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gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

Will the bill actually be lower?

I'm all for this if the bill would actually be lower, but I don't believe one bit that carriers will drop the overall bill costs due to this switch (even though they should).
SpectrumDude
join:2002-04-14
Kernersville, NC

SpectrumDude

Member

It would make upgrading to the latest phone cost prohibitive for many. I was in the habit of upgrading my iPhone with each new generation. That may no longer be possible. In the end thought its still the consumer that gets the shaft and the corporations still take in profits.
mocycler
Premium Member
join:2001-01-22

1 recommendation

mocycler

Premium Member

said by SpectrumDude:

It would make upgrading to the latest phone cost prohibitive for many. I was in the habit of upgrading my iPhone with each new generation. That may no longer be possible.

Or to put it another way, you upgraded when you normally would not have just because you could...the cell provider ate a big chunk of the cost of the new phone. So why not?

Now that they are taking away your free ride and, you know, expecting you to pay full fare for your ticket, you're pissing and whining about "getting the shaft", as if not getting the latest and best the moment it hits the market makes one abused and mistreated by the Big Bad Cell Company.

It's funny how people are ok with sucking others dry but suddenly become soooo conservative about money when it involves their own wallet.

grydlok
join:2004-01-06
Richmond, VA

grydlok to gigahurtz

Member

to gigahurtz
nope because t-mobile plan are pretty much the same.
Plan prices under this model should be drastic but they are not.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym to mocycler

Premium Member

to mocycler
said by mocycler:

Or to put it another way, you upgraded when you normally would not have just because you could...the cell provider ate a big chunk of the cost of the new phone. So why not?

Now that they are taking away your free ride and, you know, expecting you to pay full fare for your ticket, you're pissing and whining about "getting the shaft", as if not getting the latest and best the moment it hits the market makes one abused and mistreated by the Big Bad Cell Company.

It's funny how people are ok with sucking others dry but suddenly become soooo conservative about money when it involves their own wallet.

I don't think it's exactly about a free ride. I'm sure the difference was being made up by everyone for the high voice/text prices for sure. Back in the day the phrase was "the cost of doing business".

There's only going to be one winner in this - for the short term. Those winners will be the share holders of the Bell companies.

The phone makers will hurt. Most people simply won't spend $800 on a telephone.
Terabit
join:2008-12-19

Terabit to gigahurtz

Member

to gigahurtz
of course not. AT&T do not offer any sort of discount if you BYOD, which shows it's just a money grap.

My plans cost half as much when I BYOD overseas and they would give me a credit if I locked into a 12 months contract.
Terabit

Terabit to mocycler

Member

to mocycler
Speak for yourself. I've never made a single dollar from shafting another person.

Probably why I also do not vote (R).
Terabit

1 recommendation

Terabit to SpectrumDude

Member

to SpectrumDude
How does having more choices shaft the consumer? Ironically, that's the fundamental (oil) of capitalism - choice.

It's why having one uber powerful walmart has screwed the US consumer in retail.

Choice is why Europeans (ironically) and many in the Asia_pac pay half as much as we do and receive better value.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz to mocycler

Premium Member

to mocycler
said by mocycler:

said by SpectrumDude:

It would make upgrading to the latest phone cost prohibitive for many. I was in the habit of upgrading my iPhone with each new generation. That may no longer be possible.

Or to put it another way, you upgraded when you normally would not have just because you could...the cell provider ate a big chunk of the cost of the new phone. So why not?

Now that they are taking away your free ride and, you know, expecting you to pay full fare for your ticket, you're pissing and whining about "getting the shaft", as if not getting the latest and best the moment it hits the market makes one abused and mistreated by the Big Bad Cell Company.

It's funny how people are ok with sucking others dry but suddenly become soooo conservative about money when it involves their own wallet.

I'm confused by what seems to be a politically motivated statement

If the carrier allows you to upgrade every 12-18 months, anyone who doesn't take advantage of this is crazy. I upgrade whenever I have an upgrade available (I have 5 lines on my account). I upgrade each year and sell the previous phone and make money on everything when it's all said and done. I am already paying for it in my monthly bill, so what difference does it make?
gigahurtz

gigahurtz to Terabit

Premium Member

to Terabit
said by Terabit:

How does having more choices shaft the consumer? Ironically, that's the fundamental (oil) of capitalism - choice.

It's why having one uber powerful walmart has screwed the US consumer in retail.

Choice is why Europeans (ironically) and many in the Asia_pac pay half as much as we do and receive better value.

I am not a fan of Walmart, but the problem is that we the consumer continue to support a company like Walmart. They're a shit company with poor business practices, yet the consumer still goes and shops there because they want to save a few bucks.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

1 recommendation

Skippy25 to ke4pym

Member

to ke4pym
Mainly because there is not a phone made that should cost anywhere near $800 full retail. $300 would be a fair price and fair profit for any of these phone makers and resellers. This includes the iPhone the Galaxy and any other that has been produced in the last 5+ years.

It is the subsidies of the phone companies that have kept the retail price of these phones so high and we will all see that as this becomes common place the market settles in a year or 2.
desarollo
join:2011-10-01
Monroe, MI

desarollo to SpectrumDude

Member

to SpectrumDude
said by SpectrumDude:

It would make upgrading to the latest phone cost prohibitive for many. I was in the habit of upgrading my iPhone with each new generation. That may no longer be possible. In the end thought its still the consumer that gets the shaft and the corporations still take in profits.

The costs of the handsets would then be set by a real market, not what the handset manufacturers and cellular phone companies collude & determine to be mutually beneficial to themselves, not the consumer.

Apple and Samsung sure seem to sell a lot of phones in countries without handset subsidies...I think we'll be fine here once it happens.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru to Terabit

MVM

to Terabit
said by Terabit:

My plans cost half as much when I BYOD overseas

I've often have heard such claims, and I'm curious as to the exact details. Can you please specifically state what carrier/plan you have here in the US (along with the number of minutes/text/data you get each month, as well as the corresponding plan in whatever country you went to where the plan was 1/2 the price when you BYOD.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

1 recommendation

BiggA to Skippy25

Premium Member

to Skippy25
Agreed. If AT&T goes ahead with this, Apple will either be substantially re-thinking the way they price their devices, or their marketshare in the US will start free-falling. In the Android world, if the bigger, more established players don't want to start lowing prices, ZTE, Hauwei, and others will do it for them.
kerya666
join:2002-12-20
Valrico, FL

kerya666 to mocycler

Member

to mocycler
said by mocycler:

said by SpectrumDude:

It would make upgrading to the latest phone cost prohibitive for many. I was in the habit of upgrading my iPhone with each new generation. That may no longer be possible.

Or to put it another way, you upgraded when you normally would not have just because you could...the cell provider ate a big chunk of the cost of the new phone. So why not?

Now that they are taking away your free ride and, you know, expecting you to pay full fare for your ticket, you're pissing and whining about "getting the shaft", as if not getting the latest and best the moment it hits the market makes one abused and mistreated by the Big Bad Cell Company.

It's funny how people are ok with sucking others dry but suddenly become soooo conservative about money when it involves their own wallet.

Actually it was the other way around. ATT's monthly bill already included the cost for assumed phone that you got "subsidized" form them. Whether you upgraded phones every 2-year contract or not they still charged you for it as you did.
i.e. if you brought your own phone you will get 0 discount unlike some European carriers.

So the only person getting shafted is the customer who did not use something they already paid for in the original obscene bill.

Besides they get these phones in bulk for fractions of what retail price is so they get positives form the whole deal either way.
negritude
join:2006-04-06
Oakland, CA

negritude to BiggA

Member

to BiggA
said by BiggA:

If AT&T goes ahead with this, Apple will either be substantially re-thinking the way they price their devices...

»www.macrumors.com/2013/0 ··· -curves/
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Or they could just take $350 off their current pricing model and be all set. Oh wait, that would eat up much of their massive, bloated margins.