inessential musings

The new 3G iPhone goes on sale worldwide today at 8 a.m. And just like last year, when Apple introduced the first iPhone, eager buyers are lined up to gear up. At our local Apple Store in Arden Fair Mall, there are already more than 500 of the faithful waiting for the doors to open. Many spent the night.

But most seem unaware of a new AT&T calling plan they’ll encounter when the buy their new piece of technology They’ll have to sign up for it at the time of purchase and it will cost them $20-$40 a month more than the old plan. Ouch! But there’s apparently an alternative: They can trade in their old iPhone for a shiny new 3G model (presumably remaining on their old calling plan) for $175.

I reported on this a few months ago. At the time, it was being described as a $400 iPhone that could be bundled with a 2-year calling plan for $199-$299. I think that’s essentially what they’re still doing, albeit with a twist on the presentation.

Coincidently, I believe my contract with Verizon ends this month. Dawn already has an iPhone… I’d like a new phone… hmmmm.

Update on Jul 11, 2008 at 01:15PM by

Doug

Dawn and I had lunch at Arden Fair Mall and then walked over to the Apple Store to snag a Bluetooth headset. We mistakenly assumed the 500 or so fans that had camped out at the mall to be among the first to score new iPhones would be long gone. They were, but they’d been replaced by at least that many more!

The line runs from the Apple Store back to Macy’s. A couple guys mid-way in line told me they’d been waiting for six hours and counting! One remarked, “It’s like a bad movie. You know it’s bad, but you have to stay ‘til the end.”

Uh uh. Not me.