iPhone 3G owners – you have nothing to complain about!

Posted: June 9th, 2009 | Author: Foamcow | Filed under: Drunken Ranting, General, Social Comment | | 10 Comments »

Apple realeased the “new” iPhone 3GS last night. It’s faster, much faster apparently, has a few more nice features and looks like it will keep Apple and the iPhone at the cutting edge of mobile telecommunications.

But what’s this? If you have an iPhone 3G (still available alongside the newer version incidentally) you have to PAY to upgrade! WTF! Pay? The cheek!

I’ve seen and heard many, many (many) iPhone 3G owners complaining that they can’t get a free upgrade to the iPhone 3GS. People have started petitions online and are calling for O2 to give them upgrades.

OK. Firstly, I feel your pain and if I was on the other side of the fence I’d probably be miffed too but 3G iPhone owners – you have really have very little to complain about.

I’d also like to say that I’m no fan of O2 – of the fact the iPhone was only available on O2 was probably the biggest influence in me not grabbing one the day they hit the streets.

Why the fuck should they do that? Look at the simple facts…

1. You signed an 18 month contract.
O2 subsidised the purchase of your phone for the express reason that they have you by the short and curlies for 18 months. Why do you think a PAYG iPhone costs so much more? Part of your monthly charge is paying for the handset.

Why should O2 be compelled to give you an upgrade – at their expense – when Apple release a new model. I’m no fan of O2 but it’s simple business sense surely? The whole business model is to get people on a contract. It’s not just phone networks either. Sky, Virgin, Magazine publishers etc. all love the contract/subscription model because it guarantees cash flow and looks great on their books.

If you defaulted on your contract and didn’t pay do you think O2 would let you keep the phone? It may be a surprise to you but it’s not YOUR phone. It belongs to O2 and they are leasing it to you.

In fact, you CAN upgrade. You just have to complete your contract first. i.e. pay for the handset you are borrowing from O2. Once you’ve done that you owe them nothing and can do as you wish.

But, I hear the cries now, the upgrade from 1st to 2nd Gen iPhone was free!
Ahh, say I, but the 1st Gen iPhone wasn’t subsidised. You had already paid for the thing outright.

I think part of the problem, and the reason I initially resisted getting an iPhone, is the 18 month contract. It’s too long to be tied in when you consider Moore’s Law.

2. You’ve got a bloody good phone
At the end of the day the “old” iPhone hasn’t been retired. There is still life in it. It’s a bloody good, no, it’s the BEST mobile phone on the market. You know that, it’s why you bought one.
Yes, it would be lovely to have the new features but your current handset is far from obsolete. If you REALLY want the 3GS you’re just going to have to pay up to get out of your current contract and take out a new one.

But then what happens when the iPhone 3GSX comes out in 12 months? Oh noes!

3. Tethering
Oooh. Tethering. What? I have to PAY for this?
Er, yes you do… and here’s why.
Again, why should O2 pay for your internet connection? OK 3G isn’t going to give you the speeds of your home broadband connection but not everyone has a 10/20Mbit home connection. The majority of (the UK at least) make do with 2/4/8Mbit connections. I’m sure that if they also owned a contract iPhone and could hook their computer up to use that to access the net they would consider ditching the extra expense of paying for home broadband.

Also, O2 offer “broadband dongles” to let you use their 3G network to access the internet via your laptop. It’s no different really except your dongle costs a lot more. So why should they let you use the network for free simply because you also access it with your iPhone (again, you’ve paid for this in your monthly subs)?

Consider this. While using your iPhone “normally” you will probably download a bit of data over the net, send some emails… nothing heavy. Now if you could hook your laptop up to it a whole new usage pattern emerges. Your use of the network becomes much heavier. Consequently O2 need to invest more in their network to meet the increased demand (yeah, of course they would do that haha). Someone, somewhere pays for this.

Fair enough, I tend to agree that £15 for 30 days usage is a little bit rich but you can buy 30 days at a time. Besides, look at how much contract mobile broadband costs with O2.

That’s a snip under £30 a MONTH for 10Gb data. I may be wrong but with iPhone you get unlimited data transfer don’t you? For £15 and NO contract – you can buy the tethering when you need it in 30 day lumps. Oh, AND if you only want 1 month’s access you have to buy the modem for another £58.

Sounds like you’re getting a bargain with the iPhone’s £15 tethering charge.

I’d also question how many people actually NEED to tether their laptop to their phone. Yes, it’s undoutably useful but I bet if you couldn’t do it you wouldn’t miss it. It’s the new feature bug. Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you, personally, actually have a need for it 24/7. As far as I can see there is very little reason to tether. I for one can only think of rare instances when I’d really, really need it so I’d pay the £15 for the privilege.

For all our high-tech gadgetry we don’t live in the Star Trek universe where there is no need for money and we share everything. Shit costs money. Someone, you, me, whoever has to pay and it sure as hell won’t be a warm hearted philanthropic mobile carrier or silicon valley based tech firm.

So existing iPhone 3G owners, don’t feel hard done by because you are actually quite lucky. Enjoy the remaining time on your contract safe in the knowledge you are lucky enough to have a bloody amazing bit of tech nestling against your nuts (or female equivelant – cos their different right?).

+++ STOP PRESS  – O2 Executive’s contact details +++

For those of you who are amongst the disgruntled, you may be interested in the following contact info:

Simon Lloyd,
O2′s Head of Media Relations
tel: 01753 628 335
email: simon.lloyd@O2.com

Richard Poston,
O2′s Director of Corporate Affairs
tel: 01753 628039
email: richard.poston@O2.com