$2000 is the minimum cost if you want an iPhone - it's not available SIM free so if you want an iPhone you have to pony up $2000 (not including taxes). Let me know if you can buy an iPhone without a contract and use it on any other data plan - cos if you can't, the cost of the iPhone is as I stated, $2000.

Never before has a mobile phone had such restricted availability which is why it's never before been necessary to consider the cost of the plan as part of the overall cost.

No problem In the UK, all contract phones are subsidised by the contract which is usually 12 months so over the period of the 12 months you pay off the phone - eg. a £50/month contract will get you a "free" £600 Nokia N95. But since the iPhone is locked into a 2 year contract you can consider that in order to own an iPhone you have to shell out the full cost of that two year contract plus the $599 for the 8GB device - you can't own the phone any other way. If the iPhone were available for $599 and without a contract then the cost of the iPhone would be $599, but it's not possible to buy at that price. Only for $2000.

While possible to do this, you won't be able to use it on any other plan or network - the iPhone needs back end servers on the carriers network in order to work. No contract == expensive ($599+$175) brick (I doubt even iPod functionality will work!)