Instrumentation
July 3rd, 2009 | brainjuice
I discovered today that, through the very good technology house Expansys, an unlocked iPhone 3GS costs pretty much a thousand pounds per unit.
Which is a bit strong for something that only learned how to do MMS five minutes ago. But.
A thousand pounds per unit actually forces you to recontextualise the iPhone a bit. That’s not a mainstream consumer street device anymore. That’s a digital instrument. That is something very different from a mobile phone. That’s something you don’t dare carry around in your pocket because it costs a thousand pounds. And if you do carry such a thing around in your pocket, you are either a wilfully conspicuous consumer of a piece with the people who used to lug mobile phones around when they came in briefcases or you are some kind of scientist performing science on the street with a digital instrument or else why would you be carrying around a device that costs a thousand pounds per unit?
Perhaps iPhone 3GS users need a bumper sticker for the backs of their instruments that reads IT’S OKAY: I’M DOING SCIENCE.
is the award-winning creator of graphic novels such as 
Of course, anyone who actually does spend a thousand pounds on an iPhone 3GS is a FUCKING IDIOT, considering they cost less than a hundred quid on contract. But hey, YMMV…
Puts a whole new spin on the line from the game Portal’s end credits:
“Look at me still talking when there’s science to do”
Sure, if you’re prepared to go with a shitbox provider like 02. Anyone who wants to use a proper phone network would have to get an unlocked unit.
SCIENCE!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW9m9230LnA
Uhm, actually I just got mine on Monday from the Italian Apple store. Nearly totally legal, unlocked, and it cost 700 Euro. Which is a lot closer to 500 pounds than a thousand. Oh, and I carry it around in my pocket, as I did with the old one.
You are right though (all right, that means: I agree with you on this): You have to recontextualise the iPhone. It is not simply a mobile phone. For me, it was the first piece of technology since my very first computer (somewhere in the way early 90s) that has actually changed the way I behave and interact with the world. 500 pounds for that? A bargain.
The difference between the grand paid for an iPhone and the one paid for an instrument is that production costs per unit are much, MUCH lower for the iPhone than for any real scientific instrument. There is no reason why they shouldn’t be in the same range as, say, the Nokia N97, which retails for less than £500. I bet that Apple is making more than 50% pure profit on that grand, and the rest is mostly marketing costs.
So, if you spend a thousand pounds for an iPhone, you are not paying for an instrument, you are paying for Steve’s retirement funds. The sticker should read IT’S OKAY: I’M PAYING FOR STEVE’S NEW BOAT AND I’M HAPPY.
Whether that would make an iPhone owner more (or less) of an idiot, is up to the reader to decide.
I’m running out of reasons not to get an iPhone. I’m scared.
The sane route is to get a shit phone for cheap and an iPod Touch, which would be perfect if Apple added a camera to the Touch. I barely use the phone part at it is.
I have a t-mobile G1.
I mean, seriously. It had copy/paste and MMS from the get-go, it got video later via a SOFTWARE upgrade… it could have multitouch but Apple is bastards about their patents (which they licensed/referenced/stole from the likes of Jeff Han of perceptive pixel anyway) via a software upgrade.
Honestly, I don’t need that much in a phone. It’s a FUCKING PHONE. It’s tiny. I have to hold it up to my face to see anything anyway. I type the occasional note with it, make calls, read twitter, and IM. I don’t need it for anything else. And it has a real keyboard, not that bastard mutant touch screen one that sucks something from over Lambeth road.
It’s all about control, on the iPhone side. If you’re buying an unlocked iPhone, you’re escaping the thumb Apple wants you under, so you’re damned well paying a tax for that.
An unlocked 32GB iPhone 3GS from the Apple store in Australia costs AUS$1040.
Which is 500 pounds.
Though Expansus.com.au will sell you the phone at AUS$1974.99 inc VAT.
If you’re paying 1000 pounds for an iPhone, you are most definitely not a scientist.
I don’t believe the UK Apple store sells them unlocked.
Get a colonist to hook you up.
i’m just gonna make that sticker and put it on the back of my 5th gen ipod…
i’ll just have to prove that tetris + escapepod is science. i think i can do it.
That’s silly. Expansys are not cheap, but even they’ll soon have the HTC Hero (Android) for £350.
If you’re not an Apple user now, be aware of all the other stuff you have to do to get your phone to work. Want to get music on to your phone? Then you have to deal with iTunes, and all that implies. No thanks, just give me something that does USB Mass Storage and I’ll just fire up Rhythmbox or Unison under Linux. We do not NEED Apple.
@Andy Diggle:
“Of course, anyone who actually does spend a thousand pounds on an iPhone 3GS is a FUCKING IDIOT, considering they cost less than a hundred quid on contract. But hey, YMMV…”
Obviously paying (at least) £30+ a month for 24 months totalling (at least) £720+ makes a *lot* more sense then with depreciation and being tied into a contract then doesn’t it? Obviously.
Most people would buy one off contract if O2 would unlock them, once they’ve bought it – but they won’t, so they get no cash from me. Even the shop assistant I spoke to yesterday didn’t bother trying to argue that one.
It’s the contract as much as the device. Does an unlocked iPhone come with a reasonable contract that allows you to use the internet as much as you want? No. You’ll have to get a sim from Three (in the UK) and make sure you watch the amount downloaded per month.