iPhone: Ubiquitous Computing circa 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
The other day, I bought an iPhone 3G. Since I went in on Saturday instead of Friday (when there were
people camped out waiting to get an iPhone), I was in-and-out in about
20 minutes. Although iPhones have been
available in the US and some other countries for a year now, they only
became available in Canada with the release of the iPhone 3G last
Friday. When Rogers first announced their
intended pricing packages
for the iPhone, there was a
huge public outcry. Since you can't buy an iPhone from Rogers without a data
plan, these rates were considered by most people to be "gouging". Luckily, Rogers came to its senses and
introduced a more reasonable "special deal" (tentatively available
only until the end of August but I would expect this to quietly become the
"standard") rate plan for the
iPhone. Since I have an existing voice service with Rogers, I was able
to do a "phone upgrade" for $175 (after $25 rebate) and add a 6GB/month data
plan to my existing voice service for $30/month. Although the overall
rates are
still pricey, they're more in line with what other countries are
charging. For people who want an iPhone but who intend to use the data
services only when connected to wifi, there is always the option to
take an "early termination" penalty on the data plan. This would cost a
maximum of $100 (depending on when you cancel the data
service) on top of the $175 for the iPhone and your regular voice plan
charges.
However, for me, the 3G service is the biggest selling point of the
iPhone. With it, I am no longer tethered to a wifi connection (funny
how we used to say "tethered to a cable" and now we feel constrained
when we're "tethered" to a wifi connection!). I can be walking in the
hills above Vancouver and still get a GPS location showing me where
I'm at. If I'm on the bus going into town, I can check my emails,
read some RSS feeds, or just surf the web. Although it's not as
convenient as
cybernetic implants, in 2008, this is about as good as it gets! ;-)
