Obligatory Response to New iPhone

I was really looking forward to today’s confirmation of the lower price 3G iPhone. I purposely held off (for a change) on adopting a 1st gen Apple product, knowing the 3G service would be coming. However, now that reports have confirmed that you will have to sign a contract, I’m not so sure now that I will be adopting the new phone. I genuinely do not use a cell phone for talking enough to justify signing such a contract, and being required to have such a plan (what $70 a month?). The previous $20 a month data plan plus minimal talk time per minute was fine with me, as I have used it with other “smartphones”.

I will be curious to see how they treat 1st gen iPhone users who currently are doing pay as you go plus data plans. Perhaps those will still be allowed to use the prepay, and I’ll pick one up on teh cheap, until I can justify signing a contract paying for that much phone usage.

My other option is to wait to see what happens to iPod Touch prices, as I may get just as much use out of one of those as an iPhone.

If anyone has a suggestion for a smartphone that can be used with pay as you go and unlimited data plan with AT&T, has a great web browser support, bluetooth, and is iSync capable, I’d love to hear about it. edit: and can be purchased new/used for $200 or less without a contract.