4 ms·

You lost me at ringtone. My 3210 (10 years ago!) you were able to program your own ringtones (in the little beeps that it could produce) Most other nokia's (m

You lost me at ringtone. My 3210 (10 years ago!) you were able to program your own ringtones (in the little beeps that it could produce) Most other nokia's (my 6110) - to use a ringtone it was a case of put an mp3 file on the phone - then select the mp3 as the ringtone. Do you know what you have to do to get a ringtone on the iPhone?

pyre 17y ago
A lot of carrier-branded phones have features like that disabled in favor of only allowing the user to purchase ringtones from the carrier's marketplace where you pay upwards of $3-$4 per ringtone (i.e. ringtones, at 30s or less, cost more than buying the entire song on iTunes). It is/was vendor lock-in at it's worst: create a captive audience, and then price gouge them because they don't know any better (i.e. "My old phone didn't have ringtones, but now I can buy ringtones from Verizon! Yay!"; without realizing that the phone itself supports user-created ringtones that you don't have to pay for). It's sort of the same for the iPhone now. People think it's great because they are used to phones with limited functionality, openness and usability. Compared to those phones that iPhone is a breath of fresh air. Apple's just playing a game of, "what they don't know can't hurt them." People don't sit down and think about exactly what their ideal device is like. They see the iPhone/iPad and thing that it's neat and mold their expectation around what they see (especially if their expectations were lower to begin with).
- GeneralMaximus 17y ago
  A lot of carrier-branded phones have features like that disabled in favor of only allowing the user to purchase ringtones from the carrier's marketplace where you pay upwards of $3-$4 per ringtone (i.e. ringtones, at 30s or less, cost more than buying the entire song on iTunes). I would like to point out this is an American phenomenon. At least in India, the mobile market is completely open.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    > I would like to point out this is an American phenomenon And this explains why the iPhone was somewhat underwhelming for the rest of the world. It's a great phone, sure, but no revolution.
  - benwerd 17y ago
    This. I think the iPhone was a complete boon to the US mobile market, which was suffering and locked down. In America, the iPhone is one of the most open handsets out there. However, everywhere else, where carriers have less of an ability to be quite as locked-down and evil, they're one of the least open.
xiaoma 17y ago
>Do you know what you have to do to get a ringtone on the iPhone? Yep. They're free. Just download them as podcasts. http://macmost.com/free-iphone-ringtones http://macmost.com/free-iphone-ringtones Or even use iTunes to make them out of music on your computer: http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free.html http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free...
- whatusername 17y ago
  So if someone pre-generates a strange file-format for you - it's almost as simple as my 5 year old nokia. Or there's a 17 step process. The way the iPhone handles it's ringtones is a step back from how most normal phones did. (// Note to American readers - if your carrier blocks a function - it means you have a bad carrier - not a bad phone) The iPhone excelled in having a great browser. And looking gorgeous. As far as Phone parts go (crap reception/quality, struggles with group sms, ringtones, etc) it was a step backwards from most phones on the market. Now that might be an acceptable trade-off, but it still needs to be stated.
  - xiaoma 17y ago
    I've never bought or owned a cellphone in America. My only basis for comparison is previous phones in Taiwan and Japan.

pyre 17y ago

A lot of carrier-branded phones have features like that disabled in favor of only allowing the user to purchase ringtones from the carrier's marketplace where you pay upwards of $3-$4 per ringtone (i.e. ringtones, at 30s or less, cost more than buying the entire song on iTunes). It is/was vendor lock-in at it's worst: create a captive audience, and then price gouge them because they don't know any better (i.e. "My old phone didn't have ringtones, but now I can buy ringtones from Verizon! Yay!"; without realizing that the phone itself supports user-created ringtones that you don't have to pay for). It's sort of the same for the iPhone now. People think it's great because they are used to phones with limited functionality, openness and usability. Compared to those phones that iPhone is a breath of fresh air. Apple's just playing a game of, "what they don't know can't hurt them." People don't sit down and think about exactly what their ideal device is like. They see the iPhone/iPad and thing that it's neat and mold their expectation around what they see (especially if their expectations were lower to begin with).

GeneralMaximus 17y ago
A lot of carrier-branded phones have features like that disabled in favor of only allowing the user to purchase ringtones from the carrier's marketplace where you pay upwards of $3-$4 per ringtone (i.e. ringtones, at 30s or less, cost more than buying the entire song on iTunes). I would like to point out this is an American phenomenon. At least in India, the mobile market is completely open.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  > I would like to point out this is an American phenomenon And this explains why the iPhone was somewhat underwhelming for the rest of the world. It's a great phone, sure, but no revolution.
- benwerd 17y ago
  This. I think the iPhone was a complete boon to the US mobile market, which was suffering and locked down. In America, the iPhone is one of the most open handsets out there. However, everywhere else, where carriers have less of an ability to be quite as locked-down and evil, they're one of the least open.

xiaoma 17y ago

>Do you know what you have to do to get a ringtone on the iPhone? Yep. They're free. Just download them as podcasts. http://macmost.com/free-iphone-ringtones http://macmost.com/free-iphone-ringtones Or even use iTunes to make them out of music on your computer: http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free.html http://www.ehow.com/how_2160460_custom-iphone-ringtones-free...

whatusername 17y ago
So if someone pre-generates a strange file-format for you - it's almost as simple as my 5 year old nokia. Or there's a 17 step process. The way the iPhone handles it's ringtones is a step back from how most normal phones did. (// Note to American readers - if your carrier blocks a function - it means you have a bad carrier - not a bad phone) The iPhone excelled in having a great browser. And looking gorgeous. As far as Phone parts go (crap reception/quality, struggles with group sms, ringtones, etc) it was a step backwards from most phones on the market. Now that might be an acceptable trade-off, but it still needs to be stated.
- xiaoma 17y ago
  I've never bought or owned a cellphone in America. My only basis for comparison is previous phones in Taiwan and Japan.