What do you do with your old iPhone?

Well, today's the day that Jobs is supposed to unleash his new creation on the world--and not a moment too soon, as I seem to have lost my old cell phone. For those who are still in full possession, however, this presents a problem, at least if they are iPhone owners. The new phone will have better data speeds, probably better call quality, and several new features like GPS. This suddenly renders the price of their old phones--well, probably you can still trade it in that currency composed entirely of gigantic stones.

The word on the street from my shadowy hipster associates is that the thing to do is jailbreak the phone and then ebay it internationally to some country where the iPhone is not yet sold through a carrier. In those fabled lands, a jailbroken iPhone 1.0 is probably worth almost as much as you paid for it.

Comments

I bought my iPhone after I was mugged at the Columbia Heights Metro entrance and the kid took my beat up old Blackberry. He had no idea what it was. Unless I get mugged again today, I'll probably stick with my 1.0 for a while.

Posted by Peter Orvetti | June 9, 2008 8:19 AM

Jobs is a genius. Market iPhone #1, then, much less than a year later, get every owner to buy the must have #2.

Posted by Yancey Ward | June 9, 2008 9:16 AM

They don't call it the reality distortion field for nothing. Jobs is both an almost inhuman perfectionist and star performer. He's really good at taking high-quality electronics and convincing you you're buying into a revolution.

Posted by szr | June 9, 2008 9:37 AM

Did anyone think an electronic gadget, especially a 1.0 version, wouldn't loose most of its resale value pretty quickly, as newer versions and competitors came along? How much is a 1.0 iPod worth?

Posted by Bill Woods | June 9, 2008 9:44 AM

I love my iPhone and have no intention of upgrading...for at least a year, at which the battery will die suddenly and I'll have to get a new one anyway.

Posted by Kate | June 9, 2008 10:28 AM

Seems to me that, right about now, somebody ought to be assessing a Megan Tax ... on Megan.

Posted by Al | June 9, 2008 12:04 PM

Jobs is both an almost inhuman perfectionist and star performer. He's really good at taking high-quality electronics and convincing you you're buying into a revolution.

Yeah. Look I hope everyone who has an iPhone enjoys it, I've got no beef with that. But don't try to sell me on the notion that buying a commodity from a billion dollar corporation makes you a nonconformist.

Posted by Freddie | June 9, 2008 1:18 PM

Barack Obama should make Steve Jobs his VP. He's a white male, he has business experience to placate the plebes' economic worries, and between the two of them the combined PR operation would be capable of bending the universe to their every whim.

Posted by TH | June 9, 2008 2:13 PM

It looks like iphone 2.0 is just a software update. So far at least -- Steve hasn't finished talking yet.

http://www.macrumorslive.com/

Posted by Matt B | June 9, 2008 2:25 PM

Al:

And that somebody would be... Steve Jobs. Not to worry, it's being taken care of.

Posted by Mike Earl | June 9, 2008 2:44 PM

I apologize in advance for my ignorance, but what does the term "jailbreak" mean in Megan's context?

Posted by gab | June 9, 2008 2:49 PM

jailbreaking is a software hack that allows owners to use the phone without paying monthly rates to ATT. (The phone was designed to be used only in conjunction with an ATT contract.)

Steve wrapped up -- the 3G phone looks pretty nifty. $200 for 8 GB and $400 for 16 GB.

Posted by Matt B | June 9, 2008 2:59 PM

People in Africa are dying for iPhones!

Posted by 8 | June 9, 2008 4:28 PM

I have a friend who said she'd knit me a scarf in exchange for my old one. Of course, that was before the $199 price was announced. And if she has to sign up for a 2-year $1500 plan in order to use it, she might as well get a new one. The phone would be three years old before it was out of contract.

AT&T should offer a "no-commitment" plan for the original version. I'd think that would gain them some new subscribers on old phones that might otherwise gather dust.

Posted by Bob K | June 9, 2008 4:29 PM

My husband just sold his iPhone on eBay for exactly what he paid for it, plus shipping. I am going to go ship it for him this afternoon.

Posted by Eva | June 9, 2008 4:40 PM

@Matt B: 16GB version is $300, not $400.

Posted by NukemHill | June 9, 2008 4:43 PM

I'll hang onto my iPhone until the two-year AppleCare coverage runs out. By then, either iPhone 2 will cost half what it does today, or I can spend the same $199 on iPhone 3.

It's usually best to skip a generation.

I'd have waited for iPhone 2 (then jumped on 4, whenever it comes out), but, like Megan, I'd lost my old cell.

Posted by Stephen Green | June 9, 2008 4:45 PM

For someone like me, it's no big deal. 3G coverage isn't available where I live (and probably won't be for some time) and I don't travel much.

I do get all the software updates!

Posted by Jeff | June 9, 2008 4:57 PM

He's really good at taking high-quality electronics mediocre ripoffs of competitors' products and convincing you you're buying into a revolution.

Approximately everything "new" that was announced for the iPhone Mk. 2 today was available eight months ago in the LG Voyager -- which, by the way, still has the hardware QWERTY keyboard that the iPhone suffers for want of.

When the history of the early 21st century is finally written, one of its most pathetic chapters will be the mass delusion among otherwise-sensible people that Steve Jobs was some kind of visionary.

Posted by BC | June 9, 2008 5:18 PM

Approximately everything "new" that was announced for the iPhone Mk. 2 today was available eight months ago in the LG Voyager -- which, by the way, still has the hardware QWERTY keyboard that the iPhone suffers for want of.

I wouldn't take a physical keyboard after using the iPhone. I have also seen the Voyager and you couldn't pay me to take that thing either.

To each his own...

Posted by Jeff | June 9, 2008 5:29 PM

This is easy ... upgrade the old IPhone to v 2.0, buy the new 3G IPhone and give the old one to my wife.

Posted by paul a'barge | June 9, 2008 5:36 PM

Old computer industry maxim: "Pioneers get arrows in their backs, settlers reap the harvest."

I am waiting for iPhone 6.2

Posted by Fat Man | June 9, 2008 5:54 PM

Well, I bought the first generation iPod, and then waited for the fifth generation video iPod before upgrading, so now that I have a first generation iPhone, I'll probably wait until another couple of generations go by. That said, I'm a gadget freak and Applephile, so we'll have to wait until I actually see it and read the specs to be sure. LOL!

Remember also that a 3G iPhone with GPS &c. will eat up its battery faster than the Edge version. I seem to have lucked out and gotten a battery in mine that lasts for weeks on standby. Many haven't been as fortunate.

Posted by Hucbald | June 9, 2008 5:56 PM

"They don't call it the reality distortion field for nothing." "He's really good at taking retread leftist talking points and convincing you you're buying into a revolution."
Commerce, politics, same game, different day.

Posted by jagcap | June 9, 2008 6:02 PM

Anyone who bought an iPhone after May 27th will be able to swap out their handset with no additional charges for an iPhone 3G. What about everyone else? If you signed a 2-year contract with AT&T when the iPhone came out (which you pretty much had to), you'll have to sign another new 2-year contract to score a new iPhone 3G. The good news is that AT&T will allow you to overwrite your old contract with your new contract. In other words, you're just locked into another 2 years, not 3.

Posted by Joshua Concepcion | June 9, 2008 6:02 PM

The iphone doesn't use a SIM chip and Apple made AT&T modify their network to enable special features.

Face it, you're locked in to AT&T if you want to use your iphone to it's full potential.

Posted by Erik Z | June 9, 2008 6:43 PM

I'm waiting to see what the Google "Alien" looks and feels like. As long as the iPhone is AT&T only, I'll sit it out.

Posted by Timmer | June 9, 2008 6:58 PM

The iphone doesn't use a SIM chip

Yes it does - right in the top.

jailbreaking is a software hack that allows owners to use the phone without paying monthly rates to ATT. (The phone was designed to be used only in conjunction with an ATT contract.)

No. Jailbreaking allows the installation of third-party free software on the phone. Unlocking, which is a step beyond jailbreaking, allows it to be used on other GSM networks.

Posted by brett | June 9, 2008 7:04 PM

I share 200 minutes a month with two people.

I do like the fact that Ubuntu Linux bundles Firefox and Open Office.

Can an iPhone play Space Panic?

Posted by Bonzo | June 9, 2008 7:05 PM

Erik Z -

If the iPhone doesn't use a SIM card, why is Apple including a SIM ejector tool with each new iPhone?

Hucbald - According to today's announcement, the iPhone 3G has a longer-lasting battery than the one in the iPhone 1.0

Megan - Don't you write about economics for a living? I'm sure the market-clearing price for used 1.0 iPhones will still be above $100 when the new ones begin selling.

Posted by Fred Farkle | June 9, 2008 7:07 PM

After owning and using a really practical Sony Ericsson phone, I found my iPhone to be a big disappointment. No copy and paste, no external keyboard, no handwriting recognition. Until a new release includes those features, I won't be upgrading. And if Apple repeats the same kind of political advertising they did with the first one, I definitely won't buy another. My old phone still works just fine.

Posted by Rich | June 9, 2008 8:20 PM

Here's a thought.
Drive a 20d nail through the middle of it into a tree in your yard. lest it end up a detonator for an roadside IED.
That way, one can reflect daily on the "sculpture",
and re-evaluate their slavery to IM addiction, and how important it's NOT.

You have a tree in your yard don't you?
You can use a hammer can't you?
You have a yard don't you?
*sigh*

Turn it on and soak it in Lemon Kool-Aid overnight
Stick it to the inside of the primary personal egress portal of your domicile with that 3M foam mounting tape with the green plaid peal off stuff.

Luddite? Retro-grouch? You bet!

Posted by CaptDMO | June 9, 2008 8:30 PM

Well, when I traveled through China, Thailand, and the Caribbean, I had a Nokia 7600 (mp3, still camera, movie shorts, and phone) with me. I bought a SMS card in each country and hit the ground running. If you don't want your old iPhone, I'll be happy to sell it in the Caribbean for you; somebody will make it work on any network out there. Me, I'll get the latest one. Hopefully, it'll be as much fun as the Nokia has been.

Posted by Helen | June 9, 2008 8:49 PM

No need to get rid of the current iPhone at all. Yes 3G is faster, but the plan will cost a little more - and if you are mostly around WiFi networks, then you still get faster than 3G speeds. As others have noted, the current ones will be highly prized for unlocking to go elsewhere...

As for playing Space Panic, depending on which game you are speaking of - it probably will be able to play Space Panic, in about a month when the app store opens wide. Super Monkey Ball looked pretty awesome.

Posted by Kendall | June 9, 2008 11:14 PM

Drive a 20d nail through the middle of it into a tree in your yard. lest it end up a detonator for an roadside IED.

Oh, I think there might be better options than that. How about donating it for the troops?

Posted by Anon Y. Mous | June 9, 2008 11:50 PM

I'm waiting to see what the Google "Alien" looks and feels like. As long as the iPhone is AT&T only, I'll sit it out.

Actually, it is called Android, and it is going to be awesome. It's stable, fast, syncs with both windows and mac out of the box, and has great battery life.

Posted by Dhalgren | June 10, 2008 12:56 PM

I've never had a cellphone, I don't want a cellphone, and if walkie-talkies had better range I'd never need one of the darned useless things. As it is, I'm having my arm twisted by my friends to get one, in order to facilitate minding their kids at a convention.

If said useless gadget costs me more than 5 bucks including phonecalls for the next six months, it'll be too expensive. I don't want another laptop or mp3 player; mine are still working fine. And for that matter, I don't especially want to be reachable.

Bah. Also humbug.

Posted by Maureen | June 10, 2008 12:59 PM

Barack Obama should make Steve Jobs his VP.

Steve would consider that a demotion. And he'd be right.

Posted by rosignol | June 11, 2008 5:05 AM

Keeping my iphone for the time being, and gonna wait to see how the unlocking/jailbreaking of the newer iphones goes, as well as the actual impact on my bill.

Posted by h0mi | June 11, 2008 12:44 PM