I have been following the news about the new iPhone 3G S fairly closely. I pre-ordered one shortly after the announcement (once the pre-order system ACTUALLY worked) to replace my aging original 8GB iPhone. One thing that has been frustrated amongst all the interesting coverage is the whining. This seems to fall into three camps:
- Those who hate AT&T outright
- Those who think the new iPhone 3G S isn’t different enough
- Those who can’t understand why they’re not getting the lower $199/299 subsidized price
Well, first off, AT&T is a pain right now. That is true. They’re not yet ready to support MMS which is pathetic, but even worse they haven’t even announced pricing for MMS. They also haven’t given any pricing or timeframes for tethering. I would say all of this equates to complete failure for AT&T outright…and it does, but they aren’t any worse or better than ANY other US carrier. They all seem to be incapable of quality service or customer service in my opinion. I’ve had AT&T, Sprint, & Verizon at one point in time or another and they’ve all caused about the same level of pain. Simply put, our wireless carriers are WAY behind those in other areas of the world and this doesn’t show any signs of changing. I will say AT&T seems to have as good or better data service in this area compared to the other carriers based on the few tests I’ve read, but I do know that those in larger cities are feeling more of the pain here. Unfortunately, after using many other devices, no increase in service can rival the combined package purely due to the iPhone’s hardware. It is bar-none better than any phone I’ve ever used (Blackberry, WinMo, Symbian, etc.) NOTE: I haven’t yet tried the Palm Pre. Also, please try to keep in mind that AT&T’s exclusivity contract isn’t unusual (except for possibly its length). If you’re unhappy, give Apple feedback. That is the only way this may ever change.
Next, people are complaining that not enough has changed. The iPhone 3G merely refined the original iPhone with antenna friendly plastic casing, GPS, and 3G. This phone adds faster CPU & RAM (reportedly based on non-Apple sources), an improved camera, video capture (cool due to the camera’s improvements), video editing, compass (rather cool if you let it sink in), and voice control. Honestly, I would say the 3G S contains the bigger of the two product changes. Also, please don’t tell me some of that is capable with jailbreaking. I don’t consider that a good choice as you get in an arms race with Apple and honestly, Apple’s implementations always seem more polished. Now, I understand some of these features may not appeal to all people, so I can understand this complaint a bit more than the other two.
Finally, the complaints also focus on the upgrade costs. I am sick to death of reading that only “new” customers can get the $199/299 price. That isn’t true. It would seem that none of these individuals have ever upgraded a phone with a carrier before the iPhone. You get a new subsidized iPhone every new contract or every two years unless you fall into a category that allows for more frequent upgrades such as those who spend more than some set amount with AT&T each month. This is how all of the main US carriers work. The only reason the upgrading iPhone to iPhone 3G users got a pass last time around is that AT&T hadn’t subsidized the original iPhone at all. This is how all phone purchasing works in the US unless you purchase an unsubsidized/unlocked device. It is the system that’s in place. Can it suck? YES! but they’re not punishing iPhone users. We’re just getting treated like the rest of the customers. I doubt this will change as none of the carriers have any incentive to shift on this issue. For whatever reason, the American consumer isn’t happy paying $500 for a new phone, but is quite content to pay $200, but be overcharged on voice/data/messaging for the next 2 years 
I believe I will get the cheaper pricing as it will have been more than 16 months since I last upgraded, but if I don’t, then I’ll just wait. I won’t be happy about it, but I’m not being treated unfairly. It’s the contract I signed.
Just my thoughts on the whole subject. I hope AT&T improves. They really need to change how they handle data, voice, messaging, etc. but then, so do all of their competitors. Unlikely at best…
UPDATE: Well, it looks like AT&T posted an iPhone 3G S faq and they do say that MMS will be at no additional cost if you’re currently on a messaging plan. Still no dates for either feature.
