Apple Says Free Phones Are Worthless

PolarbearBigEd said:
..and an address book. Besides that, I'm with ya on that
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I don't even own a cell phone yet, but I've played with some friend's phones. Way too many features I'll not use, and frigging complicated to use. I prefer the KISS principle, and dislike the manufacturers competing with each other to see how many useless features they can pack into a phone.
 
Ockie said:
How do you "disable" evdo, if you don't pay for the service then you don't have it. Evdo is $44 a month extra from verizon.
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You disable it on your phone so it isn't always searching for a signal, thus running down your battery needlessly. EV-DO is not a subscription service. It's a data vehicle. Maybe you're thinking about VCast and other broadband features, which use EV-DO.

It's very easy to turn off.

Google search said:
http://www.howardforums.com/archive/topic/791961-1.html

To solve this, you can go in and turn off EVDO when you do not need it by the following:

1) Press the Menu key (ok)
2) Push the zero key (0) seven times
3) Push the three key (3) for network select
4) Push the one key (1) for Mode Preference
5) Choose 1X Only or Digital Only Non Hybrid.

To re enable EV follow steps 1 - 4 and for step #5 choose Digital Only Hybrid


This will turn of EVDO and leave on signal and 1X.
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GJSNeptune said:
You disable it on your phone so it isn't always searching for a signal, thus running down your battery needlessly. EV-DO is not a subscription service. It's a data vehicle. Maybe you're thinking about VCast and other broadband features, which use EV-DO.

It's very easy to turn off.
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Yes, but you can't access the EVDO network of features without the subscription.

All what you were doing is disabling your phone from searching it, not disabling the subscription or the service.
 
Ockie said:
Yes, but you can't access the EVDO network of features without the subscription.
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But the subscription is to VCast, not EV-DO. You were a little misleading in your last post.

Ockie said:
All what you were doing is disabling your phone from searching it, not disabling the subscription or the service.
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GJSNeptune said:
You disable it on your phone so it isn't always searching for a signal, thus running down your battery needlessly.
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GJSNeptune said:
But the subscription is to VCast, not EV-DO. You were a little misleading in your last post.
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Umm you do realize that EVDO is used for other things other than VCast right? I'm using it for the broadband internet, thus I pay $44 a month to use EVDO. VCast also uses the same network becuase it's a broadband offering from Verizon.
 
All I want my phone to do is make phone calls. And maybe have a calculator built in.

And thats it.
 
AARGH! said:
Think Apple has hired the Sony marketing staff!
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EXreaction said:
Thats just what I was thinking...

It sure sounds like the crap Sony was sputtering out of it's ass before(and still is from time to time).
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I've noticed a recent trend with commercials. The companies make their product seem to be superior to everything else and if you dont buy it then you're not cool and a piece of shit. I dont know what's going on but I blame the poeple coming out of ivy league schools who make up new marketing ideas.
 
The last phone that I got that had no out of pocket expense was a Kyocera 3035...

It was a pile of crap...

It would shut off in the middle of calls. I'd have to manually turn it back on. It would crash from time to time, sometimes requiring me to take it back to a Verizon store for reflashing.

I had 4 of them. I lost 1 (which also worked poorly), 2 of them completely stopped working (powering them on would display a BSOD equivalent), and the fourth one also never worked worth a damn but actually survived til I ditched Verizon. My last one met it's end from a shotgun . This was all within 2 years.

My next phone I payed some money for above and beyond my contract. My 3 year old Sony Ericson T610 still works perfectly.
 
Bill Clo said:
I don't even own a cell phone yet, but I've played with some friend's phones. Way too many features I'll not use, and frigging complicated to use. I prefer the KISS principle, and dislike the manufacturers competing with each other to see how many useless features they can pack into a phone.
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Yeah, which is why I'm almost considering getting one of the iPhones....

Personally I fscking HATE voice menus. Much of the time I don't check my voice mail because I hate the damned voice menus more than I want get my messages. With an iPhone I would never have to hear that noxious "press 7 to delete this message" ever again.

Furthermore, while my phone does have a calendar/to-do notes/calculator/etc, and I do know how to use them, they're such a pain in the ass to use that I don't bother.

It'd also be cool to be able to plug your cell phone into a USB port and have it pop up just like every other USB mass storage device (flash drives, some cameras, etc). The iPod part is not something that's a big deal to me... If I can boot XP or Linux off of it, now that'd be cool.
 
Aye, the iPhone's scrollable/sift-through-able voicemail menu is really appealing, but still not worth the price. I can live with having to re-save a bunch of messages since it's free.
 
Here's the deal. At some point, EVERY single cell phone on the planet has/is being offered for free with a service contract commitment. ( RAZR, KRZR, SLVR, BEAVR, LG Chocolate, Q, Motorola L6, Sony Ericsson W300i, Samsung SYNC, etc. etc. etc.)


SO...


Apple says that EVERY phone is worthless...except their $500 - $600 phone...not counting the service contract. Is the iPhone cool? Hell yeah! Is the iPhone another piece of overpriced Apple hardware? Hell yeah!

Next up, condescending Apple iPhone ads..."Hi, I'm an iPhone" :rolleyes:
 
I've had the same "free" cell phone for 4 years. Works perfectly. My friend likes to get the high priced ones with all the features. They usually don't make it 9 months before it starts to mess up and he needs to get a replacement.
 
My phone is just a phone. It has a phonebook, it rings, and it lets me talk. That is all I want it to do. I don't need or want all of the "latest features". It's a phone, not a fashion show. If he thinks that makes my phone worthless, perhaps he needs to see a doctor about his cranial-rectal inversion problem.
 
http://www.apple.com/iphone/hello/

And christ people, they aren't looking to take over the market, they know their target audience is a small one and thats what they developed their product for.

Apple Inc. predicted that 10 million customers will pay at least $499 to buy an iPhone next year because they realize most free mobile phones are worthless.
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Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said in January that Apple expects the iPhone to capture 1 percent of mobile phone sales, which may total 1 billion devices in 2008.
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So not only do they think that MOST free phones are worthless (and most free phones are complete garbage, the ones for $30-50 are useable though), but they also only want a small piece of the pie.

Continue on bashing now. :rolleyes:
 
What great news to tell investors. Ummm the potential is for 1 billion cell phones, we want to Iphone to hold as little market share as possible, just like our computers..

Great strategy...
 
Even if the iPhone was much cheaper, I probably sill would not buy it. One of the best features of my phone it it's durability. I flip it shut, and the revolutionary metal and plastic casing protects the display and keypad. It's amazing! On a more serious note, a cell phone that cannot be thrown around, shoved in pockets, etc, is probably not that useful to me. They make PPCs and laptops for browsing the internet.
 
The primary use of my cell phone is so people can bug me. That's a privilege I want to pay $500 for.
 
It's the same story with Blackberrys: There will always be people who want the latest and greatest and will pay for it. In the meantime, the older models get offered for free with a subscription. Apple must be prepared to call their products worthless in three years. I will be waiting.

The V551 phone I paid a small sum for a year ago is now 'free' from my provider. It's hardly worthless and I don't know of anyone from my workplace who is considering upgrading. The idea that 1 billion new cell phones will be sold to a world market of 6.5 billion people in one year is patently ludicrous.
 
I do not see how free phones are worthless.
My seven month old, $100, phone is falling apart, so does that mean if I spend another 400+ I get some magical new, better durable phone?

Personally phones are getting out of hand, I would rather have a simple phone that looks nice and makes calls, and then have my separate PDA for on the go office apps, email, etc.
 
i cant wait for the day when a free iphone plan comes out. of course by then apple will have some new iFon and only the unwashed would be caught with the old.
 
Ockie said:
Umm you do realize that EVDO is used for other things other than VCast right? I'm using it for the broadband internet, thus I pay $44 a month to use EVDO. VCast also uses the same network becuase it's a broadband offering from Verizon.
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you pay $44/month for broadband internet on your phone? :eek: :rolleyes:

compslckr said:
free phones for the most part are junk... then again most phones on the market in the US are garbage...
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yes, if by "junk" you mean "serves its primary purpose"

hang on, i just realized i need to get an iphone as an icebreaker with the womens
 
illgiveumorality said:
All phones are overpriced if service providers aren't lying about the msrps before rebates.
My Samsung Trace was 50 bucks, and that's all I'll ever pay for a phone again.
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You paid 50 up front but an average of 600 a year for it. There is no such thing as a free phone.

I pay from 80 to 105 dollars for a phone that I offer a customer for free becuase the
phone company reimburses me for that loss and then some.

The reality is that if people paid the real retail price for the phone , cell bills as it relates to reoccuring monthly fees would be half what they are now. The cost of your phone is built inot your monthly fee. If subsidising phones went away , monthly fees would go down and the cost of the phones would go up........for a short time , then the manufacturers, the ones making the real money would begin to feel price pressure and the phones would be cheaper and the monthly costs woul stay low. Unfortunately the culture of phone price subsidies is so strong that that wil never happen.

People want everything for free but have not problem supplying reooccuring revenue to the phone companies.

Roflamo. I am often amused that people will bitch about a 5 dollar difference on a 50 dollar phone worth 200 wholesale but wont hesitate to pay 30 for a 99 cent car cord or pay 600 a year for the privaledge of carriering a "free phone"
 
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