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America gets screwed

baristakid

May 30, 2006, 11:42 AM
Why is it that if I want the coolest phones, I have to order them unlocked off the internet? I read news posts of Samsung coming out with a 10 MP camera phone, but will we see it stateside? HELL NO! Or what of the mass of Sony Ericsson's new walkman phones, all of which have not been announced for the states. Is it that the phone manufactures think we aren't ready for the newest and best, or do they just hate us in general, so we only get mediocre phones? Just a question for all to ponder.
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Don.Mike

May 30, 2006, 11:44 AM
our networks aren't ready for some of those. also, too much of the american population is too cheap to spend money on them, even with a contract discount.
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mrgoon

May 30, 2006, 5:01 PM
i think the cheap personifies this the best i cant tell you how many idiots come barging into my store constantly complaining we dont have enough bt phones and then when they finally pick one are shocked headsets cost around 90 dollars and dont even buy one! most buyers arent like us and dont want to spend more than 100 for a phone
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evilbstrd666

Jun 1, 2006, 6:51 PM
A hundred dollars? Man, I wish that was the average phone that I sold!

The industry did this to themselves too - they didn't have to make the phones free. That's what killed the average dollar amount. On top of that, it also made people feel that, since it's free, it isn't worth treating properly, so they'll just let their 3-year-old stuff it in their mouth for an hour and wonder why it stopped working.

I'm not bitter. I swear.
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mrraincoat

Jun 2, 2006, 11:08 AM
Americans do spend less money on cellular technology. But you're comparing us to the European, and Korean markets that are HEAVY into their cell phones. America is only bleeding/cutting edge in certain areas, and that is RARE at best.

The only phones people will spend 80-100 bucks on that I see stateside anymore are Treos, RAZRs, or Blackberries.

I would rather buy a phone outright than be locked down in a contract. I don't make a metric ton of cash a year, I work for a celltelco service center, so I know the importance of having a decent phone. (which, the 361, and 367 are pretty awesome!) And most people who are on this website now have a decent grasp of what's going on, and why we dont need to be carrying the cream of the crud.
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Whitehorse

Jun 20, 2006, 4:04 PM
To use the word free - who was it? Whoever came up with the first marketing thing in cellular to have the word "free" anywhere in advertising or products needs to be brought up on charges!!!

What charges??? I don't know, poisioning an idustry?
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SkillciaX

Jul 16, 2006, 4:05 PM
I don't see there anything wrong with the word free in the cellular industry. I have a problem with the concept.

I get customers ALL the time that think they deserve a free phone everytime they renew their contract because they got a free one when they signed up. On top of that say things like "what I have to pay for a car charger too"?

I mean come the F* on... seriously.... You don't see people calling AT&T asking for a free house phone, and more long distance minutes, and credits on their bill just for being customers....

Because of this free phone crap todays customers don't want/think they should have to pay for anything, and that if they do pay for anything then the company is just sucking money out of them, and the customer wi...
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cellphoneguy

Jul 31, 2006, 5:03 PM
i get it here to trust me...i hate when i have to explain why the outright price is so much more then when u sign up.how hard is it to grasp the fact that insurence is there for a reason so get it!!!!
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Mia

Aug 6, 2006, 3:58 PM
However you know they'll be b!tch!n about insurance too when they find out that they have to dish out anywhere between $40 to $110 depending on the phone they have and their carrier. so.. they'll keep it up, is inevitable.
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Crapbag

Aug 6, 2006, 4:34 PM
It doesn't help when the competing indirect down the hall is giving away phones that you do for $100 on contract!
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burger_with_fries81

Jul 21, 2006, 10:34 AM
I agree. As I was reading this post had a customer walk up asking for FREE.

Yeah I can get you a free one with 2 yr agreement.

Didnt want an agreement so I showed him our free phone for prepaid services (V120). That one wasn't cool enough.

I'm gonna send an email to my companys president letting him know that we need to start giving out E815s and data devices for prepaid plans.
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theballinboy973

Aug 8, 2006, 10:07 PM
yeah they will rather get prepaid lol 😁
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crxtreme89

Jun 3, 2006, 4:44 PM
America screws its self. Everyone "wants" the latest greatest but not everyone will pay for it because they are cheap bastards.
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Mia

Aug 6, 2006, 3:59 PM
Agreed! cheap f!ckers! hahaha 🤣
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0siris

Jun 19, 2006, 8:10 AM
There's also another answer that doesn't get mentioned much: landline.

There's exceptions, but the USA basically built out their landline network to the home much more so than the rest of the world. Thus, there's wasnt' an immediate convergence on the cell phone as our primary means of communication like there was elsewhere (I suspect this is also part of why the cell phone discount model was created).

This is changing, and maybe the industry will change with it sometime in the foreseeable future. But I don't really agree that anyone is being stupid. There just wasn't quite the demand here that sprung up overseas.

IMO, of course.
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lilcita3

Jul 12, 2006, 11:06 PM
Some people don't have food to eat, and you all complain about people not wanting to spend a lot of money on something that only lasts about two years before it starts to malfunction. I like gadgets and whatnot, but when it comes to paying a lot of money on stuff like cellphones, it's not a good investment.
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burger_with_fries81

Jul 21, 2006, 10:37 AM
Go sell your computer and send the money to Africa to feed the starving millions.
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Mia

Aug 6, 2006, 4:01 PM
the last phone that lasted two years without malfunctioning was probably the startac lol.. newer phones seem disposable sometimes 😛
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viojay

Jul 19, 2006, 12:22 AM
The reasoning is simple. and it makes sense. It sucks...but it makes sense.

The cell phone companies started this free phone **** to increase organic growth (bodies) the intent, at first. was this to be a promotion. but then all the carriers adopted it. It is impossible then to discontinue it. If verizon stopped then they would have waves of people coming in going "Cha! You wont give me free stuff! I'm going to cingy" Sooo we are sucked into this brutal cycle of people expecting to get cheap phones.

Now, the problem with that is when a customer sees a price tag that reads "FREE!" or at the highest "129!" then they think that that is the value of the phone itself. They don't think beyond that simple number. They do not take into account...
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celtic_flirt

Jul 19, 2006, 7:04 PM
Moving away from how the cell industry screwed itself with the "free phone" promotion....

The reason all the latest and greatest technologies in cell phones appear across seas before they're even announced in the states is because we have the FCC.
There aren't any regulations for the manufacturers overseas and so they make a phone and ship it out while it's still going through the bureaucratic system here (it takes approximately 5 years for a phone to be officially approved for mass marketing in the states). So, while the phone is going through all the necessary approvals they put it on sale elsewhere.
The upside to this is that they discover the major bugs in the phones before they introduce it to us, so less hassle for the Americans....
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pepsijunky

Aug 9, 2006, 5:15 PM
The reason that we don't get the best phones in America is this.

American companies prey on our societal need for stead technological growth. They know that they can continue to to upgrade phones only slightly while the rest of the world upgrades to what is available. Basically the companies here have figured out the way to make the most money but delaying tech advances in phones and making us buy every level of the tech hierarchy. Does that make sense? it's all about the benjamins? C.R.E.A.M. etc etc.
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gadgethead

Aug 9, 2006, 7:38 PM
American consumers also expect a higher level of quality. Phones are not the only things that get released in other countries first. High Tech gadgets are released in Aisan countries long before the good old USA. The reason is right here on this forum, look at all of the people that are complaining about each and every thing that may not work perfectly on their phone.
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