Apple On iPhone Plan Pricing: What's So Complicated?

AT&T is out to fleece the customer. How is that so difficult to understand?

Very good post.

I've been with Comcast Metrophone/Cellular One/Cingular/at&t for as long as I can remember. Only now am I annoyed at the pricing of things. I am getting the 3G iPhone, but when at&t's sole contract with Apple is up, I may consider switching carriers for the first time in 11+ years.

Most of now its great to write stories about Apple because you will get more hits to your website. I never heard a story about the Razr plans being bad...yet the only difference is the data. I guess you all are bored an need some volume to the site. Here I am...looks like it worked...for now. Soon, people might just stop falling for it.

I completely agree. Apple wants to sell as much iphones as they can, but AT&T is only going to deter people from getting the new iphone.
And yes as you said, I'm willing to pay 10 more for faster internet (we'll see how good it is). But price of the texting is ridiculous.

I think it's Apple that wants to kill off SMS, and just move everyone to IM over the Internet. With the extra charge, iPhone users will be discouraged from paying for and using SMS, but be encouraged to use IM since it doesn't cost anything extra. So iPhone users will be more closely tied to computer/Internet users, but be more disconnected from users of dumb-phones (and users of hard-to-use-IM-on smartphones), which is what Apple wants, because they don't make dumb-phones, do they?

One more thing: Apple had email with photo attachments from day one but still hasn't implemented MMS. See a pattern? Do you think MMS will come before Adobe's Flash or after?

I love my first-generation iPhone, and was thinking of moving up to the 3G. The only think is I live in a 2G USA. AT&T talks about everyone using the fast 3G for downloads, what about all of us that would have to us AT&T 2G network (for the next year and a half) and be paying for a 3G network thats not there.

Sprint has started offering $99 all-you-can-eat plans for unlimited voice, text, data, email, picture mail, etc... and I would LOVE to see AT&T move to this model!

Personally, I think SMS is really stupid. It cost so much when there are so many other forms of communication that are more efficient and much cheaper to use. I mean $.40 a message ( receiving + sending ) is just alittle bit cheaper than using the USPS.

" The only think is I live in a 2G USA. AT&T talks about everyone using the fast 3G for downloads, what about all of us that would have to use AT&T 2G network (for the next year and a half) and be paying for a 3G network thats not there."

Check in with AT&T. As I understand it--and I may be wrong--you can still get the old iPhone plan for the same price. I would imagine you'll be able to upgrade your plan when 3G becomes available in your area (for yet another 2 year commitment).

You rolled over FAR too easily.

Spend some time working through AT&T's family plans, data plans, etc etc then actually try to read the bill.

Then tell me this isn't insanely, malevolently, complex.

Apple had a good clear cut plan. The new scheme is just as evil as every other plan.

Don't let Apple fool you on this one.

I was sold on the 3G until I considered the implications of doing business with AT&T.

For those of you that do bite, here's what I suggest. Don't buy the text message plan. Instead, send a video every time you want to send a text message. If this catches on with iPhone users, AT&T will have no choice but to include text messaging with every plan -- because texting is the least bandwidth intensive service you can consume on their network.

Articles like these are fine as long as you include the information that Arik did...

"Everything else, is essentially the same as you would get with any other AT&T phone. The plans are essentially the same."

There are a lot of articles that fail to mention this and make it seem as though the iPhone, in particular, has a high price.

The complaining about AT&T does get a bit silly. I haven't seen any other plan that is significantly better. Most of the all-you-can-eat models are 100 bucks or more which is 30 bucks more than AT&Ts iPhone plan for unlimited data. Even after adding the five bucks for 200 SMS messages, its still 25 more. Just forget SMS and use AOL...its free from the app store at launch.

If AT&T's iPhone plan is so bad, what is the better one?

Arik, ATT is not doing anything special by letting the 1st Gen. iPhone users upgrade W/O extra cost . We did paid Full Price for our iPhones. I added 2 different Smartphone to my plan( Both purchased on eBay) and Only when I added my 1st iphone did ATT make me add 2 years to my contract. Plus its in ATT best interest to have us upgrade as now they are getting $15.00 minimum extra each and every month. I'm not complaining. I feel the extra cost will be worth only .50 Cents extra a day for a Better Phone experience of not worrying were to find a Hot Spot, Better GPS and a Better iPhone.

"...when 3G becomes available in [my] area..."

This might happen *after* ATT becomes available in my area. No rush though. :-)
Funny story is how a girl at work switches over to our wireless network to get her "i" while the "Phone" side is in search of those illusive 5 bars that they show us in those illusive television ads.