Re: [NTLK] The day the Newton died...

4GB iPod = cheap at $175
"smart" phone = cheap at $75 (and _ignoring_ the cost of the service
plan you would get stuck with)
WiFi, EDGE, full push-email and improved Net access = at least $75
(and that's really stretching the assumption)
All-in-one unit, small size, interoperability, and superb style (the
OS as well as the box) = $50 (again, a real stretch)
total = $375 rock-bottom

Sure you could go cheaper, like a Shuffle or Rio or such, and a bare-
bones cell phone, and low-end Palm - without WiFi,, BlueTooth, Net,
or push email (maybe without email altogether).

Just because "everyone" throws away a phone in 18 months doesn't mean
it is necessary. Further, I believe the iPhone will be software
upgradable (and possibly even open, if only somewhat). Finally, you
might not have to get a new Cingular contract just because you buy a
newer-gen iPhone, >unless< you want to get a subsidized price.
(However, that also depends on the details of the agreement between
Apple & Cingular, which no one has claimed to have seen.)

No product will satisfy everybody. The gamble is whether it satisfies
enough to make a profit. We are a very specialized, VERY small
community - we are not a good "random sample" for judging market
success.

On 10. Jan, 2007, at 16:02, Ed Kummel wrote:

> $600 for a phone (one heck of a phone, but a phone nontheless) is
> rather steep...and locking people into a 2 year contract is
> rediculous. With average cellphone ownership in the US at 18 months
> or less, the cellphone has become a disposable commodity. Heck, I
> can't see myself spending $600 every 2 years to get a new
> cell...but $200 or $300? That's possible, but not very likely.
> On the flip side of things, I've had my Newt since the '90s and
> have no intention of replacing it yet.
>
> There's a lot to like on the new iPhone, but I can see more
> failures in the iPhone than positives.

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