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> They came out at the height of texting and ringtone era, and we were pretty set in our ways, and it took years to change that behavior. Nah. The only reason
by michaelt 2y ago
> They came out at the height of texting and ringtone era, and we were pretty set in our ways, and it took years to change that behavior.
Nah. The only reason the iphone didn't take off faster was that, for its time, it was extremely expensive.
$600 upfront plus a 24-month, $60/month contract [1]. That's $2000 back in 2007, or $3000 today.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2007/06/26/iphone_contract_prices/ https://www.theregister.com/2007/06/26/iphone_contract_price...
- valley_guy_12 2y agoSecond reason it didn't take off faster was that iPhone was typically a carrier exclusive, and in most markets, the iPhone carrier was typically one of the smaller carriers. So iPhone wasn't available to most mobile phone users in a given market, unless they went to the trouble of switching carriers.
- MBCook 2y agoPlus the App Store was a massive driver of demand, but wasn’t there until year 2 and the release of the 3G.
- bschmidt1 2y agoIf you were around when the first decent iPhone released (2008) you'd remember that everyone had one for $99 on AT&T, where non smartphones were still like ~$300, so I'd say you have it backwards. Maybe you weren't old enough, or are from another country. Everybody remembers this, it was a great idea on their part as it got everyone using iPhones.
- goosedragons 2y agoThat wasn't release though... Prices for the 2G iPhone really were that high and Apple even cut the price after a few months because it wasn't moving like expected.
- bschmidt1 2y agoAh yeah true, re-reading not even sure why I replied like that