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How is the phone "subsidized" anyway; Apple or Android? Consider, say, buying a 32gb iPhone 5 in Australia on Optus, for a 4GB unlimited plan is $3,120.00 over

How is the phone "subsidized" anyway; Apple or Android? Consider, say, buying a 32gb iPhone 5 in Australia on Optus, for a 4GB unlimited plan is $3,120.00 over 24 months [1]. Or, you go and buy the phone from Apple for $899.00, and use Optus prepay for 4gb @ $70/month == (899 + (70 *24)) = 2579 [2] (I noticed this expired after 28 days; so maybe add another month cumulative). Of course, as Scott Adams says the only reason all these companies exist is the "confuseopoly" they create with various different plans that are the same but slightly different with no clear benefits. So maybe my maths is wrong, but good luck figuring it out in clear terms anyway. In Australia with all the "$20 for $275 value" bull-crap it's especially bad. At least in the US it's just plain "minutes" and M/B. I think really it's the same with Android phones ... deliberate confuseopoly. I agree with the author; after getting a cheap, underpowered, bloatware, never updated Android piece-of-crap I have a simple rule -- Nexus or nothing. [1] https://smb.optus.com.au/opfiles/Shop/All/cis/Cis%20Documents/1390138_2_CIS_$130_Timeless_Plan_0113.pdf https://smb.optus.com.au/opfiles/Shop/All/cis/Cis%20Document... [2] https://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/prepaidoffers https://www.optus.com.au/shop/prepaidmobile/prepaidoffers

dorian-graph 13y ago
When I bought my iPhone 5 here in Australia, outright, amusingly a few people seemed shocked because of the cost, apparently. They wondered why I would do that instead of getting it for 'cheap' through a plan. I quickly did some calculations like you did back then and it worked out a lot cheaper and I have more freedom—I still have a contract though it is at least half the length! I'm less tied to my provider and more able to change depending upon who is offering the best service/price. I can't imagine any reason why I would go back to a subsidised phone and so far a few friends have done the same as myself.

dorian-graph 13y ago

When I bought my iPhone 5 here in Australia, outright, amusingly a few people seemed shocked because of the cost, apparently. They wondered why I would do that instead of getting it for 'cheap' through a plan. I quickly did some calculations like you did back then and it worked out a lot cheaper and I have more freedom—I still have a contract though it is at least half the length! I'm less tied to my provider and more able to change depending upon who is offering the best service/price. I can't imagine any reason why I would go back to a subsidised phone and so far a few friends have done the same as myself.