet, somehow, you managed to find the time in your incredibly important life to respond. Amazing.

This is like a time capsule. It is amazing to go back and see what people thought about phones back in 2007.

How times have changed.

Definitely some interesting things in this thread ;)

some general themes throughout the comments from 2007:

• why would anyone want to use a smartphone at an amusement park? Thats crazy talk!
• touchscreens are yucky and require regular cleaning to see through the grime.
• Other phones (Moto Q, RAZR) already do everything the iPhone can, but better and cheaper.
• REAL buttons are better than a touchscreen!
• iPhones are just status symbols, nothing more

Those things are still true.

^Maybe not bullet 3, and buttons vs touchscreen is debatable. But agreed on the others.

I still miss my Nokia.

Same here. I miss the days of receiving phone calls out in the field for work, and being asked "Did you read my email?" No, sorry. There's no internet out on the construction sites.