Re: About the Dark Side

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "James Seng" <james () seng sg>
Date: September 30, 2007 8:16:42 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: Re: [IP] About the Dark Side

Since the last time I have dinner with Ole where we discussed about
iPhone, I got myself an iPhone, hacked and unlocked for Singapore use.

It is one of the most amazing phone I have so far, and if I limited
myself to Email and casual browsing on GPRS (no EDGE here), I can live
without 3G - slow but good enough. VisualMail dont work of cos but it
hardly matters. It is the web browsing, the function as an iPod Video
(watching TED while driving is beautiful) and the Google Map, with
Navizon thats makes it incredible device.

I would also go on record I will pay additional US$200 or even more
for an unlock iPhone based on my experience. Afterall, all my Nokia
phones I have (N80/E61) are over US$600.

Back to Apple "dark side":

In most part of the world, the carrier is also the distributor of
phones. When I was helping a friend to setup a new 3G network in
Malaysia, the interaction with handset manufacturers focuses on how
many phones we can sell. And despite reminding them that Malaysia is
one of the exception (phones must be sold unlocked), they keep coming
back to us on the estimates sales.

So if you are releasing your first generation phone, however hyped,
your best bet is still going with the operator. And operator being
operator would likely to asked the phone to be locked as part of the
deal - which Apple did. It is a pragmatic business decision, either
that or don't get your phone in the store at all.

[Apple dont release the sale numbers but I am willing to bet that
Apple sells more iPhones via their own store than AT&T outlets. But
alas, 5 years...5 more years]

And when you are standing in front of a press conference of a tied up
with your latest O2 operator in UK and asked if you going fight all
these hacking and unlocking, the right answer at that time is not "Go
ahead, hack and unlock the iPhone".

I am not an apologist for Apple but I can understand why they did what
they did so far.

iPhone is going to change how phones are used. It is showing American
what it means to have a "Mobile Internet" that most Asian already
doing as part of their daily life.

-James Seng

On 9/30/07, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com>
> Date: September 30, 2007 10:00:06 AM EDT
> To: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: About the Dark Side
> Reply-To: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com>
>
>
> Lauren,
>
> Nice piece on the Farber list. Personally I have a $19 per month
> grandfathered plan with Cingular/AT&T. The phone is used mostly for
> International travel, GSM sucks less in the US now than it did ten
> years ago when I signed up, but anyway...
>
> If I were to "upgrade" to an iPhone, not only would I get a locked
> phone, I would pay around $40 more per month for the privilege of
> owning an iPhone, never mind using it. I would ALSO automatically
> LOSE international roaming and any international LD plan that I
> might have, all of this would have o be re-applied for.
>
> Of course with no 3G band the iPhone would not work in Japan unlike my
> current phone.
>
> There is simply no reason for me to get an iPhone until (if ever)
> these issues are resolved.
>
> Here is the part I don't understand: In many parts of the world the
> sale of "cool" replacement ('upgrade') handsets is Big Buiness. While
> having AT&T as the exclusive provide in the US might be a good way
> for Apple to get started in the handset business, why can't they just
> SELL THE PHONE at a premium to folks who are willing to pay. Surely
> this would sell a lot more iPhones at the end of the day?
>
> Ole
>
>
> Ole J. Jacobsen
> Editor and Publisher,  The Internet Protocol Journal
> Cisco Systems
> Tel: +1 408-527-8972   Mobile: +1 415-370-4628
> E-mail: ole () cisco com  URL: http://www.cisco.com/ipj
>
>
>
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