I-Phone 3G is out… and so are the prices…

So the speculation of yesterday wasn’t to far off. It seems that the Apple I-phone3G from Vodacom is only going to cost you an arm or maybe your first born child. It seems that Vodacom’s pricing and data bundle is somewhere in the realm of insane, delusional or maybe sadistic dominatrix with delusions of grandeur.

According to the Vodacom website, there are an number of options for the I-phone.

250 megabytes per month… oh thanks. I can see that coming in really being useful, that one day a month that I feel like using the I-phone what it was created for, accessing the internet. Sure you could buy more data, that goes with out saying, but when you’re spending on average R700 just to hold it in your hand its getting a little ridiculous.

The business offers, prove with out a doubt what I said in the previous blog, that only rich spoiled pounces, criminals and politicians will be able to afford the I-phone. I stick by those words.

I-phone 120s package, with an 8 gig model is going to set you back about R559 a month.

Vodacom will force you to sign a 24 month contract. Bringing the total amount spent on the I-phone after two years to R13416. Remember you’re only getting 6gigs of data, 2880 free minutes and 2400 free sms’s in those two years. That my friends is what I like to call, a rip off. Do the math for your self and see.

The prepaid offer… that’s a lot of cash to pull out even before you’ve made the first call on it.

Vodacom seems to think that, if they ride the wave of hype and chatter about the I-phone 3G for long enough all those in the Vodacom boardroom can take an extra holiday at the end of the financial year.

Spending those amounts of money on something that, cant access flash video or data, unable to do video calling or even take photos at today’s picture quality. Just doesn’t seem worth it. But you do get a whopping 8 to 16 gigs of solid space, where you can store MP3’s, video and pictures of your bitter tears as you regret buying into the hype.

The tragic thing is, that the I-phone could be awesome. But reality is that the only people we will see with them are stuck up rich poppies and materialist pounces that have access to daddy’s credit card, listening to latest offering deemed appropriate by the MTV overlords.

I-phone coming soon… but not to you or me.

As Apple fanboys across South Africa, attempt to hide there ever increasing bulge in their ever tightening pants and setting their alarm clocks an hour earlier  (cos I doubt very much that even the most loyal fan boy is willing to fight a hobo for his sleeping spot, just to get an I-phone). The Geekgasm is about to climax.

Yes boys and I very much doubt girls, Vodacom will be releasing Apple’s I-phone tomorrow. Yes, stores across South Africa will be packed to the brim with geeks and trendy Indy types, sporting the most stylish of brown loafers and daddy’s credit card. Hoping to get their little hairy palmed hands onto the I-phone.

I to was interested in seeing what this I-phone could do. I even thought, hey lets be proactive for once and Email vodacom asking them to send me a I-phone when the release date comes closer. Hell, I even ambushed the provincial head of Vodacom for the Eastern Cape, while at the Weekend Post Matric of the year. Begging him to send me one so that I could review it.  I went as far as emailing the head of Vodacom’s communications begging to be assigned a I-phone. Well I didn’t get one to review.

So who knows what the I-phone will bring?

According to IAFRICA, from the MYADSL Forums, the I-phone will be available on Pre-paid and contract packages ( no surprise there)

What is a surprise, according to IAFRICA, is what the I-phone will sell for.

According to the Apple.com site, the I-phone in America costs approximately $199 for the 8 gig model and $299 for the 16 gig model.

Thus at the current exchange rate, that should sell for about R1,616 for the 8 gig model and R2,425 for the 16 gig model.

However IAfrica states that the prepaid I-phone will be selling for… wait for it…  R 7999.00 for the 8 GB version and R 9799.00 for the 16 GB version.

Contract consumers can expect to pay in anything between R 1500.00 and R 2000.00 for their iPhone when taking lower end contracts.

Thus the only people we will see with I-phones will be spoilt rich ponces, criminals and politicians. Not that these are mutually exclusive.

It goes with out saying that Vodacom is making a pretty penny from the craze that has been whipped up around the world and South Africa.

However this is still open to speculation, and if I am proved wrong I will write a retraction. But if I am proved right, the games have just begun.

Only tomorrow will tell. Lets wait and see.