I’ll stick with “Old Phone,” thanks very much

Posted on September 5, 2007 by Gene

Oh, boo Apple.
Steve Jobs this morning announced that ringtones will shortly be available for iPhone. But here’s the rub: one must spend 99¢ for a song on the iTunes store, then to get a ringtone one must spend an additional 99¢ — that’s double the price — for a 30-second snippet of the same song.
This is, frankly, highway robbery of the same sort that’s been plaguing the ringtone industry, an industry that seems to think that people should pay $3.99 for a 30-second portion of a song. At that kind of inflationary rate, a 40-minute CD of music would cost $319.
Even at Apple’s price, that CD would cost $79.
I’m sorry, but this is patently insane and I — the big Apple fan that I am — will never buy a ringtone from them.

Update: I’m pretty disappointed that so far, all of the new features Steve Jobs has introduced involve me spending more money. They’re all new ways to buy things with my iPhone, from ringtones to iTunes Music Store to purchasing music at Starbucks. (They very kindly give iPhone/iPod users “free” WiFi at Starbucks… but only to buy music.) Where’s the everyday features that have been missing from iPhone, like to-do lists? I’ve already given Apple so many thousands of dollars, and $600 + service charges just for the iPhone. Now they’re just nickel and diming me to death and filling up my iPhone with buttons to send my wallet to Apple.

Update: The ultimate pissing off of long-term customers: they just dropped the price of iPhone by $200. Two months after I purchased one for $600. Apple is not winning my loyalty today. I’m pretty damned pissed off. $50? $100? I would have grinned and beared it. But 1/3 of the price just two months later? Explain to me now why anyone would want to buy a new, untested Apple product when it is first introduced now? Aren’t the early adopters key to Apple’s innovation, providing a ready customer base for new products…