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Comment by steve-howard | Hacker News Reader

I like my Sprint service. The reception is far from legendary, but it's there, and the data is unlimited. If I wanted an iPhone, I'd do what everyone else does and switch to AT&T (and now Verizon). I suspect that folks who really care that it's an iPhone and not an Android (or potentially WP7, if that ever gets off the ground) have already made their move.

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I like Sprint too, but I disagree. Sprint's pricing has historically been too good to leave to another carrier. Even you want an iPhone -- can you really justify the price hike for it? It's actually a much better deal, even in the short term, to get an iPad with 3G than move your cell phone service to ATT (especially if you have a family plan like I do).

I think if the iPhone comes with the same price plans as today you'll see Sprint sell a boatload of iPhones.

I suspect that folks who really care that it's an iPhone and not an Android (or potentially WP7, if that ever gets off the ground) have already made their move.

Remember, though, that the smartphone market is far from saturated. You could argue that it's barely been tapped - dumbphones still compose the vast majority of the U.S. phone share. Upgrading from a 3 year old dumbphone is a prime opportunity for a consumer to rethink their phone carrier. I imagine Sprint lost a lot of first time smartphone buyers to the iPhone thanks to Apple's "easy-to-use" reputation and the massive hype of every iPhone debut.

Agreed, and I think we saw as much with the iPhone arrival to Verizon. Yeah, it was a bump for Verizon, but not a tidal wave. Most people who wanted it had moved. That said, I think there were some holdouts who were unsure about getting an iPhone4 so close to the supposed summer release of an iPhone5, so that probably depressed the Verizon numbers a bit too. Bringing iPhone to Sprint so soon after a new announcement should take some of that uncertainty away.

Also, a lot of people on Verizon who wanted a smartphone probably had already bought an Android phone when the Verizon iPhone came out (I know I did). The original Droid is just about two years old, which means that a lot of Droid owners are going to be looking for a new phone in the coming months. I'd bet a lot of them will be getting iPhones. I know a lot of friends that have Droids, and none of them have any intention of getting anything other than the iPhone when their contract is up.

They don't like Android? Or do they prefer Apple hardware to Motorola?

Probably a combination of both, but I doubt it really matters either way—at the end of the day, they had a poor experience with an Android phone, and they don't want to have that happen again.

"Unimited data" might be an distinguishing feature they can press. I know I a lot of iPhone+ATT users, but none who tether. Too expensive.

The unlimited data that Sprint gives you is not supposed to be for tethering. If you want the tethering app on Android to work, you need to pay Sprint a monthly fee of $30 a month. [1]

I have a hunch that this will apply to the iPhone too. Of course, you would be able to jailbreak then tether, but I'm not sure how many ordinary users would be willing to do that.

According to my first reference below, tethering will also be capped at five gigabytes with the launch of the iPhone. So, you'll have to pay $30 for tethering five gigabytes a month. The internet on the handset will still be unlimited.

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1. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Sprint-Caps-Official-Teth...

Supposed is the keyword. Once you root/jailbreak the phone, nothing is stopping you from using WifiTether/Tetherme for your tethering needs. If youre a power user and require over 5GB a months, then youre in trouble. But for most of us that need tethering for those select moments we're away from wifi, its a godsend.

Why wouldn't you buy an unlocked iPhone?

Sprint runs a CDMA network. I don't believe Apple sells unlocked CDMA iPhones, only GSM. Maybe that will change when the next model supposedly combines GSM and CDMA antennas in a single model.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why bye an unlocked phone? You pay more up front and the same monthly fee for network access. Is it just the contract you don't want to enter?

The price of the phone is the same whether you pay upfront or through an increased monthly fee, but with the unlocked phone I can pop in a local sim-card if I travel, and I can change my provider whenever I want.

The only benefit for the locked ones are that you get to buy it on what is essentially cheap credit, but it's not like you save any significant amount of money on that.

I actually spent less money getting my Nexus S 4g online over getting it 'subsidized' through Sprint. Seemed kind of dumb to me.

T-Mobile has discounts for bring your own type plans... I for example am on one of those plans with my iPhone 3G (jailbroken.)

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