iPhone? Not I.

With all the fanfare attached to it, you’d think the arrival of the iPhone in Canada was the Second Coming.

True, it’s been a long wait. Our neighbours to the south have had access to that sleek, touch-screen goodness for almost a year.

And frankly, like most Apple products, it is a beautiful, stylish piece of technology. Just look at it.

As with most of the items masterminded by brilliant British-born industrial designer Jonathan Ive, so deservedly feted by the Design Museum in London for his body of work, the result is innovative, clean and instantly covetable.

But like many others living in Canada, I will resist the siren song of this particular piece of technology.

Why Resist?

It’s not because of Apple. Indeed the powers-that-be at Apple are very canny about promoting the brand and making their products must-haves.

As noted by the still-in-beta-site BrandDoozie, Apple’s brand is powerful and has an amazingly loyal following:

“From their iconic logo to iPod’s campaign of gyrating silhouettes against a kaleidoscope of color, Apple is more than a brand—it’s a culture.”

And the fact they’ve managed to do that generally by buzz rather than by expensive marketing campaigns.

[Tangent: For an alternative take on Apple’s brand that is quite intriguing, take a look at what Robert Scoble had to say last winter in a post entitled The Brand Promise of Apple.]

So, Why Resist Again?

Two words: Rogers Communications.

Rarely has a company with exclusive rights to a product managed to generate so much negative buzz for a hot commodity so quickly.

Because it is the only phone provider in Canada that uses the GSM network required by the device, Rogers is the only provider that can carry Apple’s 3G iPhone.

And unlike in the United States where unlimited data plans are offered, Rogers decided to lock iPhone purchasers into a three-year contract. And according to CTV.ca, the initial pricing was…less than ideal.

“The cheapest plan under that structure includes 400 megabytes of data, 150 minutes of weekday talk time and unlimited evenings and weekends for $60 per month plus fees and taxes.”

The Result?

A Major backlash. A website called ruinediphone.com sprang up and led to massive online petitioning, the organization of a protest rally and a campaign to get many Rogers customers to drop the corporation as a provider.

The protest has had an impact. As noted by the blog Load This with Steve Tilley, earlier this week Rogers decided to offer iPhone buyers the chance to choose their own standard voice plan and then add on a data plan allowing for 6 GB of mobile data a month for an addition $30.

But this has been a bit like throwing a bucket of water on a three-alarm fire. Gillian Shaw, of The Vancouver Sun, noted that this appeasement has not been entirely effective:

“The numbers of disgruntled consumers voicing their ire at www.ruinediphone.com continued to climb in the wake of Rogers’ announcement, aimed at cooling the controversy before today’s launch of the new phone.”

Who Was Smart About This?

Bell Canada. They looked at the negative publicity that Rogers was receiving and did something clever.

As of August 8th, they’re going to offer Samsung’s version of the iPhone, the Instinct (currently available in the US via Sprint), and they’re going to offer it with reasonable rates. Look at the comparison that the Globe and Mail offered on the two phones:

“The Samsung Instinct, which has many of the same features as the Apple iPhone, differs from the iPhone in one major way: Its monthly price plan, which will dramatically undercut the iPhone plan announced last week by Rogers Wireless.

A subscriber can…pay less than $40 a month for a modest voice plan accompanied by an unlimited Internet on Bell’s high-speed data network.”

Conclusion

So despite my love of Apple’s blend of solid technology and superior design, it looks like in this case, I’m going to have to wait and follow my Instinct instead of biting into Apple’s latest.

Part of it is the better pricing- that’s for sure. But a company clever enough to be responsive to another company’s disgruntled customers and to generate good PR by being more reasonable about rates?

They just seem smarter than the other guys. And a tad more reasonable.

What about you? Would you go along with Rogers’s terms to get the new iPhone? or would you be satisfied by a Samsung? What would/will you do?