You know, I never appreciated the phone internets as much as I did when Sprint wrongly stripped me of my ability to access it.

Still, decided I don't really need it.

I like my phone internet - it lets me go places my work internet won't

Eh, I really am split on this. At first, I thought the same thing. Those people who sepnt $600 on a phone did so willingly and were outwardly proud to do so. So why are they suddenly unhappy with their purchase? Did they not realize the costs would come down? Sure, no one expected it to happen this fast, but no one forced them to make their purchase.

On the other hand, I think this was a good move by Apple and their always uber PR department of rock star spinsters. Apple's PR events get the kind of coverage that is rare, dare I say totally unique, in the electronics world. This is why they are so protective of their "secrets" and continually fight to prevent details from being released prior to an event (except that which they seed to build anticipation). Now, the press gives Apple millions upon millions in equivelant media dollar spend every time they come out with a new purple whosey-whatsit. And the press coverage is overwhelmingly positive, ususally.

In this case, the press started to quickly pick up on the story about all the pissed off fanboys. The story of the new iPods quickly drowned out. So, Apple makes a strong business decision.

1. Offers a refund in the form of store credit. This forces people to come back into the store and likely spend much more than the $100 voucher.
2. This then generates goodwill among existing customers and the ever allegiant fanboy base. As anyone in marketing will tell you, the cost of acquiring a new customer is 3-5 times more than the cost of retention.
3. The Apple PR gods spin their story upon the press who immediately do a 180. Now, the negative press has turned positive and additionally, now they get a second wave of press on the new iPods and the new iPhone.

I declare it flatly brilliant.

It was a good short term PR move, but a weak business decision, the kind of "appeasing the hardcore geek base" that's gotten them in trouble in the past. If they're going to compete in the cell phone world, they need to be able to have the balls to be like the other cell phone giants, and one of those characteristics is total price discrimination. Oh no, the price changed in 2 months!! Um, so? Everyone's completely okay with the fact that on any given day, two different people will pay wildly different prices for the exact same phone. Sometimes as dramatic as paying $400 vs. getting it for free. So a 30% price difference after a couple months in the cell phone market is nothing.

Now Apple's just set themselves up for future nightmares as consumer know that if they whine loud enough to a few choice reporters, they can force Apple's hand regarding price choices. It was a panic move by there PR department to quiet a minority segment ("early adopters" is a small segment to begin with, and among THAT small segment, the opinion was pretty much split, so it was half of a THAT). The success of the iPod was driven largely by Apple's bold and uncompromising moves. No tentativeness, no listening to people trying to put price pressure on them. They made decisions and stuck with them. An appeasement move like this does not bode well for the future.

i love my iPhone.

Just heard unverified scuttlebutt that the price will drop again in December and a newer version with more storage will be available

Heard indirectly from someone at AT&T. Take it for what it's worth.

I wouldn't doubt it.

..but do you love your $100 rebate ?;)

The $100 is not a rebate, but an Apple credit.

Unless you purchased the iPhone in the last 14 days, then you get a $200 refund.

A guy at work told me it was a rebate.
My bad.