Canadian Apple fans lust after the iPhone
p2pnet news Freedom | Mobiles:- Here’s a surprise. Not.
“Despite a flurry of negative publicity over the high-priced plans that are mandatory if you want an iPhone in Canada, expect Apple fans to come out in droves Friday to get their hands on one, a University of Windsor assistant business professor predicts.”
So says The Windsor Star, quoting David Bussiere, “who specializes in marketing at the U of W,” as stating, “The general buzz of the product is positive,.”
It’s a well-known phenomenon that most hard-core Apple fans, permanently bedazzled by the equally well-known Steve Jobs reality distortion field, will buy everything and anything the company produces.
But although the buzz may be positive about the iPhone, it certainly isn’t about Rogers, the venal Canadian corporation which’ll be the sole distributor.
Apple isn’t particularly happy either, apparently.
The triple-locked phone will cost 10 times $200 sticker price, reckons Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, and, reportedly upset by Rogers’ plans to try to force iPhone buyers into a three-year contract, Apple is said to have cut to the bone the number of units it’s making available to Rogers.
“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 whole of Canada, said a p2pnet Reader’s Write yesterday in the p2pnet post on Get the Facts on Rogers iPhone, a new site run by GTA teacher Russell Gordon.
Among other things, it states >>>
It seems that Rogers, having received complaints regarding the combined plans, is responding with an offer to take even worse ‘a la carte’ voice and data plans.
It’s just not good enough.
If you agree, keep making your voice heard to Rogers, spread the word to family and friends, and do not buy the iPhone on July 11 (or afterward, for that matter).
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, p2pnet posted on Monday, going on:
“He’s also created detailed cost comparisons of high-end and low-end plans, and de-bunks what he calls the ‘page-view myth’.”
Other protesters created the Rogers Canada iPhone Data Plan petition site which yesterday had 9,916 signatures.
By 5:44 AM Pacific today, that number had swelled to 10,334, and a second petition site, ruinediphone.com, run by an online marketing company and publicized by the mainstream media, was claiming 48,782 signatures.
“I’d love to get an iPhone, but I also don’t want to have to get a part-time job to afford the data plan,” said J. Andrew MacDonald in a recent post on the Rogers Canada iPhone Data Plan.
Nick Nijjar is even more succinct.
“My entire family are Rogers/Fido Customers,” he says.
“Don’t make us leave.”
.
.Stumble It!
The Windsor Star – iPhone buzz to draw fans, but plan just backlash, July 7, 2008
triple-locked phone – Canadian iPhone 10 times $200 sticker price, July 7, 2008
cut to the bone – Apple rogers Rogers, July 7, 2008
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July 8th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Don’t underestimate the hatred in this country for Rogers. The iPhone will be boycotted by most salient beings. Rogers is going to learn a hard lesson. In spite of this, look for hyped news reports about iPhone demand from Rogers owned City TV stations.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Can I have an over-priced status symbol too?
July 8th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Voice your opposition to the Rogers plans:
http://getthefactsonrogersiphone.com/action.html
Get a concise comparison that explains how poor a value the Rogers plans are:
http://getthefactsonrogersiphone.com/
It’s time to take a stand, Canada!
July 8th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
well I’m only lusting for the demise of apple and rogers which I predict will end Global Warming since everything they sell is shit and emits methane gases.
I also don’t understand anyone who likes apple products and have never understood why anyone would do business with rogers.
Wake up people both of those companies are run by greedy idiots.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I know people that think Rogers is the best thing since sliced bread. Their plans have usually been better then Telus and Bell. Rogers had free incoming and free rogers to rogers calling years before Telus had. Their data rates have been high but Canadian data rates have always been high. Telus still has a data plan for $25 for 4 mb and $12 for each mb after that. Or you can get a plan for $30 a month and is UNLIMITED. Since I swtiched to that plan I use 50-80mb a month. And I dont use it that often.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:54 am
I don’t think either Rogers or Apple should be faced with their demise over this; Rogers will learn a lesson if the rest of you Apple fans don’t buy the new phone. Get an old one and unlock it if you must have an iPhone. It’s really easy and you won’t miss out on much.
Bell has the Samsung Instinct iClone available with inexpensive and unlimited data (too bad it’s browser sucks) if you don’t want an iPhone but absolutely must check your email and facebook while driving.
Anyway Apple is apparently pissed at Rogers over this because ludicrously high usage fees don’t allow for a very good user experience, which is Apple’s raison d’etre (after money) in the end. The $30 6GB thing from Rogers is still a good price for Canada; as Jay says, Telus still has plans measured by the megabyte. This country doesn’t seem to have improved much since the late ’90s with regard to cell phone and internet pricing, speeds, and contract terms.
Also, I happen to like Apple products; they make well-designed and easy to use hardware and software. Nothing wrong with that. And all successful corporations are necessarily run by greed, though idiocy, as a corporate strategy, tends to only work for a short while and even then only if the ratio of greed to idiocy is pretty high.