New site has facts on Rogers iPhone debacle
p2pnet news Mobiles | P2P:- Rogers continues to reap the online whirlwind in its efforts to scam Canadians into accepting a ridiculous three year contract for an Apple iPhone.
Nor, apparently, are potential users the only ones to be upset.
“An unconfirmed report indicates that Apple, unhappy with the pricing plans offered by the carrier and perhaps the negative attention, has diverted a large percentage of iPhone 3G shipments — destined for Canada – to Europe,” says MaCNN.
The mainstream media continue to highlight ruinediphone.com, a so-called petition site which was calling for $2 donations to “get more bandwidth, more exposure and more impact” and which is now owned by a Net marketing company.
In the p2pnet story on this, “I’m a high school teacher in the GTA area” who put http://getthefactsonrogersiphone.com/ together, “solely as a public service,” says Russell Gordon.
Emphasising he’s, “Not looking for any donations” and, “definitely won’t be selling the site to anyone” Rogers, “told us something big was coming on July 11,” he says in Get the Facts on Rogers iPhone, suggesting this would also be a great day to let Rogers and know exactly how you feel —- by not buying an iPhone.
“On July 11, let’s be able to hear a pin drop in Rogers & Fido stores,” he says,
But he’s has done a lot more than just suggesting a day of protest.
He’s also created detailed cost comparisons of high-end and low-end plans, and de-bunks what he calls the “page-view myth“.
We asked Gordon what’d prompted him to launch the site?
“I’d been anticipating the iPhone for a while, and was probably going to get one,” he said, going on >>>
My friend sent me a link to the combined voice/data plans, and at first blush, they didn’t seem too bad to me.
With a closer look though, I became concerned. The iPhone, as you know, is not really a phone, but a handheld computer that happens to make phone calls. It will be data hungry, and the low data limits on the Rogers plans will open people up to high over-limit fees.
I am technically a Rogers subscriber as the cable TV in my condo building has an exclusive contract with Rogers. No complaints with the service there, although I did specifically avoid Rogers for internet service, knowing their penchant for traffic shaping.
When I started seeing some rough comparisons to plans offered by AT&T in the United States, and O2 in the UK, that’s when I really became concerned. So, I put the site together to provide a “central location” for a concise examination of the value of the Rogers rate plans.
I hope the site is a “public service”.
Gordon graduated from the University of Guelph in 2001 with a major in computer science, working in the software industry before becoming a teacher.
Meanwhile, Montreal’s Iaroslav Timofeev of Montreal is working on a French translation of the site, and an in-depth piece, “investigating how easy it will be to exceed the data caps of the Rogers plans” is on the way, says Gordon, a University of Guelph graduate who’s been a full-time high-school teacher for two years, with mathematics and computer science as his two principal subjects.
As far as petitions go, cynical or not, ruinediphone.com site said it had 43,925 sign-ups by 5:13 am Pacific, with the definitely non-corporate Rogers Canada iPhone Data Plan claiming 9,916 signatures.
Definitely stay tuned.
.
.Stumble It!
MaCNN – Apple sanctioning Rogers, diverting iPhones away?, July 6, 2008
p2pnet – ‘Oilchange buys Rogers ‘petition site’ ruinediphone, July 4, 2008
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July 7th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Dude!!! Did you spell check. There ton’s of typo’s in this article!
July 7th, 2008 at 6:58 am
@ chad
like?
July 7th, 2008 at 9:43 am
“like?”
: “There ton’s of typo’s ”
-> are
July 7th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I didn’t look at the article close enough to check for typo’s.
But if there are many then…..
WOOOHOOO Someone who writes just as bad as me!!
July 7th, 2008 at 11:39 am
The rumor seems to be true on the iPhone shipment to Canada.
A family member in charge of the cell phone section at Rogers has been told that there will be a total of 2,000 iPhones for the entirety of Canada.
Hence, not all stores will be carrying them or very few, on the release date.
FRogers