For all those who had to be the first to get an iPhone (in Off-topic)

Apple Inc. on Wednesday cut the price of the top iPhone by $200, discontinued the low-end model and unveiled a new version of its popular iPod media player with wireless Internet access and other iPhone features.

The 8-gigabyte iPhone will sell for $399, and the 4-gigabyte model, which sold for $499, will be phased out. The new iPods with Wi-Fi — but without cell phone capabilities — will start at $299.

This is probably the worst price cut ever in Mobile Phone history, yes ? I'll be really pissed if I bought a mobile phone for a month and then there's a price cut of 200 usd, pretty crazy.

I wonder though, what's the reason for this ? I thought the sales were extremely good. I mean, are they preparing for Hsdpa capability iphones or what ?

The iPod Touch looks awesome.. I want one!

hahahahaha
/points
/laughs

That's the problem with getting 'new' technology as soon as it comes out; the price eventually drops.

It happened with the iPhone, it happened with the XBox360, and pretty much everything else one could think of. :P

That is basically how all tech prices work.

Your point, Ranger?

This post was designed to give Ranger an unfair vantage point from which to point and laugh...

Early adopters get their monies worth in each flood of joy they have resulting from being so much cooler than the uninitiated.

I thought about it a bit, and the iPod Touch isn't worth it. It's the same price as the iPhone, but without the internal mic, speaker, and camera. You can hack the iPhone to use it without using a phone plan, if you please.

Looks like I got it well wrong in this thread a couple of months ago.

We seriously thought the price would hold for quite some time longer than it has. Perhaps I'd be better turning my hand to medicine :/

It's still a great piece of kit though :)

Medicine? You'd revert to the original methods of using alcohol as anaesthetic, actually, no, you'd just drink it ;P

And the iPod Touch has only eight or sixteen gigs of storage. That's not exactly spectacular, considering the price. Wifi is nice, but the low amount of storage space is a killer.

Yeah, G_Beee, the price drop was a lot quicker than I thought, too, and without any direct subsidies from the cell phone company. Then again, with the exclusive agreement between AT&T and Apple, every iPhone sale is subsidized, in a sense. I guess the pieces came together so that Apple could get super-aggressive as we roll into the holiday season and as overseas machinery starts turning.

The iPod/iPhone issue (and the Touch) is definitely interesting to watch unfold. In my opinion, any amount of space above 10 GB means a player is really pretty much a portable entire-library device. That has changed, somewhat, with video, but it still holds for the most part. Now, anyone with a 20, 40, 60 GB library has to go overkill with an 80 GB unit or has to pare down content to try to smush into a 16 GB. At $249, the 80 GB certainly is not overkill on price (I think that is an excellent price point for that amount of space), so I guess Apple can save more money just not having to use 20/40/60 GB drive in their manufacturing choices (plus buying more 80s gets them more discounts, I am sure). However, I always thought one part of Apple's business plan was to have many steps along the way so that once someone filled up their 20 or 40, they would have to buy a new iPod... I know that library size is what governed my first iPod buy (20 GB unit) and subsequent upgrade (40 GB unit).

Now with a 160 GB unit available, I will probably wait until I can find a refurbished one (usually $50 cheaper than normal price at the Apple Store) and upgrade from my 40 GB unit (out of space, the collection has grown beyond that...). One hundred-sixty GB will last me 4+ more years, I think (I don't do video on the iPod), and I would see no compelling reason to get something else. Maybe after 4 years the iPhone will have capacities large enough to hold everything, and I can finally consolidate in one device! The dream! I already did away with my Palm, but the iPod/iPhone combo is still required! Gah!

Anyway, I still don't really see the point of the OP, especially since no one "had" to be the first to get an iPhone, as the subject suggests. *smile*

lol this happens with all new stuff.... look at the PS3. When initial projected sales fall way short, the only way to fix things is by cutting cost. Apple has been on the rise though, it seems like a huge error in their marketing strategy to fail their top interest customer base so miserably. Usually new tech toys give the eager beavers a gloating period longer than that when they shell out the bucks for their dream toys. "Apple is offering a refund to customers who bought an iPhone at the higher price in the last 14 days." <--- lol... it's only been a couple months or so, they should offer some rebates or something to the rest.

Microsoft could make a hilarious retaliation commercial with this using the pc guy and a parody apple guy...

MG: "Hey apple guy, I see you got one of those OLD model i-phones... how much did you pay for it?
AG: "You wanna come over and play some PS3?"
MG: "haha, suckkkkaaaaaaa!!"

Well due to the long lines outside quite a few Apple stores on the first day the phone was available, it does seem to me that quite a few people "had" to get it the first day. :)

I was referencing the past threads in which we were discussing if the price would go down, the one Beee linked.

But it is amazing that the price went down as much in such a short time. I would have thought perhaps after Christmas, not this far before it. Perhaps Apple is planning something else to come out soon or knows of something the competition is planning.

Nokia is planning what is basically a complete copy of the iPhone, so yes, they are probably poised more aggressively due to that. Google "nokia iphone clone" and you will see what I mean...

The only other thing coming is the holiday season. I could have easily seen Apple reducing the 8GB price to the previous 4GB price -- the extra $100 drop was definitely a surprise.

Nokia has to be worrying as well... The new iPhone Touch offers everything the current Nokia N800 (previously 770) does, plus it has a full touch screen, more data space built in, better music player, and better browser experience (debatable, I suppose). The N800 retails for $399.99, same price as the 16 GB iPod Touch. The only thing the Nokia has going for it is that it has a lot more development and apps on it (much more open developer community and architecture).

just wait until Samsung gets in on the biz...

Well some good news for those who bought them early:

Responding to a backlash from angry consumers, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced on Thursday that Apple will issue a $100 in-store credit to all iPhone users who paid full price for the product.

Yeah, just read the open letter! That is pretty cool. Now, if I wait for a refurbed 80 GB iPod Classic in the store and use the $100 credit, it will only cost me about $100. What would be REALLY neat is if they let people apply the $100 to the iTunes Music Store -- for people who already have an iPhone and newer iPod, an Apple Store Credit not that useful, but free music would be cool!