Money matters

After some bad publicity Apple has decided to change its debit or credit only policy for purchasing an iPad.
Apple had instituted the policy to enforce the two iPad limit per customer, but it had some unintended consequences – in the form of bad press – when a California woman, Diane Campbell, was denied the ability to purchase one with cash she had carefully been saving.

Someone at Apple HQ had the good sense to change that no-cash-for-iPads policy. Now, you're free to buy an iPad with cash, as long as you set up a free Apple account at the store. Apple's PR department  sent a pair of Apple staffers to Campbell's house with a free iPad.

In other news,  Owning an iPhone ain’t cheap. As it turns out, getting rid of one isn’t either.

You got your initial upfront cost starting around $200. You’ll need a case some film to protect the screen, so figure on that. And then you got your monthly charges; I believe mine are right around $70-75 a month -- and you don’t get the cut-rate price withAT&T’s iPhone service that many service providers offer when you add a second device to the plan.

For me, although I am very financially conservative, and many other users, the cost is well worth it.
Those that don’t dig the iPhone, get frustrated with the AT&T service that supports it, or just decide they no longer want the service for whatever reason, however, should get themselves ready for another financial hit. AT&T is raising the fee for iPhone – or any smartphone - users who prematurely pull the plug on their two-year service contracts.

That’s the word from a recent report on the matter, which says that starting next month, those folks will have to shell out $325 for the honor of cutting the virtual cord. That’s $150 more than the $175 punishment AT&T currently metes out to discourage an early exit.