Denise Amrich
Contracted
Pre-paid
Christopher Dawson
Best Argument: Pre-paid
Audience Favored: Pre-paid (95%)
The moderater has delivered his final verdict.
Opening Statements
Here to stay
Unlocked devices definitely open up new options, especially for those with the propensity or skill level for flirting with danger. New ways to get in trouble, avoid unwanted committment, and be different will always hold an appeal -- whether for a reason, a season or a lifetime. There's nothing wrong with that.
However, for those of us who like the enhanced productivity that comes with making a decision to commit to a carefully researched, decent quality system that is appropriate for our needs, it's nice to not have to learn how to use a new phone every five minutes when our no-name carrier does something cheesey that makes us go off in a huff.
You're going to pay one way or the other. Whether you have to scrape by with an unlocked older phone, or you have to pay full freight for an un-subsidized snazzy new one, or you jailbreak it and compromise security, or you have to spend a lot of time constantly learning how to use new gear, or you have to finance getting out of a contract...the house always wins.
Let's not forget it's not all about phones. It's about devices like tablets with 4G in them. These have to connect to the corporate networks in the companies where most of us have to work in order to pay for all the electronic gadgets we love so much.
One way that companies may reap some of the advantages of BYOD but not succumb to total chaos is to give a list of acceptable devices and carriers. This list is likely to include major phone companies which usually imply contracts. If a company has chosen to provision phones and other mobile devices, they're going to contract with a major player in the mobile space to get a package deal. That way, they can wipe the devices remotely if they get lost or stolen, and set up various safeguards to save users from themselves (and save themselves from their own users).
So, the security of reliable carrier lock-in with reputable vendors is here to stay.
Not your father’s Tracfone
Pre-paid phones aren’t just for kids, grandparents, and drug dealers anymore. Increasingly, pre-paid phones are making their way into the hands of smart, savvy consumers looking to save money and upgrade phones on their own terms
The move to prepaid is being driven by four major factors:
- The Nexus 4
- The increasing availability of unlocked iPhones
- A shift among pre-paid providers to offer smartphones or SIM-only, bring your own phone plans instead of cut-rate feature phones
- Data usage caps by major carriers are too restrictive with tablets and smartphones
At the height of the PC era when it seemed like new, faster, more amazing computers were being released every week, would gamers, early adopters, and demanding users wait two or three years between upgrades? Of course not and in the post-PC era, contracted wireless and its lack of freedom and choice is quickly becoming an expensive anachronism.
Talkback
Who in their right minds thinks contracts are a good idea?
Seriously, who?
It's practically a form of slavery.
For two years you rent a device. If you quit ahead of time, you pay through the nose. If you go over your limit, you pay through the nose. If you "roam" outside their network, you pay through the nose. If you do anything they don't like, you pay through the nose. They have a million ways of taking money out of your pockets.
And don't get me started with news outlets who preach the idea that the up-front cost is "the price of the phone" when they know full well IT'S A LIE, because you're paying for it via the plan.
And don't get me started with limiting total bandwidth per month. It *should* be like what you get when you buy Cable or DSL: Pay for speed tiers, and the company reserves the right to shape bandwidth to ensure quality internet for all.
Instead, we get "caps" which are a really crappy way of dealing with the limited bandwidth issue. If you go over, you pay through the nose. And forget doing anything like watching video or installing apps. Wait until you're on WiFi for that. And make sure your phone doesn't silently switch to your data plan while watching that video. I've been hit by that more than once.
Contracts are IMO the result of cell phone companies basically having an oligopoly. They can do it because they know you basically don't have a choice - because all of the others are doing the same thing.
Frankly, I'd like them to act more like my local Cable or DSL: Give me a single monthly price, allow me to use whatever bandwidth is available in my area, and throttle/shape my bandwidth if I'm in a city or someplace with a heavily used network.
That's IMO the ideal. But apparently the main street friendly way is not the way to make the wall street people happy. So main street loses, again. It's all about the profit, and nothing about the customer.
And boy they do love to exert their oligopoly control: Recently, I moved back to the USA from a foreign country. Thanks to a military clause, I was able to end the contract with the foreign cell phone service prematurely without penalty.
Getting the device unlocked? Not part of the clause. So guess what? I have an iPhone that can't be used as a phone until August. It's a fancy iPod touch, for all intents and purposes.
We need to give these companies a wakeup call. We really do. Maybe even throw some antitrust law around a bit more.
Yeah - from now on, I'm likely to go prepaid. Especially now that the iPhone is available unlocked. My next phone is not gonna be contract.
I *hope* they spell doom for contracts. That would be great.
But, alas - I know better, sigh. They're not gonna give up on contracts that easily. They want to keep that $$ rolling in, even if it means screwing the customer. Because it keeps wall street happy. And their money does come from wall street.
I'm not following Denise's argument . . .
I did my research. And my carrier is not "no-name," it's pretty much everywhere. It's only "no-name" because tech publications do a lousy job of covering pre-paid carriers.
"You're going to pay one way or the other. "
True, but contracts are very deceptive. And they currently have what amounts to an oligopoly. Which means that everybody has basically the same lousy business practices, which ensures you get lousy service no matter what provider you choose.
"the house always wins."
*IF* the house is an oligopoly or monopoly. If there's competition on price, the consumer wins.
And you know what? If you can switch carriers within a month or so, that means that you can easily vote with your wallet.
It's not so easy to vote with your wallet when the end of your contract is over a year away.
Easier to switch == more voting with your wallet == more competition == win for consumers.
"It's about devices like tablets with 4G in them. These have to connect to the corporate networks in the companies where most of us have to work in order to pay for all the electronic gadgets we love so much."
Uh, no, I don't plan on connecting my personal device to a corporate network. Work and personal life are staying separate for me. I don't want the headaches that come with crisscrossing my work and personal life. I certainly don't want to give any business the ability to remote wipe my personal phone.
If they want me to bring my own device, I'm liable to buy the cheapest piece of junk that's still considered acceptable. Because I ain't making my personal device my work device.
"So, the security of reliable carrier lock-in with reputable vendors is here to stay."
It's no more "secure" nor "reliable." At least I haven't seen any evidence of that. In fact, I'd say just the opposite: They have a million ways to charge me extra, and will drop my service at the first time of trouble.
They don't word the contract in a way that prevents *THEM* from doing whatever the he** they want. They word it in a way that prevents *ME* from doing whatever I want.
And now she pulls out a tech support argument . . .
I don't think Apple ever sad they'd stop repairing phones that were bought unlocked to use on StraightTalk or whatever, and I'm sure the pre-paid folks will support their own services.
In any case, it's not like a phone needs a whole lot of support anyways. It's not like a PC where you may have to deal with things like the registry or file system or some sort of other backend stuff, because that stuff is generally unavailable to even power users. They're very straightforward devices, and this idea that you'll be providing continuous support, even if it's because you switched from contract to pre-paid, is rather bogus.
"Freedom isn't free."
No, it isn't, but without a two year lock-in, I think that there's gonna be more competition on price, which will keep prices lower. The companies are probably getting larger margins on the two year contracts because they know you can't easily switch to a competitor.
"Although there is plenty of information about how to buy dumb apps from the Google Play store . . ."
I dunno about the Play Store (iPhone here), but buying apps is easy at the iTunes store. You just tap a button and enter your password. 99% of people don't need any instructions other than to show them that you buy stuff from the store. And it doesn't change regardless of whether your device is under contract or not.
You act as if somehow this were some complex procedure that nobody could figure out. Are you serious? It's not.
"So our friends and families will have a $300 brick and a huge homework assignment of how to find a carrier, read the fine print on whatever non-contract paperwork they're required to sign, be freaked out by the decision making process, and lean on us."
Well, now you have things a bit backwards. You generally find the carrier before you buy a new phone. Unless you have an existing phone or are really into a single brand of phone.
And you know what? MY CONTRACT LEFT ME WITH A BRICK.
Yup. That's right. I got out of the contract, but they won't unlock the stupid phone until August. All I have right now is a fancy iPod Touch. Guess who has some really, really horrible fine print? The contract.
Granted, it was a foreign carrier I was under, so maybe in the USA things work a bit differently, but it does show the kind of shenanigans monopolies are willing to pull on their customers.
"It's a good thing you all love no-contract devices so much, because you'll be configuring (and re-configuring) a whole lot of them."
LOL. Not really. You're just trying to find ways to discredit them now. Pulling at straws, so to speak.
You have a choice
Im for Pre-paid also
Going prepaid after 23 years of cell service with a contract!
However, when I did some basic calculations I discovered how irrational post paid service is:
They make you think that you are buying a phone for $200, but don't tell you that the balance of additional $400 you will pay over the next 24 months.
You are stuck with a 2 year contract, and are drooling with a sight of a new terrific phone introduced a week after you signed up.
They do you a favor by letting you sign up for a new phone and CONTRACT after 18 months for ADDITIONAL 2 years.
And that just for starters.
My most recent contract with AT&T (ending in 2 weeks) cost my wife and me about $150 a month with 550 minutes to share, unlimited text and 2GB data per phone. Yes, we get free evening calls, free weekend calls and free calls to any AT&T wireless number.
But when I analyzed our calls I discovered that on average, each of us, including weekends evenings etc. is using a total of 165 minutes a month!
We were lucky to buy our HTC Inspire 4G phones for $50 each two years ago. So how much our contracted cost is? $100 + tax for two phones, $3,600 for service and almost forgot: $72 for “activation” of the service. Grand total of $3,780.00!! Wow...
The solution? We purchased 2 brand new Galaxy Notes II GT-N7100 (factory unlocked, SIM free, international version) for a total of $1200 for both from newegg.com. We are signing up with T-Mobile’s $30 a month (per phone) service which includes unlimited text,100 minutes and 5GB high speed data per phone. If we go over 100 minutes, we pay 10 cents per minute.
Total estimated cost for the next 24 months? $2950. But wait, we are getting a much better phone, that on a contract would cost $300 per unit! That would raise the AT&T 2 year contract to $4320... Instead we will be paying $1370 less!
And there is no contract, which means we can switch to any GSM prepaid service at any time.
But you are on T-Mobile.
Even on contract, T-Mobile is much cheaper than AT&T for a reason. As bad as AT&T coverage is, T-Mobile is much much worse.
OK, so what?
That also works for AT&T users traveling in bad AT&T service where T-Mobile may be better.
And that greatly adds to your cost equation.
Greatly add to costs?