Jacob Pierce » Communication

iPhone Event Timeline

jacob — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:49:08 +0000

I’ve been playing around with this new web app called timetoast. In essence, it allows you to create and edit flash-based timelines with pictures. It’s relatively simplistic at the moment, but I’m excited to see this sort of product in existence.

I suspect they are planning collaborative features, but currently its single-user creations. A timetoast “wiki” of sorts would be fantastic.

There wasn’t a timetoast timeline for the iPhone, so I filled in the gap.

iPhone 3G: 2-year Total Cost of Ownership

jacob — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:21:09 +0000

Let’s take a brief look at what I would call the bottom-line total cost of ownership (TCO) of the original 8GB iPhone versus the forthcoming 8GB iPhone 3G. That is, the TCO of each iPhone with equal data (unlimited), voice (450 min), and SMS text messaging (200 txts).

(Above I’ve charted the initial cost of the iPhone + setup fees + monthly service over 2 years, including taxes and fees. I’ve added a $5/mo text plan and calculated the totals using California sales tax (8.25%) – so the bottom line in different states may be slightly more or less.)

More after the jump, plus another chart of TCO without a text plan…

The result seen here is that even given the lower initial cost, the iPhone 3G costs more to own than the original iPhone at 14 months and after 2 years is a little under $200 more expensive. This is due to the monthly 3G service plan being about $15 more expensive for unlimited 3G data + 200 texts.

If you are one of the few smartphone users that really, truly never use SMS text messaging, it takes until about month 20 for the cost of a iPhone 3G to surpass the original iPhone. Here the price is much more closely matched, though as mentioned earlier the original iPhone service includes a 200 SMS plan and the iPhone 3G plan has none.

Personally, GPS and 3G make it compelling enough for me to upgrade. Plus I suspect the original iPhones will still be worth a pretty penny (easily $200+) on eBay even after the iPhone 3G is available.

AT&T leverages 3G iPhone to raise data prices

jacob — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:44:00 +0000

Immediately following the 3G iPhone announcement at 11:45a PST this morning, AT&T posted up a press release outlining all the great things Apple is doing for them. Oh, and they also snuck in a $10 increase for the unlimited iPhone data plan. The data price will be $30 instead of the current $20, plus voice. In essence, $69.95 and up for an iPhone plan. Add $10 more if you want a text plan. From AT&T:

â€¢Â With a two-year contract, the price of an 8GB iPhone 3G will be $199; the 16GB model will be priced at $299.

â€¢Â Unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, in addition to voice plans starting at $39.99 a month.

â€¢Â Unlimited 3G data plans for business users will be available for $45 a month, in addition to a voice plan.

Additionally, this may pose an issue to upgrading iPhone users, since ~~potentially~~ they won’t be able to take advantage of 3G without entering a new 2-year contract. This is not particularly surprising, particularly given all the recent AT&T 3G infrastructure improvement, but definitely a bit of a kick to the pants. It appears this increase may be across all data phones as well, including Windows Mobile and RIM Blackberry smartphones.

2:42pm Update: Gizmodo confirmed this with AT&T’s Glenn Lurie, plus you must activate the phone in store (Apple or AT&T). Ouch. At least that should keep the resale value of 1st gen iPhones relatively high.

AT&T: AT&T to Offer Next-Generation iPhone on Its High-Performance 3G Network