Sprint launches it’s version of the iPhone

Here’s the thinking of wireless carriers right now: Apple didn’t just create a product everyone wants when they produced the iPhone. They created a type of product that everyone wants. And they’re basing this thinking on the relevant past. Once Apple created the iPod, for example, everyone wanted one. Thing is, the damned iPod was expensive. So other companies, thinking that people just wanted an MP3 player, created similar devices that sold at a cheaper price. And they found moderate success. So this is where Sprint’s new offering comes from.

It’s called The Touch, and it’s produced by High Tech Computer Corp. of Taiwan. It’s similar in many ways to the iPhone, what with the touch screen, built in memory, and multimedia capabilities. But really, there are a lot of phones out there like that. Ever heard of the Palm Treo? That’s touch screen…and it’s sales dropped with the release of the iPhone.

So we’re not quite sure what Sprint is trying to pull here. The device will be about $150 cheaper than the iPhone, though that’s after a $100 rebate and a two-year service agreement.

It sounds nice, but it reminds us of Creative’s Zen Touch. We bought one of those because the 20 GB model was nearly $100 cheaper than the iPod 20 GB. And guess what? I ended up having a number of bugs, and we eventually junked it in place of a real iPod. We can see the same thing happening with The Touch…moreso because we’ve never heard of High Tech Computer Corp.

But it can be yours on November 4th. We’ll look for reviews after that.

[The Boston Globe]

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