iPhone 1.0: Craigslist, eBay or Keepsake?
News Commentary. You want the new one, but what to do with the old one? |
One of the world's worst kept secrets is the new iPhone. Everybody knows it's coming as soon as next month. Nobody really knows what to expect, but, in the tradition of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' "one more thing," iPhone 2.0 has got to be good. You know it's coming and you own an iPhone 1.0. So what will you do with that older phone?
I'm going through the same decision-making process as many of you. So, I'd like to humbly share 10 points of consideration, in no particular order, for evaluating what to do with iPhone 1.0.
1. You collected every generation of iPod, so why stop now? From that first brick model to the mini, nano and Touch, you bought and rebought and kept each previous model as a keepsake. Why not keep those iPhones too, every generation, and be buried with one?
2. The iPhone is sold out pretty much everywhere. That means iPhone 1.0, even used, should command good pricing. Most iPhones are going overseas to be unlocked and sold in markets where the device isn't officially sold. You could sell now, live with the old clunker (your cell phone replaced by Apple's mobile) for a few weeks and use the sale proceeds for the 3G iPhone.
3. Wait! There are rumors iPhone 2.0 is delayed. That's right, late yesterday afternoon. Apple hasn't announced June 9 as the date, but the rumors all point to mid-June. Could you really sell now and wait until July—or, gasp, August—for a replacement?
4. The iPhone is the gift that keeps on giving. Personal data stays behind following a "restore" procedure. For identity thieves, iPhone might just be the Craigslist or eBay purchase. Do you really want to sell your iPhone to a stranger?
5. Your iPhone is good enough with free AT&T Wi-Fi. Or is it? The on-and-off again free AT&T Wi-Fi is looking less and less likely—unless old Stevie has got one of those "one more thing" tricks coming.
6. 20M-bps 3G beats the hell out of Wi-Fi. Whether or not AT&T lights up 17,000 hot spots for free, the company plans on making available 20M-bps 3G service next year. Meanwhile, 3G everywhere beats the hell out of Wi-Fi in some places.
7. You could cure someone's iPhone envy. Surely you know somebody—maybe a friend of family member—who just hates you for having an iPhone not having an iPhone. You could be a hero and get a new iPhone at the same time. But that person might not be so generous and ask for the hand-me-down now.
8. The iPhone 2.0 software could come first. It almost certainly will. Even if there is no delay of the new device, Apple could easily release iPhone 2.0 software the same day the new mobile is announced. But there's a good chance the phone would come later. Would you really want to miss out by giving away now your beloved mobile to someone with iPhone envy?
9. The first love is the sweetest. You adore iPhone and can't imagine the next version being any better. So how could you ever give up the mobile even for iPhone 2.0?
10. You want to be cool. Being the badass gadget geek means something to you, or perhaps having that something nobody else has. Well, if everybody gets an iPhone, how cool is it going to be? I put aside my iPhone 1.0 for the Nokia N95 8GB. It's gadget glory, and not many people have the black N95. Which do you think is cooler?
Comments (7)
I'm waiting until the "iPod Femto" comes out in 2012. The size of an RFID chip, it will hold 4,000 songs plus album art and can be implanted under the skin right over your heart. The pluses are many: it can't be lost or stolen, and you'll inevitably be buried with it when the Reaper comes for you. It will be Bluetooth enabled so you can control playback.
Better, when it's obsolete, you can just set a "kill bit" and have the "iPod Femto 2.0" implanted right next to it!
Best yet: once they've merged the iPhone technology with the "iPod Femto", I'll truly be able to tell someone "I'm speaking from the heart!"
Posted by Bob | May 23, 2008 2:19 PM
I fall under #7, I want one so bad!
Posted by Andre Da Costa | May 23, 2008 4:24 PM
No. 10. What on earth is cool about the Nokia N95? Everybody and their dog in Europe has one - you get one free on almost every tariff. Thing is most people I've spoken to are on their third or fourth handset as they keep breaking. Too many moving parts. Hardly anybody actually uses all the features in it, though.
Posted by Kevin | May 23, 2008 7:29 PM
Do unto others: Its U-phone
Posted by toneyal | May 27, 2008 6:01 PM
#10: I will not use another Symbian phone again! My last Nokia "smart phone" was the most frustrating device I ever used in almost every way possible. The firmware updates seemed to untested given the number of bugs each one would reintroduce.
I got an iPhone last month and apart from the horrors of using iTunes* to synch, haven't looked back.
*Which is tons better than the ghastly Nokia PC-Suite with its UI from hell.
Posted by Mike | June 8, 2008 9:50 AM
> Personal data stays behind following
> a "restore" procedure. For identity thieves,
> iPhone might just be the Craigslist or eBay
> purchase. Do you really want to sell your
> iPhone to a stranger?
There's GOT to be a way to clear it all out.
Impossible?
So I have to smash my old phone with hammer and then burn it???
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Posted by iertas9190 | October 24, 2008 4:20 AM