Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone
iPhone owners do everything but talk
I always pay my iPhone bill with the phone itself. It's simple -- touch settings, then phone then AT&T services. In just a few seconds, I can wave about $70US goodbye. What a world!There are other options on that screen, like "View my minutes," which I usually check when I pay my bill. As of right now, I'm looking at 1300 roll over minutes. This can only mean one thing:
I rarely use my iPhone as a phone.
I'm not alone. According to a report on International Business Times, 46.5 percent of iPhone owners spend the time they use their iPhones engaged in voice calls (that number is 71.7 percent for BlackBerry owners).
Also, iPhone owners in the US claim to spend 12.1 percent of their iPhone time on the net (compare that to 2.4 percent for all other mobile phones on average), and nearly 12 percent of their time listening to audio (compared to 2.5 percent for others).
In observing my own behavior with the iPhone, I use it most often as an iPod, and then to check email and use the net (Twitter mostly). For me, the iPhone is a computer that just happens to make phone calls, not a phone with some cool features. It appears I'm not the only one with this opinion.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
oddEvan said 11:19AM on 4-04-2008
1300 Rollovers? Peh. I've got 3,243. 'Course, I've had my AT&T phone for over a year, so...
This is the biggest reason I'm happy the iPhone's on AT&T. Even if my phone use drastically increases, I've got a couple months of lead time before I actually have to change my plan. Now if only I actually had an iPhone, this would be perfect...
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Adam said 2:06PM on 4-04-2008
I have been on ATT for seemingly ever and on occasion I check my rollover minute and it is always something ridiculous, though I don't get mad because I realize that if I was on any other provider those minutes would not even be there though I doubt I would change my habits or my plan.
tys said 11:23AM on 4-04-2008
I've always thought "iPhone" was a bad name, since the phone is the least interesting of it's features. I doubt I use more than 45 minutes of talk time in a given month. I probably only use 1% of my 200 text messages per month since I can just send a regular email instead. If they had a data only plan, I'd be all over it.
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Poltras said 12:19PM on 4-04-2008
Maybe that's why they aim as a new mobile platform now with the Touch and iPhone. Add a camera and a speaker to a Touch, and I wouldn't even want an iPhone.
Oneiroi said 3:59PM on 4-04-2008
I've heard that argument before for their lack of text messaging and I don't buy it for most people.
When I'm texting someone, I'm expecting them to have their phone on them and respond somewhat quickly, when I email I'm not expecting them to be at their computer and wouldn't expect a response for hours or even the next day.
That being said, I think especially with this information of how little people use it to "talk" on, the bad choices for AT&T and their text/pic messaging is really a drawback for the phone.
greg.cordell said 11:24AM on 4-04-2008
My wife and I are on a family share plan and have like 5000 rollover minutes. I think I probably only use MAYBE 200 minutes a month, the rest is either email or text.
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Leehblanc said 1:51PM on 4-04-2008
Ditto here. We have 3,901 rollover minutes. I'm going to have to start talking during the day more, otherwise, I feel like they are getting away with my money :(
eric f. said 11:25AM on 4-04-2008
I've had my iPhone since November, I'm on the cheapest plan, and I have 1240 rollover minutes.
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Tom said 12:34PM on 4-04-2008
I had the cheapest plan myself, but it wasn't the cheapest family plan (which was actually $10 a month less) because that option wasn't available when upgrading the other phone on the plan to an iPhone and the person in charge of the account is super lazy.
When I noticed that I'd gone over drastically two months in a row (resulting in crazy overage charges) I got her to upgrade, and we went with the 1400min/month plan. And now I don't even use the phone, really.
I'm still upset she didn't even ask (even though I really wanted her to) for backdating, because verizon did it for my mom's familyplan (back in the day) when we went over. Does AT&T do that stuff even?
eric f. said 11:25AM on 4-04-2008
I've had my iPhone since November, I'm on the cheapest plan, and I have 1240 rollover minutes.
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-wsn said 11:30AM on 4-04-2008
Hi Dave
This does seem to be the case, at least with me it does.
I have a 450 plan and I am sitting in @ around an avg 2000 RO mins per month.
Imagine what it will be like when/if after v2.0 paves the way for an iPhone Skype client for WiFi?
I tell people I have a small computer, that I can make calls on if need be. :-)
Cheers
-wsn
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DistortedLoop said 11:59AM on 4-04-2008
"Imagine what it will be like when/if after v2.0 paves the way for an iPhone Skype client for WiFi?"
Maybe it's location thing, but I don't really see why everyone is so excited about the idea of VOIP/Skype over WiFi. Here in Los Angeles, free WiFi coverage is pretty darn sparse, so it's certainly not going to replace either Voice or EDGE for iPhone users here.
Even if you were to sign up for pay WiFi, are there enough local hotspots to make it worthwhile? Again, not locally in my part of Los Angeles.
VOIP over WiFi also seems pretty useless if you're on the move as well, whether walking or driving. I don't imagine the handover from WiFi access point to another smooth enough to give glitchless calls.
I suppose in your house or office you could save a few minutes of cell time using WiFi there for VOIP, but until there is ubiquitous, inexpensive, long range WiFi, VOIP over WiFi is far from any kind of panacea for voice communications in a mobile device.
Nate said 11:37AM on 4-04-2008
To be true to the phone though... I don't use the phone part of the iPhone less I just use mobile web browsing and music more that I would on another phone. It is literally a very portable computer which is integrated quite nicely with a phone... I love how whenever I need a number for a company or something it takes me all of 2 seconds to google the number... or head over to Facebook and grab a friends phone number in the same amount of time. I don't have to use 411 anymore although I do love Google's free 411 service.
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Dave said 11:31AM on 4-04-2008
I use the "phone" a lot - about 1000 minutes per month. My wife uses hers close to twice that. We've always used our phones a lot, why would the iPhone change that? Should the people that don't use the "phone" have bought iPods instead? I use the "iPod" the least, though I do watch movies quite a bit (I carry my 8000+ song collection on an 80GB iPod). I use more than my 200 SMS, but not enough to buy a "package." However, both my wife and myself may use the internet (and Google Maps and email) more than anything else.
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sterling said 11:32AM on 4-04-2008
Boy, now I don't feel so bad for having over 3,000 rollover minutes on the shared plan my wife and I have.
I have been thinking that maybe ditching the iPhone and getting a Touch may be a bit more economical. Sure you'd have to find wi-fi, but you wouldn't have that monthly bill to pay.
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Bender Bending Rodriguez said 11:34AM on 4-04-2008
I have the smallest plan and have 1,800 minutes in rollover. Using hundreds of MB per month in data though. Woot!
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-wsn said 11:36AM on 4-04-2008
Hi
I would consider just going the Touch route if Skype was avail on Touch via WiFi when I got the phone.
I am also using my iPhone for work (on call, etc) so I do need something that can page me not matter where I am.
I agree though. If both were addressed by the Touch, I would have got that...but I would miss the built in speaker.
I use it a bunch...
Cheers
-wsn
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Dave said 11:41AM on 4-04-2008
Ok, I think your article misses the point. I just read the article you referenced, and I don't take it to mean people don't talk on their iPhones, just that they also do lots of other things. To quote the source quoted in the original article, "Apple has come as close as anyone to achieving a balanced convergence in mobile-handset features and usage." So, we use our iPhones a lot, probably more than other folks with "phones" (smart or otherwise), because we do a lot more than talk. The point of my earlier post was just that. I talk the same amount on my iPhone as I did on any prior phone. But, I do a lot of other things on my iPhone that I never (or rarely) did on my other phones, even though some of them had email/browser/media capabilities. It's just that those other phones had really cr*ppy email/browser/media capabilities, and the iPhone is a truly wonderful machine in that respect.
PS - what does this mean? "...46.5 percent of iPhone owners spend the time they use their iPhones engaged in voice calls..." The original article states that all surveyed iPhone users (not 46.5%) said they used their iPhones for voice calls only 46.5% of the time.
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Matt said 11:42AM on 4-04-2008
Your interpretation of these numbers is really misleading. These are percentages, you're treating them as hard data. That's wrong, here's why.
iPhone owners only use the phone features 46.5% of the time, while BlackBerry owners use the phone 71.7% of the time. That DOES NOT mean that iPhone owners use the phone features less than BlackBerry owners. I'd expect that number to be on par. Mostly because I've never thought to myself, I need to make a call.... wait, I'll go on YouTube instead. And surely nobody says, "I was going to call him, but then I remembered he has an iPhone".
I think we can pretty safely say nobody is calling any less on a iPhone. This is a percentage of a whole... they're just doing other things more. For example, I Facebook on my iPhone constantly, something I'd wouldn't do on a BlackBerry. In fact, I know I use my iPhone more altogether than I'd ever use a BlackBerry.
It's these kind of speak-before-you-think articles that ruin the credibility of TUAW and turn it into nothing more than a bad, privately operated version of Digg.
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Jamus said 11:45AM on 4-04-2008
Yep, that is why a iPod Touch appeals so much to my checkskateness... Too bad they don't have something like a GoPhone iPhone. Just have about 500 minutes stuck on it and recharge it when you need it. Don't even bother with the "Edge" data plan. WiFi would suffice for me.
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