Now We Can Finally Buy an iPhone Without Selling A Kidney

Apple just announced the latest iteration of their smartphone: the iPhone 4. And it is, as expected, much superior to the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Steve Jobs is on stage talking about it as this is being typed. Now of course, he has already announced the all-new design, the microSIM only format (not available in Pakistan), the new so-called “retina display”, a faster processor, a better battery, a gyroscope for better motion-sensing, a much better camera, inclusion of the iBook Store and iAd advertisement system and blah blah blippity blah blah that you can read about here or here or here.

It’s going to cost well over 900$ in Pakistan. So what is there to rejoice about?

You’ll have to read on ahead for that!

Doesn’t Cut It

In this man’s humble opinion: the iPhone is one of the best smartphones in the market BUT for your average upper-middle-class Pakistani, it just doesn’t cut it for a very simple reason: It is super expensive. Last time I checked, the iPhone 3GS retailed at one of the local mobile stores for 80,000Rs. That’s a whopping 930$. Afforable? Nay.

And in that lies the main problem with the iPhone. It’s a very VERY nice phone, but for 930$ even with such an advanced OS and hundred thousand apps, it’s just not worth it. The more basic features of the iPhone: WiFi for browsing, music and video playback, camera, GPS etc can be easily be gotten on a 450$ Nokia E72. You won’t be getting the epic touchscreen or the mazaydaar iPhone OS 4, but do you really need it? No you don’t. The iPhone is more of a status symbol here in Pakland than anything else.

I could write a book on this topic, but I won’t. Cause you already get it. Moving on.

Good News

For those who are on a comparatively tight budget and still want an iPhone, there is good news to be heard. Apple, in lieu of the iPhone 4 announcement, has discontinued the iPhone 3G.

Now that ain’t such a bad thing. Because what this will do is: the instant iPhone 4 reaches Pakistani markets, the iPhone 3G will go down in price harder than ever. Expect it to cost less than 300$ (equivalent to 25,000Rs.). What that means is that people like yours truly can realistically think of saving up money to get their hands on an iPhone.

That’s that.