iPhone priced the same as PS3! Too expensive?

it is even more expensive than that..

The iPhone and a 2 year contract with cingular costs $1,500 USD

it is even more expensive than that..

The iPhone and a 2 year contract with cingular costs $1,500 USD
Yes but you're not taking into account that people pay for cell phone service anyways. You don't go look at a car and take into consideration all the gas, maintenance, repairs, etc. You look at the sticker price and say the car cost $15,000, not $84,000 over 10 years.

If we look at the iPhone costing $1500 then we need to consider the PS3 with the cost of the TV, the games, Bluray movies, etc. So in reality the PS3 costs more than the iPhone.

Judging by the quantum leap in technology, it's cheap
Correct. I bet Cingular is paying $750 to $1000 for them. This thing is an absolute bargain with all the cutting edge high technology crammed into it.

It sure looks nice... However the price is WITH the 2 year commitment so it already reflects the $150-250 discounts you usually see on the other smart phones. That makes it roughly 2-3x more expensive. For me MotoQ with carrier discounts = $200. (although to be fair add back in $25 for the 2GB miniSD expansion card, would be nice if they went to 8GB...) Like I read in a recent interview from Palm it's interesting to see these device as possible low-cost alternatives.

Cingular - been there, done that, not again. It will be at least past the exclusive agreement before I look at this thing. Maybe by then they'll have pricing figured out.

Another unfortunate killer is what it doesn't provide; Push email, calendar and contacts from my Exchange account along with the ability to view/edit office documents. RIM/Motorola/Palm all provide that functionality and something this will desperately need it if wants to make a dent in those areas. I think their products are all top-notch but it's more of the "apple-only" stuff

I think it would do well with the non-corporate consumer but the price tag for that demographic will be a shocker.

*Edited*
Here's the Palm interview I mentioned above: http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1047-1.htm

Here's hoping that by some stretch of luck some really attractive plans will be available as a package with the purchase of an iPhone...

I've been thinking some more about the data plan rates and went back and looked at the Cingular website somemore. It all comes down to which rate plan Cingular decides to attach to the iPhone (yea, I know DUH). But if they were to consider this a Smartphone, the rate plan would be as low as $20 for unlimited use. But if they put it in the category as a PDA phone, then it would be $40. The thing is though, they themselves are not even very clear as to which devices go with which plans. For example, I consider the Blackjack a Smartphone, but they have it in the $40 rate category. Same for the Palm 680 and 750. The Cingular 3125 though is in the $20 rate category. What I typical think of as Smartphones (Treo's and Blackjack) are in the higher category. Just doesn't make sense to me.

Hopefully, they will decide to put the iPhone in the cheaper rate plan. But the problem is Cingular has no competition for this device and will probably charge as much as they can.

Another unfortunate killer is what it doesn't provide; Push email, calendar and contacts from my Exchange account along with the ability to view/edit office documents. RIM/Motorola/Palm all provide that functionality and something this will desperately need it if wants to make a dent in those areas. I think their products are all top-notch but it's more of the "apple-only" stuff
Actually, there's no guarantee that this won't be something that could be available by the time of actual release, or even sometime thereafter. Apple is of course tight-lipped about such things, but the Apple folks I've spoken with here at MWSF are certainly not taking the position that the set of software packages is the final selection. They have said that they plan to "aggressively" update the software, even after release (although that's their response to the lack of third-party app capabilities).

Apple does already provide some limited integration with Exchange in OS X, so it wouldn't be unprecedented for them to offer these sorts of capabilities.

Cingular - Regardless of the data plan pricing that they eventually come up with I think EDGE will be an issue. As someone else noted the entire demo of the web was done over wi-fi. Unless you're at a hotspot, the fact that they decided not to go 3G will mean reaching the web/browsing will be very slow. A hotspot will be required and then the data plan becomes irrelevant.
I have EDGE on my Blackberry, and for the sort of browsing that I do from the device, I find it to be more than adequate. Even Google Maps with satellite photos is quite responsive. I'm certainly not expecting to use the iPhone as a full internet-connected machine, but rather something to occasionally look up a snippet of information here and there. While not ideal I think that that EDGE speeds are going to be more than adequate for what most people will use the device for.

it'll have alot of bugs in it tho, wait for the 2nd generation or 3rd, give them a chance to work the bugs AND drop the price

Well, the public is going to pay more attention to the iPhone, since it has a lot more features to it, and the iPod-related aspects of it alone, with the new interface and new UI, are going to be very appealing.

I'm sure many people will consider it overpriced, but that's probably only because they're paying attention. Most of the average consumers don't consider Blackberry or Treo devices unless they have a specific need for such a device, but the iPhone is going to attract more people because of it's "cool" factor.

That having been said, there are many non-technical professionals who carry Blackberry or Treo devices, and pay a premium for them, without necessarily being technical people or gadget enthusiasts... They're buying a device that will do the job for them.

As somebody who has been continually frustrated by smartphone and Mac compatibility (or specifically the lack thereof), I think the iPhone will very heavily appeal to Mac professionals who need a portable PDA/smartphone type of device.

Obviously chasing that demographic is not going to make Apple any huge amounts of money, but I think from their point of view, the iPhone is an introductory proof-of-concept model. I'm sure we'll be seeing variations on that theme in the next couple of years.