Comments on: Is pre-paid and mid-market the future for the iPhone? http://gigaom.com/2011/06/27/is-pre-paid-and-mid-market-the-future-for-the-iphone/ Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:55:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: eideard http://gigaom.com/2011/06/27/is-pre-paid-and-mid-market-the-future-for-the-iphone/#comment-634327 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:03:51 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=367875#comment-634327 Overdue. My wife will finally get an iPhone.

]]> By: Mike Perry http://gigaom.com/2011/06/27/is-pre-paid-and-mid-market-the-future-for-the-iphone/#comment-634136 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:10:55 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=367875#comment-634136 Mike and iJavaJoe might want to look into getting a used iPhone. Jail-break/unlock it and it’ll run fine for voice under a T-Mobile prepay plan.

The sweet point is probably a 3GS. It’s fast enough to run iOS 4/5 fine and has a decent camera. Accessories for it are also getting very cheap as the add-on market moves to the iPhone 4.

]]> By: iJavaJoe http://gigaom.com/2011/06/27/is-pre-paid-and-mid-market-the-future-for-the-iphone/#comment-634105 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:59:14 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=367875#comment-634105 Hey Mike I’m with you. I have a phone mostly for emergency, otherwise I have no need. Let Apple know this is what you want. Go to the Apple web site and give them this feedback, I did and if enough people do they maght make it happen!

]]> By: Mike http://gigaom.com/2011/06/27/is-pre-paid-and-mid-market-the-future-for-the-iphone/#comment-634093 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:02:28 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=367875#comment-634093 I am not a big cell phone user (for voice). So I carry a cheap Nokia with Tmobile prepay for when I travel. I usually buy a $100 card once a year to maintain (I forget how many minutes that is but, it is plenty for the light user) and not loose any credits at years end. Today my phone is at 617 minutes (about 10.5 hours) or $67 in credits left of talk time. I know from past years, I will have anywhere from 2-4 hours of time left when use em or loose em comes up in 2012. If I have a heavy use year (during a move, typically) I may need to add $20 at the end.
But tech and time marches on and for about two years, I have *desperately* wanted an iPhone, not so much for the voice, but for the rest of it! I would love to have GPS, and the many apps, web. Music is nice but also very secondary to the apps.
The ideal iPhone for me is not crippled in anyway (I’d need the memory for apps) but lets me do prepay on voice and data at a reasonable price. $150 a year for voice and data mix would be a welcome start. That is, the credits can go toward either. (It is about time the industries come to the realization that voice is data. The end.) Since I am not a big talker, the majority of my credits would go to data.
But, I predict the phone company dinosaurs will not care about customers who want mostly data and base the pricing on separate voice and separate (over priced) data credits.

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