After careful examination and consideration, I am planning on jumping off of the Iphone Bandwagon. I was an early adopter, starting with the 1st Iphone and still enjoy my Iphone 4. In about 1 month my contract is up with AT&T. After setting up a separate phone plan with a prepaid option that has unlimited minutes, text, and data (2GB then throttle), I plan on converting. The new network is pretty decent, but really Im sold on value. The new Android phone out performs the older Iphone 3G with great voice texting and screen size. It was pretty cheap too. I take comfort in knowing that it is paid for and that I can transfer my service whenever I choose without penalty.
At the moment I am paying nearly $85 per month for a limited minutes and texting plan. Using the other service, I get unlimited phone minutes and text. I think there may be some caveats to the Data.. but for all that I pay like $60 plus the rates reduce over some time. I plan on unlocking my Iphone4 and taking it over to one of these prepaid services. I have to say that I do enjoy the android experience though. The voice text option and navigation are my favorites. Gotta check into music though.
Overall I just dont get how the new Iphone can cost so much more than lets say… A Galaxy Note 10.1 inch screen with expandable memory (recently purchased). I know its not a phone, but lets just think about hardware. How does a smaller screen cost so much more? In reality it seems to me the whole setup is bait. Bait to lure you into yet another contract that if you considered the overall price over time you might not do it. I think the hardware price is inflated so that you’ll want to sign the contract. Otherwise why would you? I’m just glad there is worthy competition. Thanks Google for creating great phone OS and all the hardware makers for making decent quality hardware. Keep Apple on their toes. I like the Iphone5, just dont like the contracts an inflated price.
How does this affect graphic design?
Well in a platform perspective it means that designers should consider these other devices seriously when creating pages. Test platforms might include Iphones in general and a solid Android phone, as well as all of the new tablet platforms. Insane really.
