Can I save money by buying an Iphone?

October 4, 2008 2:00 PM

Will buying an iphone save me money?

Can using an iphone as my primary internet source be a suitable alternative to buying an internet plan at home?

Where I currently live, I have cable and internet included in the price of my rent, however when I move in a few months that most likely won't be the situation. (I can live without cable; internet, not so much.)

I've played around with an iphone at an ATT store a few times to see if I could get the hang of the keyboard, etc. It's ok. I don't really listen to music and I already have a GPS for my car so these features don't really sway me.

I am going to have a phone with the data plan whether or not I buy the iphone so the monthly cost won't change. I just bought a blackberry curve for $99 (upgrade price), but I can still exchange it for an iphone for $199.


I'm not sure if relying solely on a phone for internet would drive me crazy over time or what other issues this kind of setup would bring that I'm not thinking of. I'd get the iphone if it would save me the monthly expense of internet, but if not, I'd just stick with my blackberry (much prefer the keyboard) and suck it up and pay for internet.

Thoughts?

(Or is there some other way to save on monthly internet costs? I just moved to a semi-small city without a lot of wi-fi places and with my work schedule that probably wouldn't help me out at night when I get off work)

posted by PinkButterfly to computers & internet (24 comments total)

Depends what you do on the Internet, I guess. One major consideration is that there is currently no Flash on the iPhone, so all-Flash sites will be off-limits.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:10 PM on October 4

I'm not sure if relying solely on a phone for internet would drive me crazy over time

Well, that depends on you. But I can promise you that you'd never write an Ask Metafilter post this long on an iPhone keyboard.
posted by Nelson at 2:12 PM on October 4 [1 favorite]

Perhaps she's talking about some unsanctioned tethering.

I know i'd run out and buy an iphone today, verizon contract be-damned; if i could tether my phone.
posted by wavering at 2:17 PM on October 4

No, not tethering.
posted by PinkButterfly at 2:18 PM on October 4

if all you do is read webpages and send quick, short emails, then sure. if you're the kind of person who likes to do forums or also keep chat open or downloads things, then no. do you like the youtubes? because you can't get all of the videos on the iPhone youtube app, and you can't do anything else video on there unless it's quicktime, and most things aren't. you can't tether (easily, and AT&T doesn't specifically allow it with iPhone anyway) so you're not gonna have the option of using a regular computer if you find you need to.

you should ask AT&T if your Blackberry data plan supports tethering (or if you can add that, and how much). if it does, then you should stick with the Blackberry and use it as a modem. it might be cheaper to have data+tethering than to have a data plan plus internet. or, you can check to see if AT&T does DSL in your area - you can get a bundle deal sometimes with DSL + wireless.
posted by mrg at 2:24 PM on October 4

I'm a recent convert to Virgin's pay-as-you-go.

20c per minute with minimum of $80/yr in buys, plus it'll automatically charge your credit card to keep the phone going.

Cutting my mobile from $600+ down to ~$100/yr leaves plenty of money for my DSL bill. . .
posted by troy at 2:34 PM on October 4

As much as I love my iPhone, I just couldn't see myself using it as my ONLY access to the web. I take great pleasure in writing long emails while in transit but I'm pretty eager to get in front of a real computer to actually get work done.

Also, what about downloading files? You can view PDFs/Word/Excel files on the phone no problem; but anything else, you might have some difficulty.

If you're simply checking your email, browsing AskMe, reading blogs; it should be okay.
posted by 913 at 2:41 PM on October 4

As everyone else said, it really depends on how much you're willing to limit what you can do online. Have you considered going the other way, using your internet connection as your phone? That would restrict where you could use a phone, but a Skype number is only $3 a month, so that seems more likely to save you money than using your phone for internet access.
posted by scottreynen at 3:13 PM on October 4

No, not tethering.

Why not? It does give you (more or less) the best of both worlds. I'm a long-time tethering veteran, and if I was trying to spend as little money as possible while having always-on Internet access, I would still be doing that.

Of course, the iPhone doesn't officially support that, so you might have to look at another smartphone for that. I've been using VZW for EV-DO access for the last few years, and have been using Windows Mobile phones for tethering.
posted by me & my monkey at 4:02 PM on October 4

No, not tethering.

Why not? It does give you (more or less) the best of both worlds.

Tethering is $60+/month from ATT. In addition to the data plan.
posted by PinkButterfly at 4:15 PM on October 4

1. It doesn't support Flash.
   
2. Filling in forms on the iphone can be tedious.
   
3. It doesn't remember login/password info.
   
4. Browser cashing is mediocre at best. For example, quite often if a site pops up content in a new window, once you're done with that new window and go back to the previous window it will lose page history and you won't be able to navigate back.
   
5. Limited to 8 open "tabs"
   
6. No browser history
   

posted by furtive at 4:24 PM on October 4

No, iPhone isn't suitable as a primary internet platform. Some mobile phones will provide internet for your laptop over bluetooth. I'm not sure if you can save money by doing this. I'm also not sure if internet use on iPhones is really better than on high end Nokia phones.

iPhones have many fewer features than other high end phones, but they entice users to use the features they do offer more effectively. So iPhones are for technologically disinclined people.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:41 PM on October 4

When a crisis happens and you need to get things done as fast as possible (arranging travel, for example), you'll want to have access to a real computer with a proper internet connection. I say this as a happy iPhone owner.
posted by tomcooke at 5:10 PM on October 4

(Or is there some other way to save on monthly internet costs?
You can probably get dial-up pretty cheaply if you're going to be paying for a land-line anyway. It will be pretty slow but probably not much slower than the internet on the I-phone and definitely would be cheaper than tethering. Actually, even if you're not planning on having a land-line, look into whether a local calling plan + dial-up would be significantly cheaper than broadband internet.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 5:10 PM on October 4

furtive:

1. It doesn't support Flash.
   
2. Filling in forms on the iphone can be tedious.
   
3. It doesn't remember login/password info.
   
4. Browser cashing is mediocre at best. For example, quite often if a site pops up content in a new window, once you're done with that new window and go back to the previous window it will lose page history and you won't be able to navigate back.
   
5. Limited to 8 open "tabs"
   
6. No browser history

You sure about that? My iPod touch remembers login info and keeps track of my browsing history, and I can't see the iPhone's version of Safari being inferior to that.
posted by Rhaomi at 5:14 PM on October 4

If you can, find a friend with an iPhone and spend an hour surfing on it.

My guess is that you will find that the iPhone is not a suitable replacement for regular, extended sessions of internet access. The small screen and difficult keyboard are the reasons.

If you're just on the internet casually for say 30min / day, and rarely writing (including emails), then maybe it's for you.
posted by zippy at 5:47 PM on October 4

I think you are going to be very frustrated with an iPhone as your primary internet interface. Unlocking it and tethering on 3G might not be that bad as long as you are just browsing the web and not expecting massive downloading rates. I didn't see it mentioned before, but the "unlimited" data plan with the iPhone is actually 8GB/month or so.
posted by sophist at 6:05 PM on October 4

Tethering is $60+/month from ATT. In addition to the data plan.

Tethering is not allowed under AT&T's iPhone data plan. People are suggesting you might jailbreak your phone and do it anyway, which would be no additional cost, although you'd risk problems if AT&T figured out what you were doing. In my experience, AT&T isn't likely to figure out something like that.
posted by scottreynen at 6:34 PM on October 4

Nothing like an iPhone thread to make the haters come out en masse. If you wanted, you could jailbreak your iPhone and examine tethering options in that direction. It seems unlikely AT&T will follow up unless your data usage is excessive. That aside, regular, direct usage of Safari via the touchscreen would be frustrating, more due to the small screen than anything else.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:10 PM on October 4

I just bought a blackberry curve for $99 (upgrade price), but I can still exchange it for an iphone for $199.

The long and short of this is that Apple and AT&T dont allow data tethering. You can do this with the blackberry. Your provider may charge you more per month. If you can afford that and the performance is good enough, then you can cancel your DSL, but considering how fast and stable not to mention cheap DSL is nowadays, it doesnt really seem worth it.

Also the 3G iPhone's monthly price starts at 69.99 per month before taxes. That's a lot for just data + 450mins. iPhone is still a luxury device.

That said, virtual keyboards are a nightmare for long or accurate typing. Not to mention the Safari browser is a stripped down mobile browser. Its not as nice as a PC browser and doesnt support plug-ins like flash.

In my town the local 'triple-play' cable deal is really expensive after the initial 6 months deal. You might be off buying video cable from your cable provider and DSL from your phone company. Or dont get any video at all. You can use Miro or Winamp to view a lot of free stuff and everything else can be DVD or torrents.

The last time I checked, in my area, the cheapest route for this stuff is:

1. No phone.
2. 'Naked' DSL.
3. Dish network.

Dish network also tosses in a DVR for next to nothing on some packages.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:47 AM on October 5

Oh, and Skype along with a little adapter for a real headset for phone. No need for Comcast triple-play.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:47 AM on October 5

Thanks everyone. I opted not to spring for the iPhone.
posted by PinkButterfly at 10:46 AM on October 8

At least not just yet.
posted by PinkButterfly at 10:46 AM on October 8

I should have qualified my list of six beefs with the iPhone browser. They are all legitimate beefs, but I still love my iPhone, and I love the convenience of surfing on it all over the place, but I'd never make it my main browser. It's mostly for:

a. hasty information retrieval
b. killing time while waiting
c. surfing in bed
d. surfing on the couch in front of the TV.
e. impressing friends and making the envious.
posted by furtive at 8:48 PM on October 14