Hey, early adopters! You’ve been screwed! Again! Steve Jobs announced at his keynote speech today that the 8GB iPhone is getting a price chop and the 4GB is going away completely, according to our sister site Gizmodo.
Consumerist always advises that eager beavers take a moment to relax and think before running out to buy the next new thing.
As former Consumerist editor Joel Johnson once said: “Stop buying this crap. Just stop it. You don’t need it. Wait a year until the reviews come out and the other suckers too addicted to having the very latest and greatest buy it, put up a review, and have moved on to something else.”
So, the next time you feel the need to wait in line to get a pretty new gadget remember that you could have saved $200 bucks by waiting, uh, about 2 months, and 8 days. Give or take.
8GB iPhone Price Cut by $200, 4GB iPhone Gone [Gizmodo]
(Photo:Gizmodo)
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@bitfactory: Check the dosage on your Asshole pills, you may have taken too much.
One interesting point about the 4GB model is that it’s the Apple product with the shortest lifecycle ever: 2 months from introduction to demise. We actually bought the 4GB model because we didn’t need that much music space and another 4GB weren’t worth the 100$ diff.
How anyone could put a negative spin on this is beyond me.
Early adopters got a product they wanted for a price they were willing to pay – satisfaction surveys show that clearly enough. I’m one of the happy early adopters myself. Now everyone else can get one for much cheaper. Good for them!
I’m still waiting until after the battery recall to buy mine.
Hahhaaa.
Dear friggen LORD. I love everything about Apple, but they keep effing me hard.
I’m going to be the voice of dissent. My brother-in-law is a major gadget-phile who jumps at every chance to buy the latest and greatest in technological achievements. Years ago, he bought a brick-like first gen iPod with clunky buttons instead of the touch interface. I was too cheap to fork over the cash, and in 2003 received a cheaper, sleeker, lighter second gen one for a graduation present. Mine’s battery died almost immediately, rendering it an attractively molded piece of plastic that was entirely useless. His first gen is still running with virtually zero problems.
I think in most cases your suggestions are quite valid. But I also think sometimes, they don’t make ‘em like they used ‘ta.
The level level of vitriol directed against fellow Consumerists om this thread seems to be higher than normal… It seems as if the “have nots” are rubbing the price decrease in the face of the “haves.”
Here’s my story: I bought a $599 iPhone. I did not wait in line for it–I ordered it online through the Apple Store and received it about a week later. I have not experienced any significant “first-gen bugs.” It’s locked up a time or two and the browser crashes with some regularity–this is no different from any other modern mobile phone I’ve used. I’m aware of the various limitations including data network speed, but I am happy with the quality, performance, and, yes, value of the iPhone.
Yeah, waiting is always smart… until you realize it’s a never ending cycle where you wait forever. Right now it’s just a countdown to the 2nd gen iPhone and everyday you delay buyng the 1st gen is one more day you wasted. Of course you can be smart and wait until the 2nd gen, but then *you missed out on having a great phone for the entire time the 1st gen was out while you waited*. And, of course, the 3rd gen will then be coming. Why not wait for that? etc.
Just buy what you want when you want it. (Wait long enough for some reviews to come in and to verify the things aren’t faulty by design, of course)
All I can say is “ahahahaha” to the people who bought one for $600 … I guess if you’re rich then you probably don’t care, but I can think of quite a few things I’d rather spend $200 on than 2 months of iPhone. Then again, I don’t care enough about my phone. If they ever offer the iPhone free with a plan then I’ll get it…. but that’s pretty much it.
picture sending, internet, texting, and those sorts of things are all things my laptop does very well so I rarely use my phone for them.
Oh come on – everyone who buys shiny toys like this knows that prices plummet, capacities and capabilities improve. The longer you wait, the better the device and the price. Early adopters aren’t “screwed” at all.
Why couldn’t the post be about how incredible it is that ipod capacities continue to increase while relative prices decrease?
The iPod Nano I bought three weeks ago for $250 has just been totally discontinued TODAY for a model that’s $50 cheaper, sexier, plays video and is the “latest thing.” I don’t feel “screwed” at all!
The have-nots here are just slightly more amusing than the ones on other sites today. So far, they’re the only ones who seem to be shrieking about the price cut. I guess it’s a big deal, if $200 seems like major money to you. /shrug
This is why I love The Consumerist.
Thanks to TORTFEASOR28′s post, I called American Express and pleaded my case. They initially told me that the Platinum Price Guarantee was no longer offered, but after a bit of finessing, I got a supervisor to issue me a $200 credit. (To anyone wanting to try this, I think the kicker was informing them that “a friend” in the same situation was just offered a credit.)
And this is why I only use American Express.
Doesn’t just about every electronic thing cost more when it first comes out? My favorite part of “The Wedding Singer” is when Drew Barrymore’s boyfriend comes home boasting about his new toy, which is “called a compact disc player” and costs about $900.
I know how everyone feels, when the last Harry Potter book came out I, I, I’m not gonna get any sympathy here.
@segfault: Actually, the have nots have become the haves…of at least an extra $200.
And that…is a joke!