THE Lowly Peon

iThoughts (alternate title: 'endless rant #72') 
04 September 2007, 9:46pm

as you all know, i recently obtained an iPhone. though i was initially nervous (for the first twelve seconds) that it may have been an extravagant purchase, i quickly realized that it was one of the best decisions i have ever made. the reason for those twelve seconds of misdirection was the fact that i will soon be moving to china, which is not covered under AT&T's "National Coverage" plan.

since, i've been doing quite a bit of research, trying to find out the best way to bend the rules (some of the rules can be bent, while others can be broken).

possibilities include:

• ditching the iPhone, spending $175 on the cancellation fee and selling it to a willing buyer (of which i've already found three). this would work fine financially, as i've surely gotten a enough joy out of that little device that would justify whatever i'd lost in the transaction.
• spending the $175 cancellation, ditching AT&T, keeping the iPhone, and using a hack to allow me to use a chinese SIM. this would allow me to keep the iPhone and pay a ton of money for whatever data i use in china, pretty much making it pointless (but still exciting since i get to use the hack!)
• keep everything the same and severely limit my data usage in china to wi-fi (which is free) rather than edge (which is not free)

as you may have guessed, not too many of these options are exactly flawless. but wait. there's something else! oh yes. i can wait 'til Bray gives me my company blackberry, take that SIM, and use the hack to allow me to use that SIM. that way, i can use the iPhone as if it were mine, only i wouldn't have to pay for it! the only downside is that i lose my existing phone number (which i've grown to love) unless i pay $10/month for the entirety of my time in china.

booyah, iPhone!

[update (September 8 @ 10:22pm): apple is giving me a $100 store credit since they dropped the price! woot!]