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ZDNet's iPhone 4S Great Debate; I win, I win, I win

By | October 7, 2011, 3:10am PDT

Summary: The iPhone 4S is now available for pre-order online and after being declared the winner of the Great Debate I ordered mine in white on Verizon.

Earlier this week Jason Perlow and I participated in the iPhone 4S Great Debate here on ZDNet and I tried to play the positive side as much as possible. Jason actually gave me the win even though voting was overwhelmingly for Jason and a big No on the iPhone 4S. Like many phone enthusiasts, I wasn’t blown away at first and was lukewarm to the news. However, I never bought the iPhone 4 and think there is actually quite a bit in the iPhone 4S so I just pre-ordered myself a 32GB white iPhone 4S for Verizon.

Yes, I paid the staggering $749 (actually ended up being $812.99 with tax) for this since I was not eligible for any upgrade subsidy. I was debating moving to Sprint and saving some money on the purchase, but I am grandfathered into the unlimited data plan on Verizon, pay $10 less per month (no “premium” fee), and get much better coverage with Verizon. I also figured I could add another device that attracts my attention in the next few months and keep my unlimited data or even upgrade to a 4G LTE iPhone in 2012. TiPB has a good breakdown of the pricing between the three US wireless carriers that will have the iPhone 4S.

In enjoyed the debate with Jason and he made some very valid points. The iPhone 4S will sell millions and do very well, but those phone fans who like to push the limits with super fast data (and subsequent poor battery life) and big screens won’t be picking one up and that is just fine. As I always write, everyone has different needs and preferences and there is no one phone that satisfies us all. That said, I am quite excited to play with my new iPhone 4S and give iOS 5 a try on the device next week when it arrives.

BTW, if you are a Modern Family TV show fan you hopefully got a chuckle from my headline.

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Topics

Matthew Miller started using a Pilot 1000 in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since.

Disclosure

Matthew Miller

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadget freak at all other times. He purchases his own devices and then sells them on eBay or Craigslist to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as “long term loaner units” this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.

Biography

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using a mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. He is a co-host with GigaOM's Kevin Tofel on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and an author of three Wiley Companion series books. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 125 different devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. His current collection includes an HTC Radar 4G, Dell Venue Pro, Apple iPad 2, HTC Flyer, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nokia N9, Apple iPhone 4S, MacBook Pro, and many more, along with tons of accessories and classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew can be found on various discussion forums under the user name of "palmsolo".

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RE: ZDNet's iPhone 4S Great Debate; I win, I win, I win
tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
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RE: ZDNet's iPhone 4S Great Debate; I win, I win, I win
TheFilipinoFlash Updated - 7th Oct
oh... so Perlow lost here huh... hmm...
Hey Matt,

I thought you Yanks couldn't get a no contract phone from the Apple store any more. Or did you go through the Verizon store front to order yours?
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Contributr
No contract is always available, not unlocked
palmsolo (aka Matthew Miller) 7th Oct
@MG537 No contract is the only option for those of us on contracts who buys lots of phones. These are not unlocked, which doesn't matter since every US carrier has specific frequencies anyway (creates a locked situation with technology).
That's an insane amount of money for a phone ...
@jhughesy It definitely is. I just built a super powered desktop for a bout a grand.
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Contributr
Yes, but we each set our values differently
palmsolo (aka Matthew Miller) 7th Oct
@jhughesy It is a lot, but I have been blessed with the funds to do it and since I write here about so many different phones it is my job to cover them all as best as I can. Great phones are more useful to me than a laptop or PC as I am a mobile guy too.
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As much as I love my iPhone there is no way I'm paying for one without the subsidy... I'm content to wait until my contract is up to buy an iPhone 4S or even the iPhone 5 if it's officially announced.
@Pete "athynz" Athens
+1. I wanted to get iPhone 4S by just upgrading iPhone 4 to keep it as tribute to Steve Jobs, and I was told by AT&T that I was not eligible for subsidized price and started blaming Apple for it. I said well, if you don't want me to extend the contract by 2 years, that is good with me. I hope Apple will annouce iPhone 5 during summer of next year and I will be ready for it.
As tempted as I have been to pick up an iPhone... my contract isn't up 'til June, so I'll wait to see what else is available at that time. At $749.00... staggering is a bit of an understatement.
812.99!...for a phone that is still behind the times?? Say, I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
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@Muskie Mike

Could you elaborate about how it is (meaningfully) behind the times?
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No...YOU LOSE...YOU LOSE...YOU LOSE!
IT_Fella Updated - 7th Oct
Are you CRAZY?

$812.99 for a stupid TELEPHONE? And not even a good TELEPHONE at that.

Sure hope you get a tax write-off for it.
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Contributr
I've paid MUCH more for less in a phone
palmsolo (aka Matthew Miller) 7th Oct
@IT_Fella It's my job to write about phones and in the past I have paid much more for phones from outside the US. We all have our passion, drug, addiction and phones is mine so cost is not the major factor. I think millions would debate that it is a good telephone too, not a very valid argument there.
You are quite right Matthew. Only fanatics are willing to sacrifice the battery life for 4G, or subscribe to the Google spyware network. And people need a real fat ass to fit the large phones in their pockets.

The only thing you might have done is wait for the Nokia MP7 phones. I am not a MS fan, but I do believe the Mango update has brought them up to scratch with iOS and Android.
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RE: ZDNet's iPhone 4S Great Debate; I win, I win, I win
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RE: ZDNet's iPhone 4S Great Debate; I win, I win, I win
tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
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