Yeah, AT&T screwed 3G owners by making an unprecedented change in their eligibility rules just for 3G owners that will probably happen every year because of the whiners. How inconsiderate of them.
I am really getting sick and tired of these whiners and complainers. It is absurd. You got a freaking subsidy for the 3G because you signed a TWO-YEAR contract. AT&T lets you upgrade after 18 months anyway, so it is only really an 18-month contract. Apple comes out with a new phone every year. So every single time you buy a phone on a subsidy, you are going to be "screwed" 12 months or less later.
I bought the v1 for $399 three months before the 3G came out (even though I had a feeling it would happen, I had to buy a new phone) at a subsidy price of $199. They cut-off the free upgrade to the 3G about two weeks after I bought the phone. Did I complain? No. Because that is what I bought and that is what I signed up for.
Not only did I get an old model, I paid double for it.
Anyone that has a 3G can unlock/jailbreak and sell their phone online, buy the 3GS and either break even, pay LESS or at least not pay any more than the $199 that everyone else is paying. Does this take a little more leg work? Sure. But you signed a TWO YEAR contract, so YOU are the one trying to find a loop hole.
AT&T did not screw anyone in THIS regard. If this was not the iPhone and was just a Motorola Startrac (if that is what it was called, I forget), this would be a non-issue. But because it is such a high-demand thing, people are getting pissy.
ENOUGH ALREADY. So many iPhone users feel this sense of entitlement to always be able to get the new phone for the subsidy price - it is just ridiculous.
Next year, when a better model comes out, if I decide I have to have it, I will sell this phone and buy the new one. Plain and simple. Or I will find another loophole like buying it on another line in my family plan and switching the SIM cards.
There are too many easy ways to get around this for people to feel "screwed" by AT&T. Let's drop this notion. Sorry for the long rant. Thank you, I rest my case.