Yesterday, one of my family members bought the $99 iPhone. She's understandably very excited about having the marvel that is the iPhone. Unfortunately, I don't share the same enthusiasm for the $99 iPhone deal as she does (and have told her as much) because I see it tied with the two-year AT&T contract. In that light, the $99 'deal' is trivial in comparison to the nearly $2,000 subscription she'll pay over the next two years to AT&T. With the new iPhone 3G S coming out just next week for only $100 more, the iPhone 3G S is a much better deal (faster processor, 16G, better camera, video) over the now year-old $99 iPhone 3G.