Friday, March 29, 2013

A Tale Of Two iPhones

iPhone 2g, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4

Earlier this week I traded in my old iPhone for a new one. This is only notable because up until Monday I may have been the last person in Manhattan using an Apple iPhone 3G. Even though it didn't take photos anymore, the phone still purred like a kitten. But, late on Sunday night, the battery began to really futz out on me. I realized it was time for change.

On Monday morning went to the Apple store in Grand Central to see what they could do for me. They told me that since I bought the 3G back in the stone age of 2009, I was eligible for an upgrade to an iPhone 4 for $150. It seemed like a nice deal -- an iPhone for $150! -- but I am an AT&T customer as well. They had a shop right across the street on Lexington.

The AT&T guys were total salesmen. I could have a iPhone 5 for only $500! I could have a Samsung Galaxy for $250!

"What about an iPhone 4?" I asked. "I only need this phone to make calls and text."

The sales guy looked at me quizzically. "A 4? No one wants those anymore. You can have one for $1."

And that, mes amis, is how I got a brand new iPhone for $1, simply because I chose not to buy into the manufactured wonder that the Apple store is trying to sell.

Even though there are Apple stores on practically every corner in New York City, overstaffed with happy-to-help you Geniuses, I think the novelty of Apple products is slowly wearing off. Samsung's Galaxy phones, which are actually a far superior product, retail anywhere between $150 and $300. I'm a lifelong PC user and never bought into the Cult of Apple products. More annoying are the people who swear they are the greatest products in the world, even though, you know, you can't get into the back end of any of them without physically going to an Apple store. But at least you get to play with the iPads while you're forking over $150 for a phone the unsexy shop across the street will give to you for a buck.