SIM cards for Freerunner (was Free Runner price vs iphone 3G price)

[Kevin Dean]

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 6:41 PM, Robert Taylor
<subscribers at tinsputnik.com> wrote:
> Kevin Dean wrote:
>> I'm an American and your statement confuses me. Why is it "obvious"
>> that a contract without a phone should be cheaper? The service
>> (cellular connectivity for voice and/or data) is the same service no
>> matter what phone you have.
>>
>> In the US, the price of service contracts doesn't change. The price of
>> PHONES does when you agree to commit to a service contract but the
>> service contract doesn't.
>>
>>
> Which part of "a portion of the contract pays for you phone ... phone
> ISN'T FREE, YOU ARE FINANCING THE PURCHASE OF THE PHONE VIA THE
> CONTRACT" is hard to understand?

I understand that statement ENTIRELY. Now that we're done beating down
straw men, where have I ONCE mentioned anything about a "free phone"
(with the exception of the use of quoting a previous poster, in
responce to his use of the term) ?

I have not.

The average person walks into a cellular retailer, purchases a phone
(A phone that is clearly marked as costing, say $199) signs up for the
two year contract and recieves a discount on the phone and begins a
service subscription.

To say that he's getting a free phone is stupid - he got a $199 phone
as a bonus for signing up for a contractual service (a voluntary
service, by the way!). Did he pay for the phone? No. What he did was
reduce the phone company's profit margin by making them expend more
money in order to gain him as a customer of the recurring subscription
for vioce/data services.

If I walk into a retail outlet for my mobile service provider, I can
pay for a phone WITHOUT service - I get no credits or refunds from the
cellular provider. I pay for the phone.

I can also have my OWN phone and walk into a cellular service provider
and sign up for a contract of video/data service. The price I pay for
that service is the same as the price paid by the person who took the
discount on the phone. I am simply creating a higher profit revenue
for that company in the process.

-Kevin



>
> Why do americans have such a hard time grasping this?
>
> Rob
>
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