I’m always looking out for a mobile device that can handle wordpress , surf the net, call someone, take a photo and maybe hear songs and watch video. The first thing that comes into your mind would probably be a laptop or netbook but thats not what i want, i want something more portable , more personal and more functional. I think i might have just found it for now……. i think.
Apple has made many great innovations at the right time and since the days of the iPod , nothing has changed much. They just can’t stop chuning out great machines and this time round looks like apple can finally earn some money from me. To tell you the truth, i think iPod are great but i feel they’re overpirced so i didn’t buy any at all or at least till iTunes reaches my country. I think mac are great machine but they’re just overpriced pc and i think OS X rocks but i have to get a mac hardware for that purpose which i’m not going to.
But i think the iphone is a lill different from the rest. Maybe its time for me to change.
I was just looking through wordpress.com main page and i saw this tiny lill’ button that says “Wordpress for iPhone” , i entered and watched the video, I knew i shouldn’t have done that. The wordpress app for the iphone looks even better than the interface i get on my computer! The iPhone probably is the mobile device that i’m looking out for. It is everything that i hope to be and it is tiny but there’s just one thing, the price. Maybe make that two instead , the isp as well.
So i have 2 limiting factor both price and isp.
First lets talk about the price. iPhone is only available through a mobile plan(not 100% sure on this), i would reckon it ain’t cheap either to just get the device because it will be useless without the phone function. Might as well grab the iTouch and any other phone if i don’t plan to use the phone function of the iPhone. At least on the bright side and if i do just get iTouch, the wordpress app supports it too 
. But that isn’t what i want today.
Next we have our lovely isp. Now here’s the link to their site. Let’s just talk about the basic iFlexi Value plan ;
- S$56 / mth
- Free 500 local sms
- Free 200 mins outgoing
- 300Mb of bandwidth @ 3.6Mbps
- iPhone will cost S$348 with the plan
That means after a 24 month contract i will be paying : $1692 . Not to forget my bandwidth per month will greatly exceed the pathetic 300mb bundle and the “Excess data usage is charged at $0.0019/KB (include GST), in 2KB blocks.” Which will amount to almost S$2 per megabyte. That will cost a lot of money in the long run and web 2.0 isn’t really that bandwidth friendly , there’s a reason why broadband is a must nowadays.
But you must be thinking ,why not just use the free wifi instead ? I’m sure everyone knows there is wifi to be used and if you don’t plan to use the data bundle then i think its time to look out for option #2.
- $25.68 / mth
- Free 500 local sms
- Free 100 mins outgoing
- iPhone will cost $698 with the plan
So option #2 don’t have the data plan at all but you must be thinking there’s no need to rely on 3G since there’s wifi and is free after all. Let’s just work out if you get the iPhone through the iOne plus, you will have to pay $1314 after a 24 month contract. This gives you about $378 of savings and the only thing you lose is the lack of 3G and also there’s no worry of exceeding the data bundle/mth.
However you DO have to worry about the 100mins talk time difference as compared to iFlexi value. If you talk a lot you will exceed the 100 free mins and you have to pay, not sure how much since the page here doesn’t list it. But do bear in mind, talking ain’t all the cheap either.
But being a really great mobile internet device that comes with the phone , whats the use if your internet access isn’t all that mobile ? Wifi don’t cover the whole country and certainly not all wifi spots are free and leaching your neighbors doesn’t count, leaching others bandwidth is stealing. If that’s the case , lets move on to option #3 ;
iOne plus with a free phone + broadband on mobile in your iphone ;
- $22.42
- no sms
- no talk time
- 30GB bandwidth @ 1mbps
- iPhone will cost $698 since you’re buying with iOne plus.
See the irony in this case ? You’re giving up the phone in the iPhone for mobile internet and you have another device in your pocket to do your calls and sms. Give yourself a pat on the back , you are one epic fail. Let’s just calculate how much you will need to pay if you do take up option 3.
S$22.42 x 24months + (iOne plus + iPhone) = $1852. You just pwn yourself n00b , that’s more expensive than option 1.
Look on the bright side at least with a 30GB bandwidth , i’m pretty sure you can’t use it up so you’re safe from excess usage. But right now everyone can only contact you via email if you forgot to bring your other phone. That’s dumb. If that’s the case i would rather you get the iTouch which only cost $388 for a 8GB version and use the whichever free wifi thats in your area AND you don’t look that dumb carrying another phone. Oh let’s just name this as option #4 ;
- $25.68/mth
- free 500 sms
- free 100 mins outgoing
- iTouch will cost $388 regardless whether you have a phone or not.
Let’s just calculate if you do get another phone(assuming a free one) and iTouch instead.
S$25.68 x 24months + iTouch = $1004. or just $388 for the 8GB iTouch.
By holly smokes, this is the cheapest option out there! However you did just shot yourself in the foot and probably everywhere else since the whole point is to get the iPhone.
So let’s review our 4 options again ,
- $56/mth + $348 for the iphone + 300MB bandwidth + free wifi
- $25.68/mth + $698 for the iphone + zero bandwidth limit+ free wifi
- $25.68 and $22.42/mth + $698 for the iphone + 30GB bandwidth + free wifi
- $25.68/mth + no iphone + zero bandwidth limit + free wifi + iTouch @ $388
Ain’t the world a wonderful place to have so many options to choose from? Personally speaking after i did some research for this article i too deserves some slaps. The data plans that the isp provides really is pathetic , i mean 300mb worth ? what can i do with it?!! However there’s quite a number of free wifi zones(Till 31st dec 09) and i have wifi in my house and probably my friend’s house too. Also i haven’t done a post so long already.. I feel tired doing this.
But the iPhone really is tempting however with a fraction of the price and a fraction of the function i can get the iTouch. If i do get the iTouch, i will have to give up the phone, the camera, the sim card slot and i will have to carry another phone in my pocket. Don’t know if that is a good choice or not but , right now getting none yet.
However i do want to take back something i said about the ipod being too pricey. Yes it is pricey but the iTouch really is powerful and the price seems to be worth while. But there’s always iTunes to hate. 
I’ll be waiting till i get out of service to make the plunge. Till then my bank is safe and that means still no blogging on the go… yet. Maybe i should do something about netbooks…
Do you have an iPhone ?
3 Comments
I pay something around $55 USD a month for a cell phone that has no picture feature, no net, just plain old phone with text messaging. It’s pretty much a rip off but I was only looking for something that I could use to call people all over the US with any time of the day or night with no extra charges, nothing special like this. I am in the market for getting an upgrade/better phone though..
I don’t fancy buying an iPhone, and I don’t fancy all those multi touchscreen doodlegads that is saturating the market right now. I have a good reason for the hate.
Imagine you need to make an emergency call, and you call up on your iPhone or whatever touchscreen doodad you use. And suddenly, the phone’s touchscreen is dead/unusable.
…
Congratulations: you have a non-working phone, and you can’t type in anything, because the only way to input is the screen, which is currently dead/unusable.
Hence, my hate towards these newfangled devices. Not only they’re screwing up the mobile market prices of both phones and plans, they are also a headache to use.
Occam’s razor: the best rule to stick with.
@persocom , wow thats really expensive. is pre-paid any better over at your place ?
@TP , i’m just really interested in the web feature of the iphone, the phone part is just the bonus. But i still can’t get over the fact that i have to pay so much for the iphone.
Oh i just found out , you can actually buy the iphone itself. it will cost a good $1000-ish for the 8gb version. You still need a sim card for the phone part to function.. So there’s no escaping signing a plan for the iphone..