Apples...

It's a shock that a subsidized device with a 2-year contract costs less than one that doesn't require a contract? Hard to claim balanced reporting when you slip that one in, El Reg.

Anyway, Jobs' point is actually 2-fold:

1) Specs are not king

2) The other guys don't offer anything at the lower price point that Apple hits by lowering specs

(Fascinating, by the way, to see Apple competing on price.)

@bui

At 2-3 months, you're way too early for an "early upgrade". You'll have to pay full retail, or wait out your contract. My advice to you would be to skip this version and pick up next years at the full upgrade discount when you are eligible (probably 3-4 months after next year's launches).

Stupid Exaggarations, Horrible Article

Paris could have written a better article. Is this the author's - and the whiners' - first cell phone(s)?

Phones have fees. Smartphones have more fees. It doesn't matter at all who makes them and who the carrier is.

Phones are subsidized, quite substantially in many cases. In return for being given $200 off your phone, you promise your carrier you'll stay with them for 2 years. 6 months before the end of the 2 years, they'll give you $200 off another phone.

In more current news, Americans have landed on the moon.