Is $600 too much?

[Kyle Matthews]

A bit of relevant info on the iPhone, is $600 really too much? Remember the Razr? Yah, it was $600 at launch... and it did nothing new, it just LOOKED cool.

It was 2004 when the RAZR launched in the US as a high-end design clamshell. It was $600, with a $100 dollar rebate from Cingular. Reviewers complained about the price, but back then the phone was revolutionary enough that no one could pan it. It dialed, like any other phone, and did basic text messaging, and more. But it was just a thin, beautiful design ahead of it's time. And it sold. Especially after it dropped in price, after launch, like all phones do. Within 2 years, it shipped its 50 millionth phone world wide.

Gizmodo

[thewhiteguy1]

yah? $500. i don't remeber it being that much. thats funny though. cuz around that time, i got my 2nd phone and i got a v551 which was the 2nd or 3rd best phone on the market for around $80 with rebates and stuff. and my dad got the razr. but i didn't know it was that much!

[Zorn]

no ****? $500. i don't remeber it being that much. thats funny though. cuz around that time, i got my 2nd phone and i got a v551 which was the 2nd or 3rd best phone on the market for around $80 with rebates and stuff. and my dad got the razr. but i didn't know it was that much!

Yep I paid $600 for my Razr in November 2004 because I didn't want to be locked into Cingular for 2 years. I remember at first they were saying they didn't want to lower the price to keep it as a luxury item, then not long after it just started dropping.

[Kyle Matthews]

I was managing a bunch of stores at the time. At first we thought we'd never sell them--they were that price WITH activation. I remember the sales guys saying it'd never sell til it came down--but they sold like crazy. Amazing what people will pay for the "in" thing.

And, to be fair, at the time, cell phones WEREN'T shaped like the Razr. I remember the way it fit in your pocket was SO much better than everything out there. Now, of course, only 4 years later or so, all the phones look like Razr's. Makes you wonder what will be out in 4 more years....

[Cody Overcash]

[JedixJarf]

ummm, wow cash.

[TomFrost]

It pisses me off when people knock ya' for saying you want an iPhone. "$600 for a phone?!" they cry. But in all actuality... no, it's not at all $600 for a phone. Take the nicest phone you've seen on the mass market, add its price to that of a 2mp camera with a 3.5 inch screen, add that price to an 8gig iPod. Now factor in the price of a portable video player with a 3.5 inch screen, a PDA that handles both cellular internet and Wifi protocols, the cost of a slick, user-friendly interface made by a company who's won more awards for interface design than any other company, all wrapped up in an unprecedented small size with a durable construction.

I'll bet you an iPhone the figure you come up with is more than $600.

People see this as a "Phone" and think the cost should be similar. But it's not a $600 phone, it's a $600 all-in-one device, with the best design and most features of any other PDA or minicomputer on the market. $600 for a cellular-enabled palm-sized laptop is one hell of a steal.

[JedixJarf]

It pisses me off when people knock ya' for saying you want an iPhone. "$600 for a phone?!" they cry. But in all actuality... no, it's not at all $600 for a phone. Take the nicest phone you've seen on the mass market, add its price to that of a 2mp camera with a 3.5 inch screen, add that price to an 8gig iPod. Now factor in the price of a portable video player with a 3.5 inch screen, a PDA that handles both cellular internet and Wifi protocols, the cost of a slick, user-friendly interface made by a company who's won more awards for interface design than any other company, all wrapped up in an unprecedented small size with a durable construction.

I'll bet you an iPhone the figure you come up with is more than $600.

People see this as a "Phone" and think the cost should be similar. But it's not a $600 phone, it's a $600 all-in-one device, with the best design and most features of any other PDA or minicomputer on the market. $600 for a cellular-enabled palm-sized laptop is one hell of a steal.

Well put friend.

[editwizard]

Exactly! My wife was balking at the iPhone's price and I reminded her that I spent $400 on a Palm Tungsten T3 in 2003, $300 on a 30GB iPod w/video, and $50 on a sony ericsson T637. All 3 still work - but the only thing I love is the iPod, the phone and the PDA drive me nuts each and every day. Sony and Palm abandoned these products mere months after they came out in order to move onto the next model of each device. Its like they just keep coming out with more and more stuff that they hope isn't quite as crappy as the last generation - just enough so that people will want them or HAVE to get them in order to be free of the shortcomings of last year's model.

Apple products are quite a bit different than that... and usually cost quite a bit more. When you add it up the iPhone certainly does sound like a good deal.

Now, if only they'll not rape us on the data plan!!!

[Kyle Matthews]

Well said again. Rape data plan... we'll see.

[JedixJarf]

O you know we are going to get raped on the data plan, their cheepest blackberry plan is 40$/mo. so im guessing the iPhone will be along the same lines.

[moond0ggie]

Very good points,

Competition will drive the prices down once the other manufactures bring forth their own versions of an all-in-one communications-multimedia devices.

Like other technologies, the better designed product or more popular format will rein as the industry standard.

Fast forward 3 years, pre-paid iPhone knock-offs at Target & Wal-Mart for $89.95

[Acadian]

Well said again. Rape data plan... we'll see.

It's not rape...it's surprise sex...

Hehe...anyways, my take is pretty much the same. I think that considering the research and testing that went into developing and designing the phone (probably one of the biggest factors that we pay for in the final product) and the work that goes into the actual manufacturing of the product along with the luxury features, $600 is a good deal.

For a father-of-4-still-at-home-kids, that's alot of dough but aside from that Apple has properly priced the phone for the market. It's actually cheaper than I thought it would be. Afterall, it's not just a cellphone.

[editwizard]

Exactly... I keep reminding myself that. So for me personally its:

1) A PDA to replace my Palm T3 but that flawlessly syncs with my Mac to keep contacts, calendar, notes, email
2) An iPod with a better screen and better interface than my 30gig
3) A phone to replace my Sony T637 - but actually has ALL of my contacts info in it - to be dialed with a simple tap
4) a pocket camera that I will actually USE
5) a picture book to show family pictures (that's actually up-to-date thx to iPhoto!)

The funniest thing I've seen is that commercial spoof on Conan where they list all the features of the iPhone (most of them fake) but there's that one guy who drops like 4 small electronic devices on the ground all at once - that's what I feel like everyday!

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

My excuse for paying this much money is that I've never bought a phone this expensive before, so what do I know?!

[editwizard]

Yes, me too! I think the most I've ever paid for a phone was $29!!!

Ah, such restraint... soon to be cast into the wind.

[JedixJarf]

Ehh, I Paid 450$ for my Razr MAXX before it was widely available. 50 bucks more for iPhone doesn't seem to bad to me.

[Stephenstudios]

my razr was free...after about 2 years of it being available in stores I signed up for the plan, phone was $200 and included was a $200 rebate from wirefly

[editwizard]

Is wirefly any good? I almost went thru them a few years ago but it turned out I got a better deal directly on the at&t website.

[JedixJarf]

Wirefly is GREAT! I bought a Cingular V3R for 50 dollars with a 50$ mail in rebate and sold it on ebay for 280$