By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
For some reason, people around the world still wait in long lines to be among the first to purchase new iPhones.When it comes to the iPhone, I'm an idiot, I've always been an idiot, and I'll always be an idiot, and I don't care.
I've finally switched full time to an Apple /quotes/zigman/68270/composite AAPL -1.72% iPhone after holding out for 10 years, and you know what? Those things are so overrated. I have no idea what all the fuss is about.
This isn't even the third-best smartphone I've ever owned, even though it costs more than any of them. It's not as good as my $180 BlackBerry /quotes/zigman/19622165/composite BBRY -2.44% Passport, with its matchless keyboard. It's not as good as the $120 Blu Life One XL I got last year.
In a rational market, Apple would have had to slash its prices to compete with Android phones.
The best smartphone I've ever owned? The Nokia/Microsoft Lumia 635 . I bought it nearly two years ago. It cost me $70.
Sticker shock
It's not that the iPhone is bad. It's fine. It's just that it's not noticeably better than phones that cost a fraction of the price. When I fired Google /quotes/zigman/59527964/composite GOOG +0.09% last month and decided I had to no choice but to embrace Apple full time, I walked into the Apple store by Tiffany's in New York.
And gawped at the prices.
Seriously, $350 for an unlocked SE? And $700 for an iPhone 7? Are you out of your mind?
Eventually, elsewhere I managed to find an SE for $150 with AT&T /quotes/zigman/398198/composite T -0.55% pay-as-you-go. But it's still locked, so as I'm in London right now, and I have to use my BlackBerry. Bah.
I see young people walking around using iPhones with smashed screens because their phones are so expensive, they can't afford to replace them. What is wrong with these people?
Review: iPhone 8 — good, but nothing to get too excited about
Did I mention I got a terrific phone two years ago for $70 — without a contract?
I actually bought the Nokia after my first unsatisfactory experience using Apple. But that was only brief. Now that there are basically only two operating systems still available, and as I have fired Google, I'm now stuck with it for good.
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Source: I bought my first Apple iPhone — and I regret it
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