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Good news: For $199, you can own the new iPhone 3G. 

Bad news: You won't be as special anymore, you pay more in subscription dollars, and you get less out of the box.

Remember the Motorola RAZR? It was once the most desirable phone in the market. Ultra thin, aluminium body, chemically etched keypad. It cost nearly $500 when it launched, and yet demand was overwhelming. 

Later, they decided to make it more affordable and lowered the price. Soon the streets were awash with RAZRs. It was good for Motorola, but from a consumer's point of view, you're just another RAZR owner.

Of course, Moto went down the drain not because too many people bought their phones, but failed to innovate in a highly competitive, lightning paced industry.

Apple will no doubt continue churning out better devices, but the low price may place the iPhone 3G on a lower rung on the perception ladder that it deserves to be. Of course, you could get a gold plated, diamond studded version to stand out from the crowd, but few will really ever do so.

Customers in the United States will be paying more in the long run compared to the old plan due to a $10 price hike in AT&T's data plan. This means you'll be paying $160 more over the span of two years to own the iPhone. 

And lets not forget what you're getting out of the box. The lower price translates to some cost cutting. A USB power adapter,wired headset, and misc accesories like a SIM ejector tool. The dock is not included and will cost you an extra $50 a la carte from the store. 

Will this affect the user experience? Don't think so.

This isn't the first time Apple has skimped on the extras, the 4G iPod came with a lower price and less accesories than its predecessor, but sales continued to climb.

However, despite a lower price, iPods continue to be one of the more expensive devices in the music player market, which helps to maintain some exclusivity.

It won't be the same for the iPhone, which will cost only half as much as a top end Nokia model. 

What happens when everyone has an iPhone? 

You won't want an iPhone and you start looking somewhere else.

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