If you read reviews of the Networks. Verizon has generally had better voice coverage. AT&T has generally had better data speeds. They both advertise to their strengths.
Moreover, depending on who you ask, the iPhone 4S is 4G. It just doesn't support the more popular version of 4G that Version and Sprint use, namely LTE and WiMax. It, however, supports one of the versions of the standard AT&T supports. AT&T actually has asked Apple to display 4G in the title bar of the phone after AT&T's name.
Showing 4G won't make the phone faster. All, forget about labels. Forget about 3G vs. 4G. All I'm saying is that the Verizon data network is by far faster than the AT&T network for all the locations that I travel to. Yours may be different. It wasn't used to be the same. AT&T was much faster than Verizon.
I live in San Francisco. I owned an ATT iPad 1 since launch. I work in the downtown area (Embarcadero) and my commute (at the time) pretty much covered a straight line across the city. ATT's 3G speeds were quite simply abysmal in just about every case. With the exception of one time (outside in Justin Herman Plaza where the iPad was useless anyway due to direct sunlight) I never got anything even approaching 1 mbps. down. Generally the range was more in line to almost nothing to, at the very best, 0.5mbps. That 0.5 was rare, and just to be clear, this was signal strength that indicated five bars - full strength. Basically, ATT 3G was next to useless.
Switched to a Verizon iPad 2 at launch and the difference is night and day. I don't get 2mbps down, more on average its 0.9 to 1.0 or a little higher, but that's a huge, massive improvement over what I was seeing with iPad 1 which again would take forever to lad a basic web page although showing full strength signal.
Probably the ultimate example was eating lunch in the local McDonalds. ATT 3g basically didn't work - a trickle of data at best, completely unreliable and unusable. But McDonalds has free wifi so no problem. When I got the Verizon iPad 2, I compared it's 3g speed with McDonalds' free wifi, and more often than not, Verizon 3g beat it! And guess who provides McDonalds free wifi? ATT.
I've seen many reports that claim multiple mbps down in SF. I don't know what magic square foot of SF real estate they found to get that performance, but in the real world, going where real people go and live and work, I was getting, at the very best, 56k modem performance. On the other hand I've been quite pleased with Verizon here. It's not great, but in terms of coverage and performance, it's leaps and bounds over ATT. Bottom line: If you get ATT 3g data in this city, do so at your own risk.
I need a mobile hotspot for my laptop. I have unlimited Internet on my iPhone and didn't want to add the AT&T's mobile hotspot to it to lose the unlimited plan. Besides, the Verizon service is much faster.
Wish you could have bought itether while it was in the app store for a couple hours before apple booted it. It works via USB like a charm.
I agree- no way I'm losing the unlimited data. Unlike voice and text, I only see that going up in price.
"The idea that AT&T is a terrible service provider and certainly the worst in the US (and in particular in San Francisco), was flatly refuted in our testing. AT&T not only won overall in speed tests by a wide margin, but also delivered the fastest peak scores by far. "
Feel sorry for the chaps jumped over to VZ and got locked in contract.
It is all about being able to make decisions based on facts. If there are people in this world that can't do that then let them join the Occupy movement or other groups that are grossly out of touch.
As a side note I was very happy to leave Verizon when I first got my iPhone. Not so much because of the service quality but rather the attitude of the personnel in the Verizon shoppes. Frankly used car salesman have more ethics than these guys. I have never had such issues when in an AT&T store.
The funny thing here is that with either provider I could find places right here in Upstate NY with no coverage. The thing is I don't care because I don't expect any cell phone company to provide 100% coverage. I'm not certain when or why this became a way to judge cell phone services in the first place. I don't expect coverage out in the wild and frankly don't understand why others would. Think about it, such coverage demands cell towers at regular intervals in places where we really don't need such towers.
Your conclusion may make sense in your very speciic situation but let's be honest one can loose coverage with any carrier. Anybody that travels should realize this.
However what is really bothersome is this idea of yours that not having coverage, missing a call, costs you money. Let's face it if a missed call causes a client to look else where your relationship with that client is on thin ice to begin with. It really comes off as looking for someone else to blame for your inability to make money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by obxwebdesigner
Yes I'm playin the "coverage card" when AT&T told me they wanted me to pay 100 extra bucks a month to put some boosting antenna box in my office when I'm already paying 100 a month for the service.
A businessman would have gotten that for free.
Quote:
So YES if I'm paying for a service IT BETTER WORK!!!!
Yes but there are many ways to define " IT BETTER WORK".
Quote:
Coverage is more important obviously if you can't connect to the network who cares how fast it is????
If it is a chronic problem this is certainly an issue. However you seem to be under the impression that a cell provider can and should be able to offer 24/7 coverage over every inch of the planet. My point is they can't nor do most people really want such coverage. More importantly I object to the idea that you business can't withstand an occasional missed call.
Another way to look at this is to step back a bit to the days of land lines. Even with two perfectly good lines running to a house you still had service failures. Sometimes in the field, sometimes at the local branch exchange.
Verizon will fail coverage wise to a significant extent so what you are saying below is just plain garbage. Just because Verizon's coverage for you, in your area, is better doesn't mean it is comparable else where.
As to data rates for many of us the rates are important. On average Verizon sucks in this regard, so yeah a vendor like AT&T can be very valuable as they do have the performance where you need it. Slow data rates are not a benefit if they are so slow you give up on the service.
In any event my experience with both Verizon and AT&T covers a good portion of the east coast and more than a few trips out west. In the end AT&T wins hands down as it provides the best performance where I've needed it.
Beyond that in ever instant when I've had contact with an AT&T rep it has been a very positive transaction. Verizon on the other hand seems to strive to hire a bunch of a$$es. In the end doing business with professionals is a big plus and another way to go with AT&T.
Quote:
Originally Posted by obxwebdesigner
I think apple said it best when they said, I like when "things just work". If your cool with your muscle car that works great when "it's running" and fixing between quarter mile runs stay with AT&T.
But if your ready for consistant dependable WORKING COVERAGE go with Verizon.
Your right though it is all about the individual and if you want things to work you'll go with Verizon.
96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business.
If 96 percent of the top businesses choose Verizon... I think that's a good enough reason. Here is your data! Don't take MY "individual" .... response!
If I'm wrong the 96 percent of the top businesses must be wrong about coverage beating out speed too huh??
Bam! Bazinga!
Seriously, you try to pass yourself off as a businessman yet you reference this material as something that supports your position. Talk about not having a clue. The more you post the less anybody on this forum is going to care.
Seriously, you try to pass yourself off as a businessman yet you reference this material as something that supports your position. Talk about not having a clue. The more you post the less anybody on this forum is going to care.
I'm still waiting for his intelligent rebuttal to refute AT&T having 100% of Fortune 1000 companies after he touted 96% as being so great that you must choose Verizon and only Verizon. I really think he read that as meaning the other carriers make up the other 4%.
Don't change the fact that they chose Verizon. I own a MacBook Pro too and if my MacBook didn't load or crashed frequently then you would have some ground to stand on.
We are talking about dependability and use. Cost can sometimes trump this, take in this case your pc / Mac example. Companies use PC because they are cheaper and "get the job done". Yes they have problems (PC's) but the cost to productivity ratio is a closer in the interest of large companies to go that direction.
Since Verizon and AT&T have virtually the same service cost they went with the more DEPENDABLE COVERAGE of Verizon.
When Mac cost the same as PC you'll see companies switching to Mac. (I doubt that will ever happen but if mac and pc were to cost the same businesses would choose the more DEPENDABLE PRODUCTIVE option) Mac :P
You have totally blown your credibility here. You seem to believe that first the 96% number is honest and second that fortune 500's only use Verizon to the exclusion of all others. This is not the case at all. As stated before I really don't think you have a clue and tend towards really questionable data to support your position.
However the fact that he referenced it more than once really brings into question his ability to look at things objectively. Even if the 96% number was true ( I suspect marketing speak) the statement was carefully written to encompass a very wide range of services not all of which are cell phone services. It is just mind boggling to see this passed off in the way that is was by somebody claiming to be a businessman.
As to all of these numbers we need to realize that companies always try to paint themselves in the best light. However communications companies have a huge advantage when referencing the Fortune 500 or 1000, that is that large companies have plants and offices all over the place so sooner or later your company ends up providing services to the Fortune companies. It is almost impossible not too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I'm still waiting for his intelligent rebuttal to refute AT&T having 100% of Fortune 1000 companies after he touted 96% as being so great that you must choose Verizon and only Verizon. I really think he read that as meaning the other carriers make up the other 4%.
As to what he read into that statement I'm not sure. What I do know is that it isn't they type of material that one should be using to support any point of view. It is like advertising for a strip joint, there is a big gulf between what is advertised and what is reality.
Even if the 96% number was true ( I suspect marketing speak) the statement was carefully written to encompass a very wide range of services not all of which are cell phone services.
I forgot about that. It's for Verizon Communication, not Verizon Wireless, so his claims that everyone should just pick Verizon are even more odd.
I'd guessing he's stopped posting for awhile once he realized his rationale was flawed on every level.
I have no doubt in my mind that in some areas AT&T just sucks. Building networks is a continuous process and in some areas that is easier to do than others. However that being said I've had very good performance from my IPhone and more recent with my iPad while traveling. In this regard AT&T has consistently done well for me, so this idea that only Verizon provides wide coverage is bogus.
As to the people in certain parts of California it is about time they wake up and blame their local governments as most of the issues in that state are due to excessive and at times Ill informed regulation. Then there is out right corruption so maybe AT&Ts coverage isn't that great but they have to deal with a mine field of ethical problems in California.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I forgot about that. It's for Verizon Communication, not Verizon Wireless, so his claims that everyone should just pick Verizon are even more odd.
I'd guessing he's stopped posting for awhile once he realized his rationale was flawed on every level.
I have no doubt in my mind that in some areas AT&T just sucks. Building networks is a continuous process and in some areas that is easier to do than others. However that being said I've had very good performance from my IPhone and more recent with my iPad while traveling. In this regard AT&T has consistently done well for me, so this idea that only Verizon provides wide coverage is bogus.
As to the people in certain parts of California it is about time they wake up and blame their local governments as most of the issues in that state are due to excessive and at times Ill informed regulation. Then there is out right corruption so maybe AT&Ts coverage isn't that great but they have to deal with a mine field of ethical problems in California.
I'll say there are many areas where AT&T sucks. It's not just rural areas but in some major cities. That's changing with the new spectrum use but as you say people need to look at their governments because not being able to get a new tower for 3 years is absolutely ridiculous when it takes a couple weeks in other big cities.
Then there is the more local issue where customers want better service but don't want to have an ugly tower in site. It's hard to build something called a tower and not have it be an eyesore for someone. Even the ones that look like trees would be ugly if stuck just outside your home.
Maybe one day we'll have low-earth cellular satellites that will allow us to get rid of the towers altogether. While we're at it let's through in wireless power, too.
You do know Apple went to Verizon when the iPhone was first introduced?
When Verizon turned them down they went exclusively to AT&T. Years later now apple finding it needs to be more competitive in the phone market has branched to various providers.
Anyway the point of all this is back when the iPhone first came out they went to Verizon first. You saying apple had it wrong? Why would Apple choose Verizon first? Could it be because of the service coverage?
Apple picked Verizon first! So are yah saying Apple or better yet Steve Jobs got it wrong?
You have taken just about everything you have said out of context.
For one, the iPhone was not even prototype when Jobs spoke to Verizon or for that matter when he first talked to Cingular. Jobs first laid out his plans to Cingular in Feb 2005, (seven months before he introduced the ROKR and nearly 20 months before AT&T acquired Cingular in December 2006).
To say Apple, i.e., Jobs picked Verizon first or for that matter at all, is ludicrous. In fact, part of the reasons it took the deal [with AT&T] nearly a year and a half to come together, was Jobs insistence that not only did the price of their data plans have to come down, but more importantly, they had to build up and improve their wireless service qualitatively and quantitatively.
Quote:
WIRED: The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
It was a late morning in the fall of 2006. Almost a year earlier, Steve Jobs had tasked
about 200 of Apple's top engineers with creating the iPhone. Yet here, in Apple's
boardroom, it was clear that the prototype was still a disaster. It wasn't just buggy, it
flat-out didn't work. The phone dropped calls constantly, the battery stopped charging
before it was full, data and applications routinely became corrupted and unusable. The
list of problems seemed endless. At the end of the demo, Jobs fixed the dozen or so
people in the room with a level stare and said, "We don't have a product yet."
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., founded in 1987 as McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., and now legally known as New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., formerly part of AT&T Corp., is a wireless telephone carrier in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and later traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol "AWE", as a separate entity from its former parent.
On October 26, 2004, AT&T Wireless was acquired by Cingular Wireless, a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth, to form the largest wireless carrier in the United States at the time. On November 16, 2004, AT&T Wireless stores were rechristened under the Cingular banner. The legal entity "AT&T Wireless Services, Inc." was renamed "New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc."
In late 2005, SBC (the majority partner in Cingular) acquired the original AT&T, and rebranded as "the new AT&T". Cingular became wholly owned by the new AT&T in December 2006 as a result of the new AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. After the merger, Cingular was renamed AT&T Mobility in early 2007 and remained the largest wireless carrier until 2009 when Verizon acquired Alltel to retake its position as the number one carrier.
These numbers are mostly meaningless except to AT&T marketing people. It's a phone first, and AT&T does not deliver the same level of performance for basic phone calls.
If I have to wait 3 seconds for my email to load, I just don't care. But dropped calls, poor quality calls do make a difference. I'll my iPad for browsing data intensive websites.
Comments
If you read reviews of the Networks. Verizon has generally had better voice coverage. AT&T has generally had better data speeds. They both advertise to their strengths.
Moreover, depending on who you ask, the iPhone 4S is 4G. It just doesn't support the more popular version of 4G that Version and Sprint use, namely LTE and WiMax. It, however, supports one of the versions of the standard AT&T supports. AT&T actually has asked Apple to display 4G in the title bar of the phone after AT&T's name.
Showing 4G won't make the phone faster. All, forget about labels. Forget about 3G vs. 4G. All I'm saying is that the Verizon data network is by far faster than the AT&T network for all the locations that I travel to. Yours may be different. It wasn't used to be the same. AT&T was much faster than Verizon.
Switched to a Verizon iPad 2 at launch and the difference is night and day. I don't get 2mbps down, more on average its 0.9 to 1.0 or a little higher, but that's a huge, massive improvement over what I was seeing with iPad 1 which again would take forever to lad a basic web page although showing full strength signal.
Probably the ultimate example was eating lunch in the local McDonalds. ATT 3g basically didn't work - a trickle of data at best, completely unreliable and unusable. But McDonalds has free wifi so no problem. When I got the Verizon iPad 2, I compared it's 3g speed with McDonalds' free wifi, and more often than not, Verizon 3g beat it! And guess who provides McDonalds free wifi? ATT.
I've seen many reports that claim multiple mbps down in SF. I don't know what magic square foot of SF real estate they found to get that performance, but in the real world, going where real people go and live and work, I was getting, at the very best, 56k modem performance. On the other hand I've been quite pleased with Verizon here. It's not great, but in terms of coverage and performance, it's leaps and bounds over ATT. Bottom line: If you get ATT 3g data in this city, do so at your own risk.
Showing 4G won't make the phone faster. All, forget about labels. Forget about 3G vs. 4G.
But this article is about iPhone speeds.
You cannot use the 4g network(that we cannot talk about with you) on the iPhone.
And it's the same for all other phones.
If you want to ignore labels, my connection is far faster than both 3G and 4g for both Verizon and AT&T combined!
And the lable IS i portant. Unless you have a phone which will work on the 4g network, you cannot use the faster speed.
All I'm saying is that the Verizon data network is by far faster than the AT&T network
So you used the same version of the iPhone (4/4S) on both networks?
I need a mobile hotspot for my laptop. I have unlimited Internet on my iPhone and didn't want to add the AT&T's mobile hotspot to it to lose the unlimited plan. Besides, the Verizon service is much faster.
Wish you could have bought itether while it was in the app store for a couple hours before apple booted it. It works via USB like a charm.
I agree- no way I'm losing the unlimited data. Unlike voice and text, I only see that going up in price.
"The idea that AT&T is a terrible service provider and certainly the worst in the US (and in particular in San Francisco), was flatly refuted in our testing. AT&T not only won overall in speed tests by a wide margin, but also delivered the fastest peak scores by far. "
Feel sorry for the chaps jumped over to VZ and got locked in contract.
It is all about being able to make decisions based on facts. If there are people in this world that can't do that then let them join the Occupy movement or other groups that are grossly out of touch.
As a side note I was very happy to leave Verizon when I first got my iPhone. Not so much because of the service quality but rather the attitude of the personnel in the Verizon shoppes. Frankly used car salesman have more ethics than these guys. I have never had such issues when in an AT&T store.
The funny thing here is that with either provider I could find places right here in Upstate NY with no coverage. The thing is I don't care because I don't expect any cell phone company to provide 100% coverage. I'm not certain when or why this became a way to judge cell phone services in the first place. I don't expect coverage out in the wild and frankly don't understand why others would. Think about it, such coverage demands cell towers at regular intervals in places where we really don't need such towers.
However what is really bothersome is this idea of yours that not having coverage, missing a call, costs you money. Let's face it if a missed call causes a client to look else where your relationship with that client is on thin ice to begin with. It really comes off as looking for someone else to blame for your inability to make money.
Yes I'm playin the "coverage card" when AT&T told me they wanted me to pay 100 extra bucks a month to put some boosting antenna box in my office when I'm already paying 100 a month for the service.
A businessman would have gotten that for free.
So YES if I'm paying for a service IT BETTER WORK!!!!
Yes but there are many ways to define " IT BETTER WORK".
Coverage is more important obviously if you can't connect to the network who cares how fast it is????
If it is a chronic problem this is certainly an issue. However you seem to be under the impression that a cell provider can and should be able to offer 24/7 coverage over every inch of the planet. My point is they can't nor do most people really want such coverage. More importantly I object to the idea that you business can't withstand an occasional missed call.
Another way to look at this is to step back a bit to the days of land lines. Even with two perfectly good lines running to a house you still had service failures. Sometimes in the field, sometimes at the local branch exchange.
As to data rates for many of us the rates are important. On average Verizon sucks in this regard, so yeah a vendor like AT&T can be very valuable as they do have the performance where you need it. Slow data rates are not a benefit if they are so slow you give up on the service.
In any event my experience with both Verizon and AT&T covers a good portion of the east coast and more than a few trips out west. In the end AT&T wins hands down as it provides the best performance where I've needed it.
Beyond that in ever instant when I've had contact with an AT&T rep it has been a very positive transaction. Verizon on the other hand seems to strive to hire a bunch of a$$es. In the end doing business with professionals is a big plus and another way to go with AT&T.
I think apple said it best when they said, I like when "things just work". If your cool with your muscle car that works great when "it's running" and fixing between quarter mile runs stay with AT&T.
But if your ready for consistant dependable WORKING COVERAGE go with Verizon.
Your right though it is all about the individual and if you want things to work you'll go with Verizon.
96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business.
http://www.evanta.com/events/213/sponsors
If 96 percent of the top businesses choose Verizon... I think that's a good enough reason. Here is your data! Don't take MY "individual" .... response!
If I'm wrong the 96 percent of the top businesses must be wrong about coverage beating out speed too huh??
Bam! Bazinga!
Seriously, you try to pass yourself off as a businessman yet you reference this material as something that supports your position. Talk about not having a clue. The more you post the less anybody on this forum is going to care.
Seriously, you try to pass yourself off as a businessman yet you reference this material as something that supports your position. Talk about not having a clue. The more you post the less anybody on this forum is going to care.
I'm still waiting for his intelligent rebuttal to refute AT&T having 100% of Fortune 1000 companies after he touted 96% as being so great that you must choose Verizon and only Verizon. I really think he read that as meaning the other carriers make up the other 4%.
Apples and oranges.
Don't change the fact that they chose Verizon. I own a MacBook Pro too and if my MacBook didn't load or crashed frequently then you would have some ground to stand on.
We are talking about dependability and use. Cost can sometimes trump this, take in this case your pc / Mac example. Companies use PC because they are cheaper and "get the job done". Yes they have problems (PC's) but the cost to productivity ratio is a closer in the interest of large companies to go that direction.
Since Verizon and AT&T have virtually the same service cost they went with the more DEPENDABLE COVERAGE of Verizon.
When Mac cost the same as PC you'll see companies switching to Mac. (I doubt that will ever happen but if mac and pc were to cost the same businesses would choose the more DEPENDABLE PRODUCTIVE option) Mac :P
You have totally blown your credibility here. You seem to believe that first the 96% number is honest and second that fortune 500's only use Verizon to the exclusion of all others. This is not the case at all. As stated before I really don't think you have a clue and tend towards really questionable data to support your position.
As to all of these numbers we need to realize that companies always try to paint themselves in the best light. However communications companies have a huge advantage when referencing the Fortune 500 or 1000, that is that large companies have plants and offices all over the place so sooner or later your company ends up providing services to the Fortune companies. It is almost impossible not too.
I'm still waiting for his intelligent rebuttal to refute AT&T having 100% of Fortune 1000 companies after he touted 96% as being so great that you must choose Verizon and only Verizon. I really think he read that as meaning the other carriers make up the other 4%.
As to what he read into that statement I'm not sure. What I do know is that it isn't they type of material that one should be using to support any point of view. It is like advertising for a strip joint, there is a big gulf between what is advertised and what is reality.
Even if the 96% number was true ( I suspect marketing speak) the statement was carefully written to encompass a very wide range of services not all of which are cell phone services.
I forgot about that. It's for Verizon Communication, not Verizon Wireless, so his claims that everyone should just pick Verizon are even more odd.
I'd guessing he's stopped posting for awhile once he realized his rationale was flawed on every level.
As to the people in certain parts of California it is about time they wake up and blame their local governments as most of the issues in that state are due to excessive and at times Ill informed regulation. Then there is out right corruption so maybe AT&Ts coverage isn't that great but they have to deal with a mine field of ethical problems in California.
I forgot about that. It's for Verizon Communication, not Verizon Wireless, so his claims that everyone should just pick Verizon are even more odd.
I'd guessing he's stopped posting for awhile once he realized his rationale was flawed on every level.
I have no doubt in my mind that in some areas AT&T just sucks. Building networks is a continuous process and in some areas that is easier to do than others. However that being said I've had very good performance from my IPhone and more recent with my iPad while traveling. In this regard AT&T has consistently done well for me, so this idea that only Verizon provides wide coverage is bogus.
As to the people in certain parts of California it is about time they wake up and blame their local governments as most of the issues in that state are due to excessive and at times Ill informed regulation. Then there is out right corruption so maybe AT&Ts coverage isn't that great but they have to deal with a mine field of ethical problems in California.
I'll say there are many areas where AT&T sucks. It's not just rural areas but in some major cities. That's changing with the new spectrum use but as you say people need to look at their governments because not being able to get a new tower for 3 years is absolutely ridiculous when it takes a couple weeks in other big cities.
Then there is the more local issue where customers want better service but don't want to have an ugly tower in site. It's hard to build something called a tower and not have it be an eyesore for someone. Even the ones that look like trees would be ugly if stuck just outside your home.
Maybe one day we'll have low-earth cellular satellites that will allow us to get rid of the towers altogether. While we're at it let's through in wireless power, too.
You do know Apple went to Verizon when the iPhone was first introduced?
When Verizon turned them down they went exclusively to AT&T. Years later now apple finding it needs to be more competitive in the phone market has branched to various providers.
Anyway the point of all this is back when the iPhone first came out they went to Verizon first. You saying apple had it wrong? Why would Apple choose Verizon first? Could it be because of the service coverage?
Apple picked Verizon first! So are yah saying Apple or better yet Steve Jobs got it wrong?
You have taken just about everything you have said out of context.
For one, the iPhone was not even prototype when Jobs spoke to Verizon or for that matter when he first talked to Cingular. Jobs first laid out his plans to Cingular in Feb 2005, (seven months before he introduced the ROKR and nearly 20 months before AT&T acquired Cingular in December 2006).
To say Apple, i.e., Jobs picked Verizon first or for that matter at all, is ludicrous. In fact, part of the reasons it took the deal [with AT&T] nearly a year and a half to come together, was Jobs insistence that not only did the price of their data plans have to come down, but more importantly, they had to build up and improve their wireless service qualitatively and quantitatively.
WIRED: The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry
It was a late morning in the fall of 2006. Almost a year earlier, Steve Jobs had tasked
about 200 of Apple's top engineers with creating the iPhone. Yet here, in Apple's
boardroom, it was clear that the prototype was still a disaster. It wasn't just buggy, it
flat-out didn't work. The phone dropped calls constantly, the battery stopped charging
before it was full, data and applications routinely became corrupted and unusable. The
list of problems seemed endless. At the end of the demo, Jobs fixed the dozen or so
people in the room with a level stare and said, "We don't have a product yet."
...before AT&T acquired Cingular in December 2006).
Small nitpick. Cingular acquired AT&T and then changed their name.
Small nitpick. Cingular acquired AT&T and then changed their name.
Smaller nitpick: Cingular acquired an offshoot of the former Ma Bell who had happened to name themselves AT&T and then changed their name.
Smaller nitpick: Cingular acquired an offshoot of the former Ma Bell who had happened to name themselves AT&T and then changed their name.
It's nitpicks all the way down...
It's nitpicks all the way down...
Can't argue there.
Wikipedia
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., founded in 1987 as McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc., and now legally known as New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., formerly part of AT&T Corp., is a wireless telephone carrier in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and later traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol "AWE", as a separate entity from its former parent.
On October 26, 2004, AT&T Wireless was acquired by Cingular Wireless, a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth, to form the largest wireless carrier in the United States at the time. On November 16, 2004, AT&T Wireless stores were rechristened under the Cingular banner. The legal entity "AT&T Wireless Services, Inc." was renamed "New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc."
In late 2005, SBC (the majority partner in Cingular) acquired the original AT&T, and rebranded as "the new AT&T". Cingular became wholly owned by the new AT&T in December 2006 as a result of the new AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. After the merger, Cingular was renamed AT&T Mobility in early 2007 and remained the largest wireless carrier until 2009 when Verizon acquired Alltel to retake its position as the number one carrier.
If I have to wait 3 seconds for my email to load, I just don't care. But dropped calls, poor quality calls do make a difference. I'll my iPad for browsing data intensive websites.