[IP] Re: Apple Says IPhone to Sell Since Free Phones Worthless

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jaap Weel <weel@ugcs.caltech.edu>
Date: March 1, 2007 3:23:38 PM JST
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: ip@v2.listbox.com
Subject: Re: [IP] Apple Says IPhone to Sell Since Free Phones Worthless

>       ``A lot of people pay zero for the cell phone. Guess why?
> That's what it's worth,'' Apple Chief Operating Officer Timothy
> Cook said yesterday at a conference in Las Vegas.

I don't know about Mr Cook, but I was offered a 40% "discount" on my
phone bill if I didn't take the "free" phone.

Here in Holland, at least, more expensive phone plans come with a
choice of a wider range of more expensive phones, and the discount you
can get for not taking the phone (which isn't usually advertised) is
always the same percentage. Because I wanted lots of monthly minutes
but am willing to use a simple phone (better battery life!), I took
the discount and bought my own phone.

So my point is that people simply do not "pay zero" for the cell
phone. Maybe they are *forced* to pay for the cell phone whether they
want it or not, at which point I suppose the marginal cost to the
consumer of having the cell phone is strictly speaking zero, but in
any reasonable sense of the word, of course part of your phone bill is
"for" the phone.

--

    /jaap





-------------------------------------------