Goodbye old iPhone. We've had a lot of good memories. Since my service contract recently expired, I evaluated my use/need in the cell phone department and decided to kick my iPhone to the curb. As I type this message, my new-old skool free camera phone that can play .mp3s is in the back of a FedEx truck somewhere in Colorado Springs.
I'd like to give a shout out for the website Cash for iPhones. Believe it or not, they are going to pay me $170 for my old iPhone. That's right, the original 8GB 2G iPhone that's been around for about 3 years. I think I paid $300 for it new. I realize that they can turn around and sell it (or maybe parts) for more money, but the convenience is worth it. I could probably get a little more trying to sell it on Ebay too, but then I'd have to deal with individuals, setup an account (no selling history, etc). This company has been featured in Forbes magazines, among others, so I'm sure they are legit.
They also buy used laptops. Out of curiousity I got a quick quote for my MacBook Pro and they'd be willing to give me $610. Obviously, I'm not going to sell it to them but when it comes time to buy a new laptop I might consider this "trade-in" approach (similiar to cars).
So, over the next 12 months I'll save an extra $400 when you consider what they are going to pay me for my iPhone and savings in service fees. That's about enough to pay for a new iPad.
p.s. I just ran across this article today regarding the iPad. It pretty much says the same thing I said yesterday in my previous post but extends the use for conference rooms and classrooms too. I think these types of touch pad devices can also be developed to eventually control things around the house, classroom, conference room, etc.
Why Apple Will Sell Millions of iPads in 2010