Yet another "it depends" question.

It depends on what the user wants. These comparisons that try to force the NIT/iPhone into black-and-white scenarios are as pointless now as they were at the beginning. Each device still has unique aspects the other doesn't have. With that in mind, there are many who desire the unique functionality of the NITs to the point that they are still the more attractive device, even having to use a separate 3G phone. To others, just the opposite.

Don't read what I say next as anything but my own professional opinion.

Nokia enjoys economies of scale that Apple currently can't touch.

Think about it.

yay for whole widget (also known as the silo model) integration...

the geek in me says no way, just no way!

look at what that brought us in the corp server world. can someone say windows, exchange server and ms office?

sure it works, but your basically selling your soul to the integrator...

you no longer own your data, the integrator does...

But then again, mobile wise, Apple technically only has 1 cellphone product, compared to Nokia's 70 (79 if you count the ones that haven't shipped) different S60 phones.

It is quite impressive however that Apple sold 6 million iphones compared to Nokia's 170 million S60 phones (about 2.4 million per model).

the mindshare is impressive indeed...

Still no copy and paste functionality. Sigh.

To be fair though, is it right to figure the cost of the 2 years of phone bills into the cost of the device? I mean, don't you pay for some kind of cell service anyways? Not to mention internet? Let's compare apples to apples here, what are all the non-iPhoners paying for voice/data?

I personally like my iPhone, as a phone and mp3 device. Its finger friendly interface is easier to use when driving, for instance. My old Windows 5 phone required a stylus, although I understand the newer Windows 6+ comes with more customized interfaces. The iPhone also has a decent GUI for playing music, so again it's easy to use when I'm on the road.

Still 480x320 no? That's a deal beaker IMO.

i will be switching to ATT at the end of summer specifically for the new iphone. i can't say the N810 will be replaced entirely, but off the top of my head, i can't think of anything i'll still use it for. anyone looking to buy one? i'll entertain reasonable offers...

The iPhone can't cost 199$ alone, if the iPod touch costs 299$.

The iPhone costs $199, PLUS added charges for the contract. That is the way subsidy prices work. For example, here in Germany, Vodafone offers the same contract with and without a subsidized phone. For a 200-250€ phone, you'll pay 10€ a month more over 2 years.

In Europe (where 3G is more common than in the US), you'll find the E51 for about 220€. In the US, for 260$. It has decent specs: 3G, wifi, bluetooth, 320x240 screen (small), browser, mail, mp3 player, etc... That is about the lowest limit for these kind of devices.


In the US, the Nokia 810 costs about 400$. 8GB SD card costs about 40$.

The most comparable product is not the iPhone, but the iPod touch. It costs 299$ for 8GB. That makes the N810 about 130$ more (including the price of the memory) for:
- a better screen, a GPS, a keyboard, loudpeakers, voip telephony, a small camera, but also
-much less refined software, no equivalent to iTunes (for music, video and software).

My feeling is that the N810 loses by a short margin, because of the software. Compared to the iPhone, it is much harder to say, since we do not know the real price (without contract).


Another competitor which has much to fear from the iPod touch is the Sony PSP: $170, more games for the moment but no mp3 player.



A last note: when comparing prices between € and $, one cannot just use the exchange rate (which is abnormally low for the $ at the moment). It is more like 1€ (shop) equals 1$ to 1.1$ (shop). You'll have to take VAT (about 20%) and real shop practice into account. Between US and EU Apple shops, hardware sells usually for the same figures (iPod touch is 299$ in the US and 299€ in Europe). Personal experience has also proven me that importing directly from the US leads to similar results when the dollar rate is about 0.75€ (shipping is expensive).

Well, it depends how you make use of those pixels...