The iPhone is White Label Hardware • Hacker News Board

Re: The iPhone is White Label Hardware

#61

Post by cubicle67 » Wed, Jun 10, 2009, 4:07 AM UTC

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #3

AT&T lock-in is one of the larger barriers preventing the universality of the iPhone as "the" mobile computing platform.

AT&T lock-in is only a problem in the US, remember. Here in Australia the iPhone is available from 4 different carriers (Telstra, Vodafone, Virgin and Optus) and the fifth carrier offers plans for unlocked phones as well.

Re: The iPhone is White Label Hardware

#62

Post by whughes » Wed, Jun 10, 2009, 6:07 AM UTC

Andys wrote: post #58

DenisM wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fiasco? You think App Store is not a success but a fiasco?

Well, I'm a developer who is interested in stuff more serious than iFart. I recently got an Android phone because I was turned off by all the negative stories I read about developing for iPhone. I can't be the only one in this boat.

If the App Store wasn't a massive success, no one would bother to develop for it, and no one would complain. The negative stories are an indicator of Apple's success. For developers, the Store is a negative, but for the users it is a clear positive; it delivers advanced and slick applications at relatively cheap prices. The users don't hear/care about the developer problems.

Re: The iPhone is White Label Hardware

#63

Post by whughes » Wed, Jun 10, 2009, 6:10 AM UTC

jstevens85 wrote: post #57

mcantor wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your point is clear and practical, but a thought just occurred to me: Imagine if you had to jailbreak your Windows machine to use applications that Microsoft hadn't approved...

you mean like the Xbox? I don't think anyone is really complaining about that.

The Dreamcast was relatively open. I think the big reason that Apple kept the phone closed was because it could. People make the mistake of looking at it from a Mac/PC perspective, when really the iPhone was aimed at a consumer market which was already used to phones where the carrier had all the power. Sure, Windows Mobile is pretty open, but how many people use WM compared to generic "text phones"? I'd bet the vast majority of iPhone switchers are coming from the latter category, where the phone company owns your phone for all intents and purposes.

Re: The iPhone is White Label Hardware

#64

Post by jcl » Wed, Jun 10, 2009, 1:36 PM UTC

martey wrote: post #52

cujo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe you can get one from ATT unlocked without a plan, but the price is way up there. I believe $600 and $800 for the 2 models. That was for the 3G though. I don't know if they still do it for the 3GS.

I found no-commitment pricing at http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574 : iPhone 3G: $499 (8GB) and $549 (16GB) iPhone 3GS: $599 (16GB) and $699 (32GB)

But does "no-commitment" mean the phone can be used on any carrier? Since you can only order it directly from AT&T, I'd guess that it can't.