I hope Apple keeps the iPod as a separate “being” (mine really is treated like a buddy LOL). Everyone is different in their needs. I surely wouldn’t want to have to exit a game just to answer the phone.

And not everyone is into cell phones. I don’t have one and don’t miss it either. Now my iPod, gets as much of my attention as I can spare…. LOL

good luck, good writing

Barrie

anyway, i think we've both made our cases. for some people the integration of your ipod with a smartphone plan you'd already be getting anyway represents a better value. for others a no-strings-attached touchscreen video ipod is more appealing. live and let live.

p.s. i'm glad we can all agree that rogers is an abomination.

I think the key problem here is that Canadian cellular service providers just don't get that these have become consumer devices… and that it's not just businesses shelling out for these capabilities any more.

I think my logic in the post still stands. Maybe it's worth it now in Canada to keep the Touch around at the price that it currently is, but as data plans come down (god I hope they do), the divide will close. Product lines will need to be differentiated or altered to incorporate that, much like the difference between the nano and the classic has now. Much high capacities in the Touch will surely accomplish that.

the bottom line is that the iphone is what it is, a relatively luxury niche product. there is no reason the ipod touch cannot successfully inhabit its own niche (people who'd simply like a nice portable media player and don't need or can't afford a full blown internet communications device)

Let’s say you choose the $60 plan as a bare minimum plus the $15/month voice value pack…

$199 iPhone 3G.
$60 voice/data plan + $15 voice value pack + $6.95 SAF = 81.95/mnth
$81.95 x 36 months (3 year contract) = 2950.00 + $199.00 = $3149.2

So, being put into context of me getting raped already by rogers… I might actually save some money here… I thought that was amusing, so i thought I'd share.

So I could buy a touch and pay what I'm paying now, or I can buy an iPhone, and not really have spent much more.

But this is all speculation based on what could quite possibly a fake document. Give it a couple more weeks and the truth will be known. And then we'll find out if the iPhone really comes in under the price of the iPod touch. It may well be.

However, your argument is based on a questionable assumptiion: Will Apple sell directly to the customers? No word yet. But there is no pre-order option from the website, only a link to a list of Rogers and Fido Stores, and that doesn't bode well for people looking for a cheap MP3 player sans phone. The word on the street is that the phone is being subsidized by the cell phone companies, and if they are subsidizing it, you can bet they're not going to let it go without a plan.

But again, speculation. Let's pick this up again on July 12….

Now, I might be in the minority, but I took that to mean 199.00 is the most expensive price you'll pay, and that the typical carrier discounts that companies such as Rogers apply to cellphones will be on the 199.00 price and not vice versa. I guess time will tell.

Thanks for the comments :)

Oh, and I really… really… agree with the usage rates. Rogers needs to wake up and alter their data plans.

So if the capacities stay the same, and if the iPhone is sold directly by Apple, and if the price remains how they are now, I see very few people spending an extra 100.00 on a device that does everything the iPhone does, minus the cellphone.

Just my opinion though ;)

Geographically, we're the majority, though in numbers, probably not. Heck, I'm so far off the beaten track that I don't even have GSM coverage (and just got CDMA a couple years ago). So I'm not planning on getting even a first gen iPhone. Sorry.

If you look at a coverage map of the states, 3G coverage is still pretty thin there, too, once you get out of maor centres. Heck, there's entire states that don't even have AT&T, let alone 3G. There's gotta be something for them. And the for all the kids who are only texting anyway, why not an iPod touch? Sure, you've gotta be near Wi-Fi, but I suspect that 90% of my time is spent near a wi-fi hotspot (home, work…in the kid's case, school).

And let's not forget that (in the states) data plans for a iPhone are $30, was it? So the actual cost of ownership of an iPhone is much higher than an iPod touch. IF you need both a cell phone and music device and IF you live in one of the $25 centres across Canada that has 3G and IF Roger's doesn't charge an arm and a leg for the data plans…then yes, iPhone all the way, baby. If not, this iPod touch is great for listening and watching podcasts….

Anyway. I think you might be pronouncing it dead a little early. In a few years, maybe.