Saturday, August 23, 2008

To hell with you, Apple.

Should you buy the iPhone 3G? Well, a friend of mine gave me a lowdown on the phone's capabilities in India, and the verdict is simple. If you earn your money like I do, the hard way, don't buy the it.
Why, you ask. Why not buy the most desirable piece of hardware designed for your palm? Well, here is a rundown of reasons:
  • 3G is not available in India yet, and you don't know what prices these operators will charge once it does come up
  • The previous point is important because like in the US, the iPhone ties you to one operator. You cannot switch (at least not officially).
  • Your GPS has no driving directions (unlike the Nokia phones) and as a corollary, no audio directions either.
  • The hands-free kit is extra
  • There is no option for bluetooth headphones
  • You cannot increase storage beyond what you're provided.
  • Price: At Rs31,000 for the 8GB version, the phone is not only four times more expensive than the ones available in the US, it still subjects you to the same conditionalities, of being stuck with one operator.

As someone who fell in love with the iPhone the moment I saw it (many a time I would go to my colleague's desk only to try the touch screen), this has been a major disappointment. I am OK with all the other drawbacks (those of GPS and storage, and bluetooth headphones), but I cannot stand thae fact that I'll still be tied to one operator despite paying the full price for the phone. This is shameful and shows the utter lack of regard that Apple has for Indian customers. Just for this reason, I'll say - "Shame on you, Apple".

3 comments:

Prashanth said...

I don't think that is true. The iPhone costs as much in India because they sell only the unlocked version of the phone here (you can see that the Indian price is a rough conversion of the price of the unlocked iPhone in the US).

I don't know anyone personally who bought an iPhone in India, so I can't verify my statement. However, it seems highly unlikely that operator locking will go down well with the Indian public.

Gops said...

Prashanth,

I hope I'm wrong, but I heard it from the proverbial "horse's mouth", so have no reason to believe I am.

Ofcourse, operator locking won't go down well with the Indian public.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure the iphone in india isn't unlocked.

They are sold with premium plans from Vodafone and Airtel.. However the difference from the US is that the contract is 12months here, whereas AT&T has a 2 year tie in.