This being the last Wednesday before the iPhone’s (insanely over-hyped) release in Canada I thought I’d cover the issues that surround the sleek little 3G hockey puck.
First things first - what exactly is 3G and why is it so important?
3G refers to third generation wireless capability. The little cellfriend you have now is probably (unless you bought it somewhere in Asia where 3G enabled phones are the standard) a 2G machine, which is why when you hear ‘internet-enabled’ what you really get is ‘darn slow transfer rates’. 3G phones change all that because as Wikipediastates:
“3G technologies enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls, and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Additional features also include HSPA data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8Mbit/s on the uplink.”
Wicked cool right? 3G iPhone users will literally have no down time away from the internets. That is, not if they carry their phone with them everywhere they go (and don’t we all?)
Which brings us to the hype issue. Yes it’s 3G, yes, it’s pretty, yes it plays music, surfs the web and takes pictures, yes, yes, yes. Is that really so important? I am not going to go find a blog that asks the same questions as me for the simple fact that such posts are getting thin on the ground, the closer we get to zero-hour.
Heck, even my friend who still uses a reel-to-reel answering machine is considering getting an iPhone, which not only boggles the mind, it could mean a victory of unbelievable proportions for the Apple PR and design teams in charge of the iPhone.
Except for the fact that Rogers, the service provider in charge of bringing telephony to your ibrick (affectionate terms for an unactivated iPhone) are charging such inflated rates for data transfer via the 3G iPhone, it almost cancels out the benefit of having such a robust network behind your device.
Let’s compare a Telus recent smartphone offer launched this summer(not that I am schilling for Telus, I actually kinda hate them too). At Telus you get unlimited data for at most $45/month. That’s right, 45 clams compared to Rogers iPhone plans, which starts at $60/month for a mere 400mb of download.
Basically that’s like owning part of a fat pipe that dribbles Dom Perignon, a bad idea in any situation.
Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair on internet and ecommerce in his post titled: iPhone Arrival Places Spotlight on Canada’s Wireless Crisis, sums up the fact that the dilemma of the iPhone is inevitable, given that we live in telecommunications landscape dominated by a few major players.
Of course there’s been fallout, from a petition online to reluctance from Apple to stock the new phones in their stores.
What’s your take on the new iPhone? Love it leave it, hate it or all three?
This little bit of Indy-style business and tech blogging was brought to you by Will It Blend:
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seven comments
Rogers announced today they were caving to everyone's demands and offering 6GB for $30, instead of 300MB—but only if you sign up for a three-year contract before the end of August. Between that and Bell and Telus charging pay-as-you-go users for incoming text messages, it looks like business as usual in the Canadian cellphone market, though at least everyone's talking about data rates now. And I suppose things are better now than, say, a couple of months ago, when Rogers charged $25 for 6MB of data. Six megabytes. And you wonder why no one you know has ever used their cellphone for internet unless it was a Blackberry.
So screw them all, and hope one of the new Canadian wireless carriers will be better.
Posted by Wesley
July 9, 2008, 1:23 PM
Wow. It totally blends.
Posted by Stacey May
July 9, 2008, 1:35 PM
To be fair, though, I don't think that guy's found anything that DOESN'T blend.
(also, it's a thinly veiled ad for a blender, but you knew that already. and I dig the theme song, which you probably didn't know already.)
Posted by Wesley
July 9, 2008, 2:06 PM
It's a pretty fantastic blender though.
Posted by Stacey May
July 9, 2008, 2:13 PM
Okay I'll cave and admit. I did a quick search on iPhone + hype and the blender clip came up. All I really wanted to do was post about the blender'd phone but I thought it needed a wee bit o' context.
Wesley I am reading the spectrum auction post. Less exciting for les Quebecois, as Quebecor owns pretty much everything except for Drawn and Quarterly - ha ha ha.
Posted by Mir
July 9, 2008, 4:14 PM
I new that this time around was going to be more of the same. Huge line, no service, no inventory, horrible customer service, etc...AT&T; couldn't get it right the first time, what makes you think they would get it right the second time around ? I think if you never had an iPhone maybe go through the trouble, but if you already have one, why go through the headache for another one. Makes no sense. Apple always launches news products with very low inventory to create excitement and demand. I did it once with the mini me, and never again. I can wait, if I really want an Apple Anything.
petes2cents.com
Posted by Petes2cents
July 13, 2008, 10:17 PM
300 mb for $30 ? thats insane. i got a htc with Telus and am paying $15 a month for unlimited data. they even threw in for free 250 text messages
Posted by tony
August 10, 2008, 1:19 PM
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