This is Ohhh 2 much!

Yesterdays WWDC keynote was bitter sweet, we got to see some great new technology in the form of new MacBook Pro’s and a demo of Snow Leopard but it was the iPhone (as expected) that took center stage with a release date set for iPhone/iPod Touch OS 3.0 (17th June) and the release of the new iPhone 3GS (19th June).  Its the new iPhone 3GS that’s been the talk of twitter and online media most of the today, well not actually the iPhone 3GS itself but how the carriers (in my case O2) are pricing the new iPhone and how much existing iPhone users have to pay to upgrade.

I posted my take on things on the BBC dot.life story page earlier today and I thought I’d repost it here for all to read.

I’m not angry at Apple per say, they have released a great piece of evolutionarily technology, I’m more angry with 02 for the ludicrous way they are dealing with the pricing structure and lack of ‘reasonable’ upgrade fees for existing iPhone users.

I’m not looking for something for nothing here I’m willing to pay an upgrade fee to the iPhone 3GS (say £99) even if it means extending my current contract for another 18 months, the iPhone to me IS that good a device. The iPhone has changed the perception of what a phone should be, and as the iPod did before it with the music industry, the iPhone has the potential to change how carriers operate not just for iPhone users but for everyone and the industry as a whole.

I’ve seen the various blog posts, tweets and petitions (which I’ve signed) talking about this issue but one tweet sums it up for me.  The iPhone killer comes not from another handset but from a carrier… O2 to be more precise.

To use an Apple slogan… O2 need to ‘Think Different’… or face the consequences.

What happends next? who knows maybe O2 will listen to the many thousands of existing disgruntled iPhone users and do something about it.  In the mean time head on over to this petition and add yourself to the list… you just might be able to make a difference.