P.S. In addition to Kyle's comment, it's also worth mentioning that Sprint allows you to create a block list of numbers you don't want to allow texts from. I think you can also call them to disable texts all-together.
Still not quite as nice as not being charged at all for incoming texts. You hear a lot of cases where people have someone's old number and they get all their texts (3rd party crap like Joke-a-Day, Dating Tips, all that junk you see on TV); without an unlimited plan, you're paying for stuff you don't even want and can't cancel since those places make it impossible to do so.
The fact of the matter is you don't have control over who texts you, and it's a little ridiculous to make you pay for that; especially this day & age where, if you sign up for a new number, you're definitely getting someone's old one. I don't get texts from people I don't know, but I get plenty of calls from people who think they're calling some dude named John.
20 cents buys you 160 characters. Use them wisely, kids.
(I can buy a piece of candy for less, with more characters on the wrapper, and it tastes good.)
I really think this is just getting blown out of proportion. What Cook said wasn't exactly worded right, but I think a lot of people are using it as anti-Apple propaganda (I got my propaganda, I got revisionism...). Which is just silly, but people are constantly searching for things to piss and moan about against Apple, just like anti-Microsoft people constantly complaining about Windows. Where's the freaking middle ground these days, because I feel like I'm all alone here?
Cook was speaking from HIS perspective, I believe. To Apple-folk, a free phone IS a worthless phone. Apple sort of stands for a minimalist approach to over-the-top bells and whistles. A free phone is just as worthless to me as it is to them; I have no use for any of Sprint's free phones. Free phones can't do most of the things I like my mobile devices to do. In fact, they pretty much just make and receive calls, which isn't high on my priority list and I'm going to bet it's not too high on Apple's either (a la Samsung, perhaps?). It's more like one of those nuissances you have to include so you can still call it a phone. In case you haven't noticed, when phones are marketed, the fact that it can make and receive calls isn't something that's put on the feature list.
I also hardly think anyone's forgetting that the iPhone is more than a phone. If people are thinking that way, they should tie their tubes or get a vasectomy and call it a day.
I'd also venture to say that if you're an Engadget Mobile reader, the majority of you view a carrier's "free phone" selection as worthless, too. Maybe Cook was too hasty in saying that publicly, because God forbid he offend the people who wouldn't even consider buying the iPhone anyway, but when you think of it in terms of perspective I don't see a thing wrong with what he said. We aren't your average mobile phone user, and the iPhone isn't targeted toward the average mobile phone user.
I'm not promoting the iPhone. I think it's going to be a total waste of money and I wouldn't pay $100 for it if it was that cheap. I love my MacBook, but I'm not one of those fanatics that has to have everything-Apple. In fact, I'd really love to ditch my iPod (heh, that was free!) for a Zune.
Cheers, from the baren middleground.
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I'm in the market for a new phone and money isn't a limitation. I'm also not partial to any particular US carrier, but here are some of the features I'd like to have: WiFi, GPS, good coverage in lots of places, push Gmail (a must!), physical keyboard (a must!), a touchscreen, decent battery life and a relatively slim body. And please, nothing that has a fruit logo on it. No offense to the fruit fans, though. Thanks!"
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