iPHONES

I got an iPhone for Christmas. It wasn't in fact a present, my wife simply changed her mobile telephone subscription. She, my daughter and I were all on her company's telephone subscription, which is one of those cheap and cheerful plans, that doesn't cost very much. Then, out of the blue, she was rung up by a seller from another telephone company; if she changed her subscription for us all over to the new company, then she could get three iPhones totally free.

This sounded very like one of those Nigerian blocked account scams, so my wife was understandably very suspicious. However, after lots of investigation, it turned out to be true. Sure, she had to commit to stay with the new company for a minimum three years. But that is never going to compensate the company for giving me an iPhone. Maybe they think I am a 17-year old?

My experience is that mobile phone pricing is one one of the most opaque systems in the world. Economists like to talk of perfect competition, where lots of buyers and sellers have access to perfect information about prices. However, trying to work out how mobile telephone companies make money must be exhausting.

But enough of that. I like my iPhone, and that is all that matters.

Walter Blotscher