While I didn't wait in line, I did buy my phone the first day online. I received it a week later and have been delighted with it. HOWEVER...

Dropping the price so soon has certainly got me hot under the collar. Yes, I understand that consumer electronics have a tendancy to get cheaper/obsolete quickly. But this was just wrong. I would certainly feel a LOT better if Apple were to gift me with an extension of my warranty for another year and compensation for being a beta-tester, er, early adopter. That would certainly make me feel a lot less ripped-off without the company having to fork over costly refunds...

Had to make an account for this:

BURNED!

He's a real iCon of the computer industry ....

Standing out in the cold waiting for the iPhone.... no just wait 68 days and save $200.... just in time for when they sell it in the UK... $399 thats £200+- so the price of a nice Nokia. Oh well thats $200 million for Steve's bonus this year.

I can see all the people selling on eBay shitting themselfs as they are on a loss already...

I know a lot of people who ran out and bought the first iPhones are

upset about the price of the new iPhone going down, but that

is partly due to the fact that Apple can now sell iPods and iPhones

cheaper than when they first developed them.

Taking a closer look at manufacturing commodities like DVD writers,

televisions and other products show that companies can sell

products cheaper if the make millions of them. I'm sure even

the people with no experience in manufacturing could learn

how to make and sell almost any product cheaper after moving

the first few million or two.

Whats new ??

Apple 5h17 has always been overpriced, and over rated

The market price is what a willing seller can sell to a willing buyer. Apple was willing to sell the iPhone for $599, and you were willing to buy it (and did so) at that price.

It's $200 bucks you were willing to pay to be an early adopter. Even the Razr was priced pretty outrageously when it first came out, and people were willing to pay that.

If you buy a car today, and the manufacturer offers a $1000 rebate six weeks later, do you feel the same way?

Most technology companies know that you can charge early adopters a premium and then sort out the pricing from there. Always best to wait for the next version with better spec and lower price.

This is not a story. This is normal business practice. If the author has an issue with Jobs or Apple, then the author should just publish a story with headline "I have an issue with jobs".

When AMD brought out the Athlon MP I was psyched. I ran out and spent about $3K to put together a dual 1.2GHz (1.2GHz, not 1200+) dual CPU rig. Likely it was one of the first in Canada. It rocked, I was happy. I certainly did not whine when 6 or 8 weeks later the price had dropped considerably. I knew what I wanted and I paid for it. AMD had no contract with me to protect my l33t status, I did not expect that of AMD.

Grow up, you whiners.

Yes... but 2 months later? I find it absolutely impossible to believe they've somehow refined their manufacturing process that much in two months. I doubt it's changed at all, actually.

They may well have been unsure about the market's reaction to the phone and set the the initial price based upon conservative projected sales figures to help cover development. A couple of months later though, it turns out people like it so Apple expects to sell more and can therefore lower the price.

Now the early adopters are not only beta testers, but they're also financing the risk Apple took in developing the phone. That's pretty slimy. Clearly one of the biggest objections to the iPhone was the price, so it's not unreasonable for them to lower it. Unless they offer to refund the difference to current owners however, they're slime.

Of course, I have little sympathy for anyone who is a 'fan' of some huge corporation. This is exactly the sort of thing that leads to. The customers are just figures in a ledger. To be honest though, I expect Apple will offer some sort of compensation. I just hope it's not something silly like iTunes credit- which it probably will be.

Apple has historically slashed pricing on products which haven't sold to their expectations, i.e the Newton.

Obviously you who plopped down your 599 USD were completely robbed but you don't have to take my word for it.

ROFL take that apple fanboys!

Product goes significantly down in price. People who just bought said product get annoyed because it's now cheaper. It happens all the time... but since it's Apple, it's suddenly newsworthy? And it's a bad thing?

All the other cellphone companies do this, I can't imagine why El Reg is singling out Apple. (oh no).

How much was the N95 on release, and how much 2 months later? (and that has an operator subsidy)

yES i WAS ONE OF THE IDIOTS THAT BOUGHT AN IPHONE BUT I WOULD NOT FOLLOW HIM (jOBS) TO AFRICA. aPPLE BETTER MAKE THIS RIGHT WITH US MILLION CUSTOMERS OR THEIR WILL BE HELL TO PAY

That ugly little green-eyed monster, who hangs around Vulture Central whispering "They didn't send us an iPhone to evaluate, did they? We're still not happy, are we?"

Why not leave off talking about Apple until old green-eyes vanishes in a puff of it's own bile and you can settle back down to a more, er, balanced approach.

Sorry to everyone who bought the dam iPhone with the amount $599.I guess is not to late to bring it back to the shop so you can $200.This is money we talking about.The owner he very wrong how can sell something without think about how much you will sell it coz it's seems he did not how much he would charge it.

Before you buy something think twice.This is totally ripped off

early adopters always pay a premium for new devices, quit the bitching, its been like that so long that there is no excuse to act surprised.

...I never buy something just when it's been released. Money aside, released products are usually so bug-ridden that it soon takes the shine off your purchase.

No. I'll wait a year (maybe two) - and buy then (maybe even just before it gets EOL'ed). That way, I'm sure it's cheaper, better and more reliable than it was when it was first released.

I used to ride the technology wave with all the cutting-edge stuff (phones, computer equipment, etc), until I wised up and realised that the cost premium just wasn't worth it.

Oliver.

He made $200m gross profit in 68 days from the idiocy of consumerist America.

Fair play to him for playing the market for the fool that it is.

Next time apple release a product consider me not joining the queue until 2 or 3 days before release, that'll show em

Think of it this way, YOU decide what something is worth to YOU. If Apple, or any other company offers for sale any product at any price point and you're happy to pay this price, then thats the value you have assigned to the product. If the price drops, then y'know what, you've lost nothing, why? You decided that the product was worth the asking price, otherwise you wouldn't have paid it. Same is true of any product from any company.

What is this with people treating electronics like investments these days anyway?

FYI. Recent purchasers (Past 10 calendar days) can contact apple for a refund of the difference in cost, within the next 14 calendar days. But then the Reg, with their typical anti apple bias wont tell you that, how about having some slight more responsibility to your readers and giving them as much information about something as you can, eh guys?

Certainly seems that way the article is yet another slagging match to apple, the register meant to be independent yet can not even write an article without being biast and slagging off apple...

... Get a grip, so its come down in price big deal. This is what happens all the time. not a rip off at all, why don't i go and complain that my vauxhall tigra sport was 1k cheaper 6 weeks after i bought it on a promotion. Nah cuz thats just the way the cookie crumbles DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!

You know, I used to be a Linux geek too but then switched to Mac. And sure as hell I'm not going to switch back. Have you ever actually used Oh Es Ten?

You thought something was worth the money when you bought it. Yup. Has it suddenly changed in functionality? Nope. You're on a 2-year contract: so are you going to be selling it in the near future? Nope. Is the price drop tiny as a percentage of your total costs over those 2 years? Yup.

The people who bought early to resell on eBay have long gone. No-one loses by this in reality - but perception, now that's a different thing...

The phone was overpriced- particularly when you consider that its only on one network and has more limitations than you'd normally consider for the fancy paperweight that it is. It was Publius Syrus who recognised over 2000 years that "Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it". They ran out of people willing to splash out $599- so now the phone is targetted at an entirely different market- its actually pitching itself against a new Nokia or Sony Ericsson- in recognition of the fact that its allegedly a phone........

Personally I do like Apple- I've been using the same 17" powerbook for 5 years now. Would I pay $599 for an iphone- nope. Would I pay $399- nope. When they add a feature set to the phone that rivals the Sony Ericsson P990i (exclude the memory seepage issues and poor battery life) I might be interested. At the moment if I want a pretty goldfish swimming around in my pocket, I'll persuade my pet Koi to join me in work for the day.

No one has a god given right to expect anyone not to drop prices in order to shift stock. Look at the housing market for crying out loud. To those who shelled out $599 on their shiny new 8Gb iPhone- tough. You still have what you happily paid for- move on and enjoy your toy. It sounds like sour grapes- people annoyed because they are going to loose the exclusivity of having an iPhone.

Ps- I wouldn't buy an iPod either......

not surprised how one line and flipping a character turns iPod into iRob

lol

Well at the time people thought that 'x' was a good, fair price for the product and paid up.

A short time later it's 'x-200' and those that bought it at 'x' should remember that they didn't feel ripped off at the time.

Those that bought it the day before should apply the above rule as well. I'd be more inclined to grumble at the shops that probably knew the price fall was coming and didn't bother to inform customers. I'll be some shops made an extra 200 on several of the items!

Best. Tagline. Ever.

To all those who have said "but people do this all the time," yes they do. But do they do it to this extent. Don't compare it to cars unless you're going to talk about relative value. When I bought my iAudio, I paid a premium for it so I could import it before I went on holiday. When I came back, the product was on sale for a whopping....£30 less. Oh noes! Then it went down over time in small increments - £20 here, £30 there, until it ended up a lot cheaper than I paid for it. But that's the way of things - the value of a product declines with age.

What didn't happen was that I came back off holiday and iAudio had lopped £150 off the price of the machine, because that would have been just stupid, and a fairly good indication of rampant profiteering. Which is what's going on here.

Of course stuff comes down in price after it comes out. But by that much, that fast?

"...why don't i go and complain that my vauxhall tigra sport was 1k cheaper 6 weeks after i bought it on a promotion."

Interesting to see that El Reg is frequented by members of the hairdressing community.

What's *your* IT angle?

Regarding Nick's comment about "whining"

"It's $200 bucks you were willing to pay to be an early adopter. Even the Razr was priced pretty outrageously when it first came out, and people were willing to pay that.

If you buy a car today, and the manufacturer offers a $1000 rebate six weeks later, do you feel the same way?"

No, because chances are $1000 is a small percentage of the price.

However, if I'd just bought, say, a $30,000 car, brand new off the line, newest model, just announced etc.. and 62 days later they dropped the price by 33% to $20,000 -- yes, I'd feel pretty pissed, and ripped off.

That said, I frankly think that all those who follow the Church of Steve and repeatedly buy his polished turds get what they deserve.

I've never been happier with my N95 ..

Where do you get your original ideas on economics?

In the market economy if an adult willingly spends $600, he thinks that the iPhone is worth it. He was not tortured or forced to spend these money. The buyer thinks he will get the maximum benefit by spending these $600 on iPhone, he goes to Apple store, the transaction completed, done.

The fact that two months later the same stuff sells for less does not invalidate it or make him "robbed" - repeat, he thought that iPhone was worth his $600 at that time, nothing changed.

It appears to me American are more concerned about "getting real value" that getting good stuff they want for the money they think it worth. Kind of similar to "keeping up with Jones". If you think iPhone is worth your $600, go get it, and don't regret if it is sold for less later. If not - wait for Apple to drop price (it had to happen, if not sooner than later) or keep using the crappy Razr.

Well, I'm not entirely sure why this is a problem or a trait of Apple.

This is very normal for the Telecoms Market.

Take a look at price trend on any high end phone from release to the first few months and you will see similarities.

Apple aren't being original with their pricing, indeed I happen to think that $600 was pretty decent price. My P990i when it was released was £469+VAT that's GBP, which would be around $900. You can now pick a P990i up for less than half that!

All handset manufacturers have been doing this for years, wise up and enjoy the technology early or don't bother and wait until the price drops.

P.S. P990i battery life and memory seem to improve with the latest firmware.

Or what?

Basically, you've gone out and bought a product, paid over the odds and now you've been had. You feel like a safety net, guinea pig and a chump. Why? Because you got swept away by how wonderful the dream of owning this device was.

You have no rights to claim anything back from Apple, live with the disappointment.

I'm not going into how the crApple fanboi's are all morons, and the general idiots we all know they are. But look at it, 2 months after release a huge price drop and a huge slap in the face of early adaptors. "Ohh it always happens"...not really so soon, and not if its as "successful" as the manufacturer claims. But thats just pointing a bit to Apples customary number fudging to prove things again *cough* benchmarks *cough*.

Anyhow, a few cases in point...Sony on the original PS1 launched for £299 in the UK, almost two months in they slash it to £199...what happens? they send the early adaptors two free games. Another case, Microsoft with the original Xbox in the UK. Early release £299, short time after a quick drop to £199. What do they do? give the users a 2nd controller and a pick of two games from a list of all those currently released.

Big companies have done price cuts early but its not usually there to milk the early adaptors, or even due to manufacturing costs early on. Its because sales haven't gone the exact way they wanted. And slapping early adaptors isn't a bright idea either, but then again it is a bunch of fanboi's and they needed it frankly.

Would I buy one now? not likely as it is still an incredibly awful product lacking the functionality it needed, and the applications it needed. And until its priced closer to the competition on a similar set of rules it can quiet happily be a fanboi fashion item of no real use in the real world. Yes its getting onto a similar price now as a totally unlocked N95...opps, the N95 out features and is "unlocked". Then again, on a similar note, if you don't mind a contract you can pick up the N95 for FREE.

If Apple wants to sell the damn thing, make it into what its claimed to be, a smart phone. And give the users the functionality it needs to actually be of use other than a fashion statement.

Don't buy overpriced, over hyped, crap.

I can't believe the hype on this supposed phone with all its limitations - and yet people STILL ran to get one.

You can put candles on crap and call it a cake but its still a pile of crap.

Lesson to be learned there.....

Who pays such a stupid amount for such a crap phone anyway?

Anyone who paid that much and is crying now deserves it. Stop following hyped-up trends and buy something that's actually worth the money you spend.

And where's the Paris Hilton angle, then?

All these people moaning including the articles author need to go and read a book titled along the lines of "Supply and Demand". Most GCSE Economic students seem to have a greater understanding that the seasoned *cough* professionals on here.

To all those thinking of purchasing an iphone who are incapable of thinking for yourselves and taking responsibility for your own actions - buying an iphone when they are first released in Europe could seriously damage your wealth. Wait a few months and you will be able to buy one cheaper. PS. This can be applied to any consumer item.

To everyone else who can make up their own mind and take responsibility for their own actions - make your own decision when to buy and enjoy. Don't bitch after the event if you find the product cheaper.

To The reg - get rid of that anti apple chip on your shoulder. This happens with every consumer product, its called supply and demand and making a profit, recouping development costs etc. It does not do you any favours to be so biased but I guess if you were real journalists you would realise that.

As has been said before -- this happens with most products, where early adopters effectively subsidise and beta-test new devices.

Oh, and to anyone who queued up to be one of the first to buy an iPhone:

If you have to send me your bank details I can be sending you $1000 ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!!!! as rebate if cost but will need $200 for fee in front to pay lawyer please be of sending bank detail to...

It's not just Apple who do this. It's called the entire consumer electronics and IT industry.

So - you bought an Xbox on the first day and it now costs you the same for the premium model as it did for the basic model back then.

You bought a PS3 on the first day and now you can get another controller and a pile of games for a little less money.

My example - I bought an LG plasma TV which was originally £2500 for £1800. 12 months later I can buy the same unit for £999 in Makro.

I've even been 'Appled' - I bought a £999 macbook for it only to go obsolete (and cheaper) within 3 months.

We all know if you're willing to be an early adopter to show of your 'shiny toy' then you'll pay more for it. Everything becomes cheaper in the long run (apart from houses, of course!)

As a terminal cartoon nerd, I can't help but be reminded of the Family Guy episode where Death twists his ankle and stays at the Griffin house...

...because when I read this, I laughed. And laughed. Then laughed some more.

Apple has shown that...

No, wait. I'm not done holding my sides!

With this blatant disrespect for...

Nono! That was a good one! Ahahahahahahaha!

My N95 has never felt better... yesterday I switched off dual mode searching, so it no longer looks for UMTS (3G) networks all the time. This fixes the short battery life problem (now lasts ~2x as long), which was prettymuch the only thing which I found faintly embarassing about it.

Even after this hilarious (to those of us who remain free-thinkers) price drop, I still think the iPhone is garbage at $399. Why on earth would I want a device with rich media capability (albeit no 3G... wtf?) but locked down so I can only do what Steve Jobs says is cool? After all, he told us a $599 iPhone was a good deal. What does he know?

I may be completely mistaken, but I would have sworn some credit card companies offer a price-matching bit for 30-60 days? As in, if the product sells for a cheaper price, you can request the credit card company match that price and give you the difference. Check your terms and conditions - it's probably only in higher quality cards that have an annual fee (ie, Gold American Express cards?).

Eat that you mindless fools :D

Its 2 months, not a year, not even 6 months. It has not been superceeded. It just hasn't sold as well as Stevie $ Jobs would like.

Your idea of economics is a bit skewed Mike. If you think the device was worth $600 why isnt it still. 1 Million certainly is not enough to reach any sort of volume price reduction. If someone is prepared to pay $600 for a device worth $400, then they are a prat, and Stevie $ Jobs has made a bundle on other people bad economic decisions.

Bottom line, the iPhone was not, is not and never was worth $600 you paid a tax for brand cool, and now we know what that tax cost, $200 or 33% of the phone.

The question really is now, how much cool tax is left in the iPhone at $400 ?

Has anyone else noticed that CADE METZ is an anagram of SLIMY ANTI-APPLE HEADLINE WANKER?

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Made my day reading this, best tagline for a while. :)

Jobs fanboys paid $200 for the apple symbol as I bet the price now is comparable to the iphone clones that people like HTC are releasing. Meaning the only real difference was the stupid symbol and the 68 day head start.

"This morning, at a San Francisco press event The Reg wasn't invited to..."

Cade opened up the other Apple article today with this, and I think it's worth adding as this kind of thing is affecting El Reg's coverage at the moment.

I used to write for Mac mags and I never found Apple easy to deal with (although I wouldn't say it was the worst, it wasn't too far off), so I do have sympathy.

However, I remember the days when El Reg proudly declared that it had banned from Apple press events in the UK because the company didn't like its reporting.

For my money, El Reg's Apple anyalsis was tough but fair (and more honest that the dedicated Mac press) - but far too tough for Apple and Steve Jobs, if books like 'Infinite Loop' are anything to go by.

Sadly, the standard of El Reg's Apple reporting has slipped badly since then. I'm not talking about it being now critical - El Reg has always been that - but that a lot of its reporting are basically just opinion pieces.

Today, lines like "This morning, at a San Francisco press event The Reg wasn't invited to..." no longer feel like a banner of honour, but like the scream of a petulant child that will only be silenced when Apple gives in.

One article that sticks in the mind (I'm not sure if Cade wrote it), was about the writer not being satisifed when their Mac broke and didn't get preferential treatment because they're a journalist - if you write about Apple, you know you don't get that since Steve came back, and to think you will/might get it... well, it's you with the reality distortion field, not just Steve.

Another story about faulty goods was the one by the UK person who had problem with a MacBook, although she did have some legitimate problems, there serious errors in the article - such as the writer suggesting that Apple do a product recall because of the power adapter. Unfortunately, that type of power adapter had not been shipped by Apple for over six month... but if that had been reflected, she would have had to come up with different concluding lines. I'm sure that someone checked that story, but obviously no one who could edit it for accuracy.

I'm not one for Yank-bashing, but I believe this change in the quality of El Reg's reporting about Apple matters had sprung from the American writers - I'm not saying it's because of their nationality, just their reluctance to churn out a decent article. There are far too many self-indulgant so-so pieces, short on decent analysis, but long on half-smart-assed opinion.

Maybe El Reg is intending these articles should provoke responses - after all, the pro-Apple will be angry, the anti-Apple will be delighted.

That doesn't change the fact that the quality of El Reg's reporting has plummeted and - most tragically, of all - the writers often come across as arrogant as Apple.

The Register used to be a good site, with good articles, impartial, reasonable journalism - This "Apple Vendetta Thing" is showing "The Reg" from a rather nasty, childish angle - Now I can't get read an article here without this bad taste in mouth. If this was my site I would rethink my policy, perhaps getting rid of one, two elements, that are working on destroying the journalistic reputation of my business.

"Biting the hands that feeds IT" - You should consider changing that to: "Whining when we don't get fed by IT, for free!"

Whilst this blatant profiteering, I'm finding it hard to condemn apple. it was overpriced sure, but the blind masses went and bought it of their own volition. that's freedom folks, did they ask for a price drop guarantee as they bought it? my last PDA purchase were happy to when i bought it. no price drop for 6 months or they refund the difference. use your brain, ask question. if you blindly follow your chosen messiah then you really deserve the outcome... $200million markup for 68 days. not bad, wish my company was as profitable!

At least when MS reduced the price the of the original Xbox, they rebated to the tune of £100 (or 33%).

In other news, you can also buy an iphone without the phone for $300...

Just how stupid are people to think that any phone is its sticker price (e.g. "free" or "$599")? The iPhone has never been a $600 phone, it isn't even a $400 phone now... it was always a ~$2000 (or whatever it is) phone because of the contract. New purchasers now get an ~$1800 phone.

I am covered in schadenfreude.

I sincerely hope that El Reg maintains its healthy cynicism about all things IT and technology-related. "Biting the hand that feeds IT" is hopefully not just there to be punny.

For balance, it would be good if El Reg stopped occasionally pushing out slightly edited press releases from tech companies about their new fangled product. If something is genuinely interesting enough to publish, then please put a bit of analysis in to cut through the raw marketing-speak.

Jock

It's still there and it's extremely boring for those of us who are pretty neutral about Apple and just want news!

I do wish they'd get over it and stop the bile fuelled non-news like this.

You don't seem to have got to gips with the $:£ exchange rate when it comes to techie toys.

$399=£399... If you're really lucky it might be £350.

And as for the price of a nice Nokia, an N95 on a £30 a month 18 month contract can be acquired for free with about 5 minutes worth of bartering with at least 2 of the Uk networks (personally got one from Orange, and a workmate did the same with O2).

Come off it. This is a capitalist society - by definition if it sells at that price, then that is the right price to charge.

It's quite possible that having seen how many of the things they managed to shift, they could place a second round of orders for a magnitude more of components. At that point the price will drop.

Also, lots of costs aren't per phone, they are per device (sorta) - so it's quite possible they budgeted for selling 2 million of the things in total, and with this many sold so quickly they are now budgeting for selling 20 million. That means the "static" costs are split over ten times as many devices. If you treat the costs as being (at first iteration) $250 per device (that's software and hardware dev, backend for automated updates, etc), they drop to $25 per device and that's the $200 dollars back.

Of course, it's much more likely that they did wack the price up to get as much profit out of the early adopters as possible, and my response would be "why not?", Apple as a company are there to make a profit. If you don't like that sort of behaviour, there are still a /few/ companies out there that don't work that way - feel free to build your own hardware and run Debian on it. (I do use debian on my PC, before anyone thinks I'm having a go at them)

When they've run out of $400 buyers.

I love my gadgets but its times like this when I'm glad to be in the UK - the US Beta tests for us. We won't get such a low price though - not in line anyway - probably be £300 odd - same figures. Thats when I don't like living in the UK.

Its always best to wait.

>FYI. Recent purchasers (Past 10 calendar days) can contact apple for a refund of the difference in cost, within the next 14 calendar days. But then the Reg, with their typical anti apple bias wont tell you that, how about having some slight more responsibility to your readers and giving them as much information about something as you can, eh guys?

That information is given at the bottom of the article if you actually read it.

is that it's still overpriced.

iDiots, surely?

Or are they? Really only if they thought that the iPhone would remain an overpriced geeky status symbol.

It's a non-story, the price drop is a lot but this happens all the time; last couple of phones I got on upgrade (Razr and N6300) I bought for around 100 quid pretty much as soon as they came out, a few months later they were being given away for free with the same contract and now every chav and their pitbull has one. Why would the iPhone will be any different?

If there is a story here it's about consumer electronics companies expecting early adopters to pay a premium (not exactly news) or about journalists who don't get invited to product launches by companies they are notorious for bashing getting huffy and bashing some more (not exactly news either).

Yet another beautifully unbiased article by Cade Metz.

Seriously though - why is the Reg still allowing blogging quality reporting on the site? This article is 20% news, and 80% Apple bashing and general insult lobbing.

How about more content and less crap?

------

@greg:

You need to understand that the iphone is a luxury item with functionality that is duplicated in many other devices... Selling a luxury good at an inflated price does not constitute profiteering - instead it suggests a basic understanding of economics and how to maximize return on market demands.

Do you also view the folks over at Tesla Motors as profiteers for offering preorders for the Tesla Roadster at a premium cost?

Consumer electronics drop in price these days over time - ALL phones do it as far as I can tell - and the iPhone is obviously no different. "Cade Metz" - a name so ridiculous that it's clearly made up - apparently hasn't noticed this.

El Reg sinks one more rung.

Re: "Have you ever actually used Oh Es Ten?"

Isn't that just Linux with an annoying pointy-clicky interface on top?

Stop whining because they didn't sent you a test iPhone, now I can see why!

Keep on patting the zune MS sent you, and be a good sport

Flame on

Grown people, whining because they were willing and able to spend $600 on a phone. Pathetic. Everybody knew it was overpriced in the first place. So instead of being happy that it slowly trickles down to a more reasonable price, they cry. As if you did not get your $200 worth of geek cred & bragging rights in those two months. I hope this is the most serious issue you folks face in your lives, you must be very happy people.

Not 'where' but WHEN have You formed Your ideas on economics? And by whom?

600 USD is a price tag that places the 8GB iPhone in the upper tier alongside the N95 ($683.51 one Ebay + shipping). This price and the 'status symbol' tag work well together.

By slashing the price Apple has rid the current version of the iPhone of it's 'status symbol' aura and has tarnished the 'iPhone' brand. Either they are short sighted profiteers, plan to launch a second revision shortly and have to shift stock OR they believe that their clients have short memory.

Finally, by this drop in price, Apple have turned down the aspirations of it's customers as the iPhone is now mid-mainstream and thus lost some of it's credibility in the eyes of the most loyal clients.

This was written by a happy owner of a SPV 650 (HTC 710)

"Always best to wait for the next version with better spec and lower price."

or, even better, wait for the old model at an even dafter price! :-)

on a serious level, though, the first thing i thought when i saw the launch price was 'wow, that's insane. but the Apple masses will buy it regardless'.

Early adopters always pay more. They know they do and they want to. If they didn't, they would wait until the price came down.

We have just bought a PlayStation 2 because it is cheap after the release of the PS 3. That is the way we do things. I am no more right or wrong than the guys who rush out to buy something the day it comes out. Each to their own.

A quick read of any of the Mac forums across the Web will tell you just how much the "fanboys" will follow Jobs. Those early adopters are seriously angry about this sudden price cut. Hardly Kool-Aid drinkers.

BTW, I just love this condescending idea in the tech sector that anyone who likes an Apple product is either a snob, more concerned with design over function, or a fanboy. You know what? If you lot don't like what they make, buy something else. I really don't understand why there's this fear amongst you that others might choose their products in preference when you don't like them. Deriding others' choices just reeks of insecurity about your own decisions. Pathetic.

Thanks, that was hilarious.

Do yourself a favour, friend. Look at the balance sheet of both companies. Then do your best to tell me that Microsoft are remotely concerned about Apple in any way. Such a valiant effort effort in self-delusion would probably qualify you for a position with any priesthood or political party but I doubt if it's possible.

Sony did it to this extent (almost) with PS3 and they treat europe like shit, they get away with it :p

Also while this is a slap in the face for most owners, there is an easier way to illicit your own $200 price drop, dont buy things at launch, its very easy, you dont buy it, there is no demand, supplier has to drop the price, easy peasy. Not an anti-apple senitment but general advice for pretty much any technology.

If you simply MUST HAVE that new piece of tech you bring it upon yourself.

For all those Mac fans, that thought this would not happen. Happens all the time, look at XBox, PS3, whatever... This is the market, you know??

There's something like the first rule of technical devices: Never by first generation devices unless you don't need it.

I almost shat myself reading this article... I pitty every single iPhone owner out there.. For sure, they've been 0wn3d!

Looks like the 1 Million have all decided to logon to apple.com at the same time.

I for one can't access anything which ends with .apple.com

Quite honestly, queueing up to get one of the first 'anythings' or even buying something within the first couple of months of it being launched is a clear demonstration that you're an idiot and have therefore forfeited your right to possess money.

Whereas Steve Jobs has clearly demonstrated that he puts the money he earns to good use. He has a nice home, a nice car, takes very nice holidays in very expensive destinations, buys luxury cashmere sweaters and earns millions more by investing and building up companies like Pixar. I bet his parties are more extravagant than a box of Ferrero Roche too.

So what I'm really saying is that the fanbois lack the wisdom to know what to do with money whereas Steve Jobs does. So it's fair and proper if that money is taken away from them (like a baby from irresponsible parents) and goes to Jobs instead. He knows what to do with it.

"poisoned Kool Aid" absolute genius, Steve Jobs as Jim Jones it couldn't be nearer the truth!

I guess the "I'm a Mac - I'm a PC" campaign must have really hurt the feelings of a lot of people, based on the amount of bitter and resentful responses generated by the tiniest bit of news that mentions the A company. Seriously folks, it's just an ad, and it's supposed to be funny. It's not like you're all boring, awkward nerds, so no need to take it so bloody personally, right?

Get over it already.

... gimps

Exactly! Where is my Hilton fix? Did Miss Hilton buy an iPhone? If she did, how many Campbells distance would she be able to chuck it? And, would it hit any fanboi's on the way?

I reckon she could manage about 2.5cB (or as the Vulture Central Standard would have it, 577.5lg)

Any other takers?

"..Deriding others' choices just reeks of insecurity about your own decisions. Pathetic."

But..but..but... isn't "deriding others' choices" EXACTLY what Apple owners love to do most????

Kinda' shot yourself in the foot there, matey.

Have you ever considered that now after completion of the iPod Touch there are Orders of tenfold magnitude for components used in the iPhone as well as in the iPodTouch?

Its absolutely logical that Apple now has a lot less to pay for all those parts, so they can slash the price quite a bit.

And to all you biased #*~!§§%#:

Whether Apple, Linux Windows or just Anti-Something -> Get a Life!

Neither solution is better than any other - just more preferable for some of us!

I use Windows, MacOSX, had BeOS and Linux. Hell, I'm a MacUser from System 6 on and used DOS since V.3.xx

I personally like OsX most, but I would not say it suits everyone. Computers are tools, no cult or religion. If you try to compensate for something that's missing in your life by insulting users of other Hard- or Software you should consider therapy.

To all the grown-Ups (whoever that may be) - thanks for reasoning with the children on this site =)

<nelson-muntz>HA HA!!</nelson-muntz>

A fool and his money ..........................................

No wonder you posted anonymously. My Apple iVtecHondaAccord will blatantly rinse you out anyway.

<dons fireproof coat and leaves>

<Pops head back round door quickly to note that>

interestingly, the car industry seems to have got away with requiring you to buy ten thousand pounds worth of special tools just to change a rear subframe. Anybody got a 7mil Allen key? What about a 15mil spanner? Thought not. Closest I can find is those torx keys you use to change the batteries on apple phones.

"That information is given at the bottom of the article if you actually read it."

Actually it isn't they are suggesting to take the unit back for a refund, then buying another. If I recall correctly, that info wasn't their this morning when the original message you quoted was posted either.

I'd like to get an early vote in for "Trolling Apple Fanboys" to be made an Olympic sport.

I never thought I would find frothing so entertaining.

HA HAAAAAA!!

</nelson>

Here here, I second that.

A little less anti-apple bias.

Don't get me wrong. Continue slagging Apple, and their fan-boys, but more fairly.

Anarchy: as I was just saying above...

(seriously people, I'm trying to think of a way to make my point by using parody but seems to me you're doing it yourselves, that's just not fair!)

That had to hurt. No sympathy though, only a mug would have bought one of these on release, at the prices they were going for...

The year the Macintosh hit the streets, I buckled and bought one. It was capable of virtually nothing. I built a RAM address multiplexer jacked up the memory and tried to get it to do something useful to no avail.

I finally took it to the Apple Cupertino HQ and superglued it to the glass front door of Apple. I always liked the idea of Apple, but the customer service, or should I say the lack of it, drove me away from the brand.

iPhone???? P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute"! $600 for a phone??? just a few more bucks and you can get a satellite phone. Jobs never got over his 1st acid trip apparently.

The year the Macintosh hit the streets, I buckled and bought one. It was capable of virtually nothing. I built a RAM address multiplexer jacked up the memory and tried to get it to do something useful to no avail.

I finally took it to the Apple Cupertino HQ and superglued it to the glass front door of Apple. I always liked the idea of Apple, but the customer service, or should I say the lack of it, drove me away from the brand.

iPhone???? P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute"! $600 for a phone??? just a few more bucks and you can get a satellite phone. Jobs never got over his 1st acid trip apparently.

Jonathan - you do realise that all of the frothing seems to be done by the trolls, right? I guess that's what you were referring to. And boy is the trolling getting tiresome. An Apple fanboi sighting would be a welcome change.

...funny shit:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2007-09-05-jobs-qanda_N.htm

On the day it launched the hardware bill of materials for the iPhone was only $265.83.

Are you seriously suggesting that, in the space of 2 months, Apple have managed to reduce the BOM to $65?

This is pure, blatant, profiteering (and is obvious to anyone that isn't sitting inside an Apple reality distortion field).

Microshaft reduced the price of its 'iPod Killer' Zune MP3 player the day before Apple reduced the price of the iPhone.

Millions* of Zune buyers were 'very annoyed' but still willing to follow the herd leader Billy 'No Mates' Gates into the netherworld.

(* Well, OK, 7 then)

A few people have posted saying that it's standard business practice to drop heavily the price of consumer electronics soon after the inital launch, so people should stop whining. It's also standard business practice to manufacture lots of goods in sweatshops in developing countries, so stop whining. It's standard business practice to sell faulty software and only fix it later if there's sufficient demand, so stop whining. The argument doesn't follow - a heavy price drop so soon like this, even if people were happy to pay the launch price, just isn't treating the customer very well; so I say you should whine, as loudly as possible.

The reason Apple are being picked up on this practice and not other companies is that the iPhone is one of the most high-profile devices on sale at the moment. There are some other high-profile consumer electronics on sale subject to similar pricing methods, and they're taking the flak too - the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Just because somebody agrees to something doesn't make it fair on them.

It would be a lot fairer if Apple told everybody when they were planning a price drop. Then everyone who thinks "it's worth it" to pay more for earlier access to a product still could, but nobody would be misled into thinking they had to spend more than was necessary. Simple, huh?

Percentage-wise, an even greater reduction.

Christmas in September?

They should have knocked even more off - as an object lesson to those obnoxious "gotta be the first to have" bleedin' (edge) Idiots who delight in whipping their latest toy out in an effort to prove how much better they are than the rest of us.

"600 USD is a price tag that places the 8GB iPhone in the upper tier alongside the N95 ($683.51 one Ebay + shipping). This price and the 'status symbol' tag work well together.

By slashing the price Apple has rid the current version of the iPhone of it's 'status symbol' aura and has tarnished the 'iPhone' brand."

Errr... the N95 is available FREE on an 18 month contract where I live. What was that you were saying about image tarnishing?

Those of you hiding your fanboy messages behind the "he's sour because they didn't get invited to the press release" tagline, consider this:

The Register has been critical towards the iPhone since LONG before it was released. The Register stopped being invited to the releases at Apple Inc. when they started asking critical questions (not bein the praising fanboys that Apple want to invite).

What Apple has basically done now, is the same as saying "Thanks for your extra $200, Suckers!", and they know they'll get away with it, since most of those who were willing to pay $600 for a useless toy with a contract that resembles the shackles of slavery, will be too blind to see that they've been double-crossed.

I have had one Apple product. Ever. That product made me contact Apples excuse for a service system. That was the last Apple product I'll ever get, including their buggy excuse for software products such as iTunes (or Quicktime. Has any of you noticed that Quicktime auto"upgrades" to QuickTime plus iTunes on your machine, even if you didn't ask for the bundled iTunes bugware initially?)

I find Apples treatment of their customers slightly amusing. What is the REALLY funny part, is that Apples fanbase just comes back for more abuse.

//Svein

Don't see the problem - or the hoopla. Folks pay extra for premium access all the time. It's not like they got ripped off for a couple hundred bucks, it's more like they paid extra to be the first to show off their new toy.

Was installing some extra DSL lines at one of the stores just a few days before launch. A floor salesperson comes back on break, starts talking to another employee, says he's figured out what to tell people when they ask if the iPhone is out yet...

To customer: Wait a minute, let me check...

Pulls iPhone out of back pocket, speaks into it: ... Yes, uh-huh, right, OK, thanks!

Puts phone away, faces customer: No, sorry, it's not in yet.

Cheeky bunch, those MacHeads.

>Re: "Have you ever actually used Oh Es Ten?"

>Isn't that just Linux with an annoying pointy-clicky interface on top?

I thought Darwen was based on BSD? Now those guys knew how to argue the relative merits of operating systems. If in doubt, fork!

Love to see that happen now: "I defy any of you NetMacOS lot to claim your system has less unpatched exploits than my OpenFreeWindows distribution" (which isn't open or free, natch). Fanboys these days can barely spell, let alone mount a coherent argument; let's not even mention going off in a huff and writing their own bloody module/driver/whatever to make the point. And the saddest thing is that this isn't through a paucity of CS graduates...

Still, it's entertaining to watch them go at it, even if it makes you feel ashamed to have enjoyed it, like those youtube videos where care workers get their clients to fight each other.

Okay so I made that up but you'd watch it wouldn't you, then feel bad that you had. It's like that watching fanboys argue, but I just... can't... help it... (Cade Metz doesn't help, blatantly fann(boy)ing the flames. Keep it up.)

At least the lines waiting over night for the next new product release may be short 1m people. Well, if they were half intelligent in the first place. Take that back, there will just be a different million in line...

Anyone who didn't see this coming is a fool. Remember the RAZR? Original retail price on its Cingular debut in 2004 was $600, and it wasn't even a smartphone! Within 6 months that price dropped a couple hundred bucks. By 2006 you could get a RAZR for $199, minus rebates. Now you can buy one outright, no discounts at all, for $79 or get one free on contract signing or new-every-2 renewal. btw: the RAZR v1 sucked ass as a phone. It had an extremely weak signal and limited battery life compared to other much cheaper models sporting the same features.

It was cool, Cingular new it, and people lined up to buy them off shelves anyway even at the rediculous price.

This patter follows ALL cellphones. We all knew Apple would drop the price. We figured this would initially be through rebates, but I guess the amazing (and somewhat shocking) initial success, combined with component price drops and very little recall/warranty traffic, has made Apple a lot more money than expected. Also simplifying the line to just 8GB models, this can further reduce costs.

It's $399 now. In 6 months you'll be able to get one for $249 after rebates (or maybe just another simple price drop. I'd expect it to stay there for a while unless other smartphone manufacturers recoil and drop their own prices further.

The phone is priced in line with every other phone out there (after rebates) considdering it's features, in fact, even at $599 it was a greta deal. One nice thing is, especially one AT&Ts exclusive deal expires (no details on that deal are public yet) is that you'll be able to get it at that price even on an existing contract on several networks, without a new 2 year signup or get it for less after rebates.

Give it 2 more years, and if you sign up for a premium contract with data plan, I expect some version of the iPhone would be free, or at least sub $100.

Those who want new stuff from day 1 expect to pay more. They expect rapid price drops. Same not only applies to hot new phones, but also HD DVD. Players on intro day from Toshiba were $2000, now, not a year later, $399. Hear any early adopters in that camp crying?

Stop hating Apple because they understand the market. Stop hating Apple because you can't (or won't) afford their stuff. Stop hating Apple until you have tried it for 6 months...

'Errr... the N95 is available FREE on an 18 month contract where I live. What was that you were saying about image tarnishing?'

The N95 is available free but on which plan?

iPhone is not being sold as handset only and the cheapest unlocked phone can be found on ebay @ $859.95 + shipping. A better comparison will be available when the rev2 of that phone when it hits the european market which is by far more competitive than US. Only then a proper apples to apples comparison can be made.

... only now do people realise how stupid the whole "I got it first!" mentality is. Well, here's hoping those idiots wise up next time.

G'won Apple, rip 'em off again. Bury your reputation and annoy a load of l337 fan-boy nerds at the same time.

I'll sit back and watch the geeky fireworks. Hilarious.

Same people who probably ran out to queue up for PS3's too hunh ?

Fuckwits!

"But..but..but... isn't "deriding others' choices" EXACTLY what Apple owners love to do most????"

Er..no. Apple owners in the main "love" to use their computer or iPod and get on with life. I couldn't give a flying toss what someone else uses, neither could most Mac or iPod owners. Don't project one argument you had on Slashdot to represent the entire OSX user base.

And as the feedback from this iPhone announcement shows, nobody is more critical of Apple than their own customers. Hardly the Cult the media likes to paint us as.

I've long felt that companies who penalize their best supporters--the early adopters--could turn that around and reward them, thereby increasing sales and customer loyalty. Institute a program that says, for instance, all buyers who make their purchase in the first month (or whatever) or sales, will get a rebate coupon for the price difference as soon as the price drops significantly.

Then the early adopters know they won't be crapped on, and they'll be more encouraged to buy. In theory, sales will start stronger, taking the product to the point of profitability sooner, so the price drops faster, more units are sold, and everybody wins.

Too complex for most companies I guess.

For everyone complaining about how El Reg is just full of whining and Apple-bashing: STFU and read the rest of the site.

Are you done? Notice a pattern? That's right, there are articles bitching about or mocking Microsoft, the government, mobile operators and numerous other organisations and hardware. If there is one defining characteristic of this site, it is that every article is rife with mockery and cynicism.

This is not bias, it is the editorial style. The only thing that's different here is that they happened to hit on a product/company that you like.

According to Steve Jobs: "I own every Bob Dylan album ever, but I buy a lot of it on iTunes, because I guess I'm just too lazy to rip it from the CD."

Or because you don't care about money having just made another gazillion dollars ripping off a million people to the tune of $200

You guys are complete idiots. You blow every little thing about the iPhone way out of proportion in a desperate attempt to make it sound bad. Before today one of the main points you chose to complain about was the price. Apple responds by drastically reducing the price (while adding features) and now you are complaining about THAT. Obviously Apple is completely within their rights to price the phone aggressively (hey, they aren't giving it away to attempt to kill off the competition or pricing it below cost to steal market share like, for example, Microsoft has done in the past). Anyone that purchased an iPhone in the past 14 days is covered by Apple's price-protection policy and can get a refund, but honestly they are not required to provide even that. This is capitalism. Pure-and-simple. Demand for the iPhone was probably higher than any other consumer electronics device at launch, supply was obviously limited, and that inevitably led to a high price. If you bought the phone already and justified it as being worth $599, absolutely nothing has changed with that justification.

I know someone who bought their iPhone a week ago. He went back to the Apple store last night where he bought it, receipt in hand, and said to the counter people that he heard they had dropped the prices. They gave him a $200 refund, no questions asked.

The people who should be really outraged are the ones who bought Zunes.

For a properly objective review, look no further than:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone

The next i<Product> should include free tatooing of text '@ppl3 0Wn3z m33' on the forehead ....

i always wondered why there was a chunk bit out of the apple logo.. now i know Pac-man ! ( or shoud we call it grab-man ? ... coat . . door ..

By Michael C

Posted Thursday 6th September 2007 13:21 GMT

"Anyone who..." <rest of delusional post deleted>

= = = = = = =

Incredible!

You've effectively just been Dirty Sanchez'd by Steve Jobs, yet you make an 8 paragraph post explaining why it's perfectly normal and OK!

"This is not bias, it is the editorial style. The only thing that's different here is that they happened to hit on a product/company that you like."

If El Reg stuck to ripping into the company or product there would be no issue. However, this article is filled with barbs aimed squarely at Apple customers rather than Apple itself, as with so many articles here of late. I don't see that derogatory tone aimed at the user bases of Sun, Microsoft, Vodafone, Cisco et al, only at the companies themselves. There is a difference with their Mac reporting and it's getting tiresome.

One silly story = a few "where's the IT angle" comments

One Windows or Linux story = 50ish "my OS is better than yours" comments

One Apple Story = 75ish "I love\hate Steve" comments

One (more) gig at the iPhone = 120+ comments in about 12 hours

Someone writes:

"To The reg - get rid of that anti apple chip on your shoulder.... It does not do you any favours to be so biased but I guess if you were real journalists you would realise that."

To be fair, I think The Reg is pretty uniformly anti-everyone. I haven't seen them being kind to Linux, or Wikipedia. or Microsoft, or anyone for that matter. They're equal-opportunity anti-everyone, and that's pretty fair.

Yes, this is what this price drop means : no iPhone for Europe. At least for 2007.

Just think for a minute. Sales targets until September 2007 solely relied on US sales, but beyond this Apple expected to sell in some European markets.

So this is not about costs dropping, it is about keeping sales volumes up relying on a single country only in order to keep costs at an acceptable level.

The silver lining on the cloud is that iPhones should get WiFi access to iTunes Music Store... in the US.

Howard

Surprise! Steve Jobs is like any other person in the business for the money and for himself. The touch of power works like a love potion, I have been told. With so many things he pulled, I watch carefully. I got myself a T-Wing with a touch screen. Yes I can dial from the display and yes it may not look so stylishly rounded, clean and polished, but it works great. The i-mania goes back to hype not new technologies, but Jobs cashes in.

or does anyone else think this was written purely to get comments?

(surely a more important article would have been about how many people paid $599 or even $399 for a poorly spec'd handset-on the other hand I'm from the UK so I'm used to free phones with full email options, MMS, 3G, wifi, the option to put any apps you want on etc never mind that I got bored of my last touchscreen handset four years ago.)

True, but no, people don't make as much noise unless it's Apple. It would be fair if people where out to crucify *everyone* who does the same thing Apple did. But they don't, do they? It does not sound like it to me.

(disclaimer before the flamer: I don't like OSX as I didn't like previous Mac interfaces, for example, and the only Apple thing I've ever owned is my two-year old 1st gen nano)

Now, all this whining about iPhone prices proves this is a geek infested site, if there was any doubt left... I mean, with few exceptions there's very little display of any knowledge of human psychology. Did you know some people buy $100,000 cars when a $30,000 would do basically the same job? Or some people buy $30,000 cars when the $20,000 would be more than good enough? Or that some stupid chaps go to the movies in a Hummer that will never see mud (I've seen it more times than my stomach can take it) when a Beetle costing a fraction of the price would be much better suited? Some other people pay thousands for a Rolex watch, or a Louis Vuitton bag (now also available for you little dog for another grand or more). When the $10 Wal-Mart equivalents would do the same job, no? Oh, they're buying something else than their cars/watches/bags then, what a surprise...

"The N95 is available free but on which plan?

iPhone is not being sold as handset only and the cheapest unlocked phone can be found on ebay @ $859.95 + shipping. A better comparison will be available when the rev2 of that phone when it hits the european market which is by far more competitive than US. Only then a proper apples to apples comparison can be made."

You said it yourself, the iPhone is NOT available unlocked. Best deal I've seen on an N95 in my market is £30pcm for 18 months with the handset free. That's a lot cheaper than an iPhone - so clearly the value that the market puts on the N95 is a lot less than it puts on the iPhone.

If the iPhone launches in the UK at anything like that price, I'm a Dutchman.

Sorry to be serious, but... The $599 price was set in January. The iPod touch must have been well advanced when the iPhone shipped at the end of June, and the iPhone price point was clearly unsustainable against the iPod touch. It was just a matter of timing as to when this cut happened. Therefore the actual decision Apple took was NOT to reduce the price in June. $599 was obviously a viable launch price: iPhone outsold all other smart phones in the US in July (including all Blackberries); iPhone browser web activity is already higher than Win Mobile browser activity which includes years of PDA and cellphone sales.

This cut, leaving only one shipping config also tells us that there will be a new model soon, probably at a higher price.

I'm pissed cos I have 7 months left on a T-Mobile Web'n'Wank contract and 3 have announced the same deal for half the cash. And I don't even get the satisfaction of being shafted by Big Steve (who I find I actually "know" at 3 degrees of separation).

With IT it's just part of the environment.

The real insult is announcing the 30% decrease at a big press conference.

No matter what the business, part of staying in business is keeping your customers sold. Apple would have done better to keep their mouths shut and discreetly lower prices as is generally done by the IT industry.

Guess I'll just be sticking to slashdot for my IT news for the moment. The Register used to be great, but like a lot of commenters have said, this is just childish bullshit. It was kind of funny when I read it, but thinking about it, this site is becoming a waste of time. I'll still be reading BOFH of course.

2 months is not long enough to be considered a "price cut on lowering mfg costs", not even with 1 million nerdPhones produced. Actually *because* of the price protection, the actual people being shafted are those who were unfortunate enough to buy the thing in the first month and a half.

The PS3 suffered from low sales until they decided to cut the price. And that was about 9 *months* after initial release. And that's a $100 drop, not 200. (Well, at least now the iBone doesn't cost the same as a next-gen console, but I'm still not buying it.) 1 million sold isn't even near the volume for cellphones to drop price, but it is near the volume for "let's cut prices, this shite ain't getting sold".

That said, I am not buying an iBone, Zune or anything like that. I'm happy enough with my phone with 1Gb ... and coming soon the 8Gb M2 Memory Stick. At least I can upgrade the capacity over time... and at half the price of the iPhone.

Final note: wasn't one of the key features of the iPod its simplicity? I'd say that the new iTouch iPod is actually a step back on interface usability: now I have to see the damn thing to do anything, instead of feeling my way on the controls. Bleh.

Hysterical! 1 million idiots is right. It was so obviously overpriced to make up for a shoddy product with some shiny objects to distract the imbeciles out there. Worked beautifully. Features that have been available for almost 2 years now on real smartphones he calls "revolutionary". Half the stuff that my phone can do isn't available on an iTrash. And 1 million fools jumped right off a cliff for it, and paid a horrendous price.

Hook

Line...

Suckers!!

Cade Metz = D Mac Teez

So El Reg AREN'T a bunch of self-loathing Mac tossers, they're just a bunch of hit-desperate Web tossers!

Thank God for that.

I bought my smartphone...the one with twice the functionality of an iPhone...2 years ago for just over half of this new iPhone price.

Just thought that was funny.

Jobs knows people are stupid enough to pay whatever he commands. I suspect the reason for the price drop was probably because the supply of idiots was waning so time to find a fresh batch. Considering the phone was tied to an outrageous 2 year contract, the phone should have been virtually free. Even $400 is too much when you have a $2000 phone bill on top.

Fool #1:

<quote>

This is not bias, it is the editorial style. The only thing that's different here is that they happened to hit on a product/company that you like

<end quote>

This anonymous observation is rather ignorant of the real difference between most Apple, and non-apple bashing. Insults are mostly aimed at Apple users rather than Apple itself - the news coverage mostly amounts to trolling for readers that buy Apple products, and readers that despise Apple and those that buy Apple products. non-apple bashing articles do a much better job of aiming criticism at the company, rather than those that choose to use the company's products.

furthermore, to claim that the slanted commentary written by "Cade Metz" is not bias, but rather editorial style, is just plain stupid.

--------------------------------------------

Fool #2

<quote>

On the day it launched the hardware bill of materials for the iPhone was only $265.83.

Are you seriously suggesting that, in the space of 2 months, Apple have managed to reduce the BOM to $65?

This is pure, blatant, profiteering (and is obvious to anyone that isn't sitting inside an Apple reality distortion field).

<end quote>

I really don't understand why "profiteering" is being thrown around...

How much does it cost to print a data CD, and throw it in a jewel case with a printed cover? It can't possibly come close to the $50+ that Xbox and PS games sell for new!

That annoying cost of development and company operations overhead has to be paid for somehow - and the more successful the product is, the more likely you are to see the price continue to drop to promote a continuing rate of sales.

This is the same reason why MS intends to stop supporting XP in the future, even though it is so widely used --- if you aren't selling the software any more, the cost of supporting becomes a major 'loss' area for the company.

The price of any product should at the very least include the fixed cost of manufacturing, as well as pricing considerations for development (based on expected sales volume), and pricing to cover the expected costs of supporting each product sold....

I'll certainly view those individuals with Apple logos on the back of their cars in a new light.

(Mind you, that *is* incredibly sad, come to think of it. Should I put a Microsoft Windows logo on the back of my car, because I use Windows? Or maybe a Nokia logo because I use a Nokia phone? It's about as stupid an idea...)

looks like Steve Jobs has a response... $100 voucher for iPhone owners, check the open letter posted on apple.com

$100 rebate on Apple Store stuff for the achingly faithful...

www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter

Good ol' Mr Distortion Reality Field has woken up to chants of the grumpies and their short-lived position as iPioneers of being ripped-off.

It's capitalism boys.

I just love some of the red faced apple cultists ranting on this thread:

If fact I think bastardised line from the movie sums it up best: "I'm mad as hell... but I'm still going to take up dry cock up arse because I'm a slavish follower of Jim Jones... um, I mean Steve Jobs".

SUCKERS!

....wow, has everyone been asleep for the past, err... forever?

If you want the must have, latest gadget, you pay a price for it... as it gets popular the manufacturer can reduce the price as its gamble has paid off and as such they can bulk order etc etc

As for the article, is there a way to add article writers to an ignore list as this guy clearly has so much Mac envy running through him it's untrue.

"However, this article is filled with barbs aimed squarely at Apple customers rather than Apple itself, as with so many articles here of late. I don't see that derogatory tone aimed at the user bases of Sun, Microsoft, Vodafone, Cisco et al, only at the companies themselves."

That's probably completely unrelated to the fact that users of those other products don't go apeshit over every disparaging article or claim that El Reg makes. I also doubt that it has anything to do with Apple being a company who've worked hard to build a brand identity centred around "people who use a Mac are cooler, sexier and just plain better than the rest of you plebs."

The ~$600 price was a smart move; AppleCorp it to manage customer demand; 1) Ensured demand did not outstrip capacity (no shortages) 2) Minimized Speculative Buying (non-customer purchases for EBay reselling).

Why the 33.3% discount *now* though? Why not -$100 now for back-to-school, and -$100 just before Christmas buying?

You should have learned this trend in electronics industry in the last 20 years, shouldn't you? If you need an explanation, go ahead for Principles of Economic, 101.

Apple's price reduction with just $100 store credit to early buyers is not justified. It cannot be compared with other mobile phones hitting the market or any other electronics. Other products are bought purely on its merit, but in the case of iPhone, it was loyalty towards the brand that sold the product. Secondly, its not just the price that the users paid, but it also included a 2 year contract renewal with AT&T, without a rebate on the price of the phone. This would not have happenned with any other phone. Apple's customer's have all the right to be disappointed. Apple has truly failed their loyalty. Unless, Apple would get back with a $200 cash rebate, they are not going to get the same premium for any of their other launches.

I bought a 17" MacBook Pro for personal use almost exactly four weeks before Apple anounced iWorks (whatever) 08.

I am now obliged to spend $Au100 on the wretched programme since I'm also a .mac member and intend to start my own website there (beware all) for which I need the damned thing - apparently.

It's not the money, I can well afford $100, it's the principle. I know that there has to be a cut off date somewhere but two weeks? That's pathetic.

Christian