Why I won’t be running tomorrow to buy an iPhone when it finally hits Israel

Those that know me (ahem… My Wife) knows that I love gadgets. It’s true and it is not so painful to admit it. And for the last 3 years every technology blog and magazine has been talking about the iPhone and how great it is and how it’s a game changer (which it is) etc.. I never got one as I don’t believe in jail breaking it since I always feel you will lose out on some aspects and you can never get proper support. So I was very excited a few months ago when it was first reported that the iPhone will finally be coming to Israel.

And now, that day has finally arrived. Tonight at 12:01am or tomorrow morning if you are with Orange you will be able to buy the iPhone in all its glory here in Israel.

But I won’t be running out to get one and I am still unsure if I will get one at all as I have my eye on another phone which I will mention below.

Here are a few of the reasons why:

1. Using an Apple product on an Orange network does not sit well with me (ok, that was a very bad joke)
2. The Hype: The hype around the product I have no problem with as it is being done around the world and everyone knows that the iPhone is one of the best smartphones, if not the best smartphone on the market today. My problem is also not with the hype and marketing in Israel. My problem is with all the hype without knowing exactly how much it is going to cost, how long you need to be locked into a contract for, what your monthly data plans are going to cost etc. The big companies are all holding back pricing hoping to get the first 240,000 suckers to purchase the phone w/o caring what the costs will be. The fear of missing out on getting one and being one of the first to get one will be too strong for many people and many will be over paying for something they can not afford.
3. The pricing: As above we don’t know what the pricing will be, but from what the rumor mill is saying it will cost 800NIS upfront and then 150nis/month for x amount of months plus the need to pay for data depending on how much you will use it. So even though they are selling you a product that seems to be discounted 2000nis, in the end if it is a three year plan you will have ended up paying 6200 NIS plus your data plan. That’s a lot of money to be stuck with one phone for.
4. Being Stuck: As above you will be stuck with this iPhone for probably three years yet there will be a new iPhone coming out with even better and more amazing features way before that. As well as other great phones and operating systems that finally are catching up to Apple in terms of look and feel. Are you going to be able to last 3 years with the same phone? I start to get jittery after about 6 months.
5. Will it Blend: Ok, I don’t really care if it will blend in a blender, but I do care about how well will it work here in Israel and if all the features work well. Does the GPS work properly? Is the keyboard both in English and Hebrew? Does the Visual Voice mail work well or at all? How is the phone call quality? What bugs will there be that will need ironing out?
6. According to this article we won’t have access to iTunes http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110801.html
7. I have found a better phone that comes unlocked that is giving iPhone a run for it’s money. That phone is the HTC HD2. You can watch a video review of the phone here: http://smartphones.tv/category/htc/htchd2/ You can do your research, but this phone which runs on Windows Mobile 6.5 and has a larger screen then the iPhone is for me the phone to get. It will cost you a one time fee of about $800 and is really a great phone. The one thing that is holding me back is that I don’t want to get stuck with Windows Mobile 6.5 when Windows Mobile 7.0 should be coming out in 2010 and is suppose to be much better. I am just waiting for confirmation that the phone will be upgradeable.

But before I make a final decision I want to wait for feedback for the iPhone here in Israel and see if there are apps available or apps being developed that makes it a better phone to have here. If people are really raving over it and I can wait till the prices drop a bit or find out that they are not as expensive as I think they will be and there are no other hidden costs, then I may still get one. Time will tell.

So what are you going to do? Please comment and let me know if you will be standing online tomorrow and if you do get one let me know as I would love to share your thoughts with our readers.

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