Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Iphone lock-in

The more I think about it, the more I think it's pants that you can only get an Iphone on O2.

If the device was being offered on T-Mobile I'd snap it up, and even if it were unlocked and therefore considerably more expensive I'd at least be thinking about it. But you can't. It's O2 or nothing. So I sit and wait and moan.

Murray over at Palm-Mac frequently berates device developers who tie in their device to a specific contract (think Palm and Vodafone). I can't understand why companies do this - there must be some sound business principle in there I guess.

And what happens to all the Iphone 2G models? I can't honestly believe that they just miraculously got "used up" just before the release of the 3G version. Why can't you find them available as clearance offers. The same goes for any older generation device/white good I suppose - the manufacturer's want you to buy the latest version so they withdraw the old stuff from stock/circulation. Seems mad to me. One, there must be piles of "old" goods lying around the world, and two, using an older device might actually prompt someone to upgrade to the newer version.

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