14 DAY TRIAL // Everyone knows what the iPhone is and how much (much, indeed) it will cost. The price set for the little gadget is $499 for the 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB one.
A bucket of money for a cell phone, but how about spending 3,000 US dollars on it? Chris Seibold at Apple Matters has put down a list of auxiliary expenses one would make when owning an iPhone. The number? About $2,500 in extra costs.
Here's Chris Seibold's list of expenses, in case you wish to evaluate your future options as proud owner of an Apple iPhone.
Cingular (AT&T) service: $39.99 (450 min) to $199.99 (6000 min) Bluetooth earpiece: $50 Data package: $20-$50 Getting out of your current contract: $200.00 Car charger: $40 Case: $50
He evaluated this to $3,050 for a two-year period of iPhone usage. Quite a lot of money, wouldn't you say? That if you don't get bored of the first generation iPhone in a year or so and decide to buy a new one (perhaps a 3G one). Ah well, what's money for if not spending it on ridiculously expensive gadgets we don't need, right?
Any cell phone has auxiliary costs; it just doesn't cost 500 bucks to begin with. Plus, remember what COO Tim Cook said about free phones, they're worthless (off the record, I resent that, I own a $10 phone and it's just fine, but anyway).
iPhone, on the other hand, is worth every penny, right? Funny I should say 'penny', because it won't be mere pennies you'll be spending on the iPhone.
The financial aspect behind iPhone will surely be discussed further, but for now I'll conclude by saying the price tag on iPhone is the right one. Apple made it $500 because they know people will pay this money to own it.
So what if it's only about $300 to make, Steve Jobs has got to make a living, right? I mean, his paycheck is 1 dollar big, he must get his money from somewhere. Plus, price is and has always been a good indicator of quality. So the bigger, the better.