I got my deep boots on and my Barbara Streisand detector is fired up...
Verizon's continuing downplay of the iPhone is a little short on credibility-I mean really-they claim that iPhone sales are pushing their own smart phone sales
Actually, with the three people I had to speak with from Verizon trying to port my number over to AT&T, all three basically waived every charge under the sun for me to stay. "We have touch phones"; we can waive this and that for your other line (my wife--soon to be switching out as well); can you replace yourself with another person and we'll give them whatever you ask us to for free?
I'm sure someone fell for that crap and stayed. I was in the Apple store already with 3G iphone in hand, so I said no. Even if I was trapped under a car in the parking lot, bleeding from the eyes, I still would have gotten the iPhone at some point.
But I'm sure somewhere across the nation people used the I'm leaving for the iPhone thing to get a newer smartphone at a decent discount from Verizon.
Even my hatred for Verizon and their ridiculous fees cannot ignore the fact that in lower NY state, their cellular service is superior to AT&T. EVDO is thoroughly implanted wherever they have a signal. 3G is spotty at best, especially above NYC.
looks like someone has found a loop hole in the justice system.. as apple, they the right to their own devices.. but demonstration in front of apple store is not illegal...
So who is going to affect? the people themselves.. the customer of Apple...and ultimately, the people demonstrating.. If Apple opens up, then iphone will be another generic device just like the sony mp3 player and any other mp3 player...
It is Apple's choice to open up something they owned.
Even my hatred for Verizon and their ridiculous fees cannot ignore the fact that in lower NY state, their cellular service is superior to AT&T. EVDO is thoroughly implanted wherever they have a signal. 3G is spotty at best, especially above NYC.
This is not the first we've heard of NY being very Verizon-friendly compared to AT&T in that regard. The odd thing is that a couple months ago AT&T released a a report of his superior 3G data speeds that I believe was from that area.
Luckily, I tend to travel in areas that are well covered by AT&T.
Verizon's position may not be entirely defense. Didn't Verizon actually add more new subscribers during the first quarter after the initial iPhone launch than AT&T did?
If you don't travel overseas, but you do travel a lot in North America, CDMA can have advantages over GSM.
The company also fires a direct jab at AT&T, noting that its wireless strategy doesn't depend on "any one device" and claims the iPhone actually spurred a rush of smartphone sales at Verizon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enigmafan420
I mean really d00d!!11!! Can I please have an LG DARE Phone?!?11!! (which incidentally costs as much as an iPhone but has kewl "angled" icons) that is so tightly locked-up I can't even add my own ring tones? And that runs some proprietary version of some software (not even Windows Mobile, which isn't very good in itself) WOW! I can run an HTML browser on my kewl gnu phone man
Verizon's problem is that they are the opposite of open source-you can't even sneeze around your phone without a charge. I don't think much of AT&T either-but there is no way I would trade my iPhone 3G for ANYTHING in Verizon's arsenal-especially with their $2.99 ring tones that only last 6 months and their legendarily bad customer service-it is at least as bad as AT&Ts, only without a phone worth owning.
For the most part I completely agree. They might not be totally full of it by saying the iPhone has spurred more smart phone sales. The problem is Verizon's smart phones are awful compared to the iPhone, and it's only a matter of time before their customers figure this out. I actually took a serious look at getting one of their smart phones right after the iPhone originally came out, but their options were garbage, and they still are. My brother has one of the newer Blackberrys and even that is extremely cumbersome to use. The thing I really can't understand is how they charge so much?? The retail price of the LG Dare, Voyager, etc. are ridiculously high. Especially when you compare that price to the iPhone. Many times the iPhone is cheaper.
Fast forward one year...
I really started to need/want a smart phone, so I looked again at Verizon. To make a long story short, it was actually CHEAPER for me to cancel my contract with Verizon and buy the iPhone, rather than buying one of their smart phones at retail. (They claimed I wasn't close enough to the end of my contract to get any upgrade discount.) All I have to say to Verizon is Thanks! The iPhone is hands down the best phone on the market, and I have no regrets leaving Verizon's lagging technology behind.
Verizon's position may not be entirely defense. Didn't Verizon actually add more new subscribers during the first quarter after the initial iPhone launch than AT&T did?
If you don't travel overseas, but you do travel a lot in North America, CDMA can have advantages over GSM.
I think it was 1.5M new subscribers to 1.3M, in Verizon's favour. And that was when AT&T had the largest subscriber base (pre-the Altell acquisition by Verizon) so the percentage was even smaller for AT&T.
However, only half of the reported iPhone buyers for AT&T were new to the carrier (or like me returning after vowing to never to return to Cingular).
Another thing to consider is that we know that iPhone users had to pay at least $60/month to signup, a good $20 more than the a basic voice package so it's quite possible that AT&T's 200k less new subscribers actually generated more gross profit for the company than Verizon.
To make a long story short, it was actually CHEAPER for me to cancel my contract with Verizon and buy the iPhone, rather than buying one of their smart phones at retail. (They claimed I wasn't close enough to the end of my contract to get any upgrade discount.) All I have to say to Verizon is Thanks! The iPhone is hands down the best phone on the market, and I have no regrets leaving Verizon's lagging technology behind.
If you told them what you were going to do I'm fairly certain they would have bent over and grabbed ankle to keep you as a customer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
I thought it was one of those hammer-wielding Nordic gods?
"iPhone 3G's rollout has had just a "minimally short-term impact" on Verizon's sales, if the company's statements during its quarterly results call prove true."
They know that the iPhone was scarce as hell between May and July 11th?
Fuck, they would only have needed to sell a couple of handsets in June to sell more than AT&T sold iPhones.
Lets see what the figures are like after this quarter.
If you told them what you were going to do I'm fairly certain they would have bent over and grabbed ankle to keep you as a customer.
Yeah, you're probably right. I hinted at what I was planning to do, but honestly, unless they could offer me the iPhone, I wasn't staying! Obviously they couldn't, so I didn't want to deal with their rig-a-ma-roll. I just left it alone for the most part, and went to the Apple store to get the iPhone.
Jeez, lets do a DOS attack on Genius Bars and watch as Apple customers think that freetards are even greater morons.
But seriously...NOT Open Source but Free Software proponents (zealots). Please fix the article.
Yeah there's actually been a pretty big backlash against this "antiDRm at any cost" group. You should see the thread on slashdot... it's got antiApple people even rushing to Apple's defense.
What a stupid way to protest. The parallels to PETA are obvious and accurate. They're just interested in showboating themselves, not the cause.
Apple is a great Open Source enabler. Their source code contribs to FreeBSD go largely overlooked since it's all on the back end and in kernel land... Lets not Forget that the infamous Jordan Hubbard ( a cofounder of the FreeBSD project) has been employed by Apple since 2001 in their Unix/BSD division. What do you think he does all day?
I have been a loyal Verizon Wireless Customer since the early 90's when it was called Pacific Tel Cellular and later called Air Touch. (They should of kept the latter name.) My family is now enjoying their 3Gs. Verizon knows exactly how many numbers they are porting to AT&T. A lot!
Alot!
It was a smooth purchase at the Apple store using a Microsoft/Windows software based wireless ordering and credit card swiping device.
Well, Verizon lost me as a customer.. And about 3-4 other people in the line around me were calling on their Verizon BlackBerry's to get their account numbers so they could switch to AT&T.
I really have zero loyalty to a cellular network... They are all the same. My cell reception in my apartment, since I live in hollywood hills, is pretty weak with either network.
The key will be when IPHONE releases a VOIP wifi application.. like the upcoming ICALL.
Then I can switch to the 450 minute plan.. and use wifi at my home to make the majority of my phone calls and save myself loads of money.
id Software iPhone game? NICE! Been waiting for some killer games, frankly, and I'll be ultra stoked to play anything in the Doom or Quake "world". If it's multiplayer, I would ultra stoked!
As for the open-source whiners... You know what? All I have to say is: OpenMoko. :P Have fun.
Comments
I got my deep boots on and my Barbara Streisand detector is fired up...
Verizon's continuing downplay of the iPhone is a little short on credibility-I mean really-they claim that iPhone sales are pushing their own smart phone sales
Actually, with the three people I had to speak with from Verizon trying to port my number over to AT&T, all three basically waived every charge under the sun for me to stay. "We have touch phones"; we can waive this and that for your other line (my wife--soon to be switching out as well); can you replace yourself with another person and we'll give them whatever you ask us to for free?
I'm sure someone fell for that crap and stayed. I was in the Apple store already with 3G iphone in hand, so I said no. Even if I was trapped under a car in the parking lot, bleeding from the eyes, I still would have gotten the iPhone at some point.
But I'm sure somewhere across the nation people used the I'm leaving for the iPhone thing to get a newer smartphone at a decent discount from Verizon.
Even my hatred for Verizon and their ridiculous fees cannot ignore the fact that in lower NY state, their cellular service is superior to AT&T. EVDO is thoroughly implanted wherever they have a signal. 3G is spotty at best, especially above NYC.
So who is going to affect? the people themselves.. the customer of Apple...and ultimately, the people demonstrating.. If Apple opens up, then iphone will be another generic device just like the sony mp3 player and any other mp3 player...
It is Apple's choice to open up something they owned.
Even my hatred for Verizon and their ridiculous fees cannot ignore the fact that in lower NY state, their cellular service is superior to AT&T. EVDO is thoroughly implanted wherever they have a signal. 3G is spotty at best, especially above NYC.
This is not the first we've heard of NY being very Verizon-friendly compared to AT&T in that regard. The odd thing is that a couple months ago AT&T released a a report of his superior 3G data speeds that I believe was from that area.
Luckily, I tend to travel in areas that are well covered by AT&T.
If you don't travel overseas, but you do travel a lot in North America, CDMA can have advantages over GSM.
The company also fires a direct jab at AT&T, noting that its wireless strategy doesn't depend on "any one device" and claims the iPhone actually spurred a rush of smartphone sales at Verizon.
I mean really d00d!!11!! Can I please have an LG DARE Phone?!?11!! (which incidentally costs as much as an iPhone but has kewl "angled" icons) that is so tightly locked-up I can't even add my own ring tones? And that runs some proprietary version of some software (not even Windows Mobile, which isn't very good in itself) WOW! I can run an HTML browser on my kewl gnu phone man
Verizon's problem is that they are the opposite of open source-you can't even sneeze around your phone without a charge. I don't think much of AT&T either-but there is no way I would trade my iPhone 3G for ANYTHING in Verizon's arsenal-especially with their $2.99 ring tones that only last 6 months and their legendarily bad customer service-it is at least as bad as AT&Ts, only without a phone worth owning.
For the most part I completely agree. They might not be totally full of it by saying the iPhone has spurred more smart phone sales. The problem is Verizon's smart phones are awful compared to the iPhone, and it's only a matter of time before their customers figure this out. I actually took a serious look at getting one of their smart phones right after the iPhone originally came out, but their options were garbage, and they still are. My brother has one of the newer Blackberrys and even that is extremely cumbersome to use. The thing I really can't understand is how they charge so much?? The retail price of the LG Dare, Voyager, etc. are ridiculously high. Especially when you compare that price to the iPhone. Many times the iPhone is cheaper.
Fast forward one year...
I really started to need/want a smart phone, so I looked again at Verizon. To make a long story short, it was actually CHEAPER for me to cancel my contract with Verizon and buy the iPhone, rather than buying one of their smart phones at retail. (They claimed I wasn't close enough to the end of my contract to get any upgrade discount.) All I have to say to Verizon is Thanks! The iPhone is hands down the best phone on the market, and I have no regrets leaving Verizon's lagging technology behind.
...what is Ogg Theora?
I thought it was one of those hammer-wielding Nordic gods?
Verizon's position may not be entirely defense. Didn't Verizon actually add more new subscribers during the first quarter after the initial iPhone launch than AT&T did?
If you don't travel overseas, but you do travel a lot in North America, CDMA can have advantages over GSM.
I think it was 1.5M new subscribers to 1.3M, in Verizon's favour. And that was when AT&T had the largest subscriber base (pre-the Altell acquisition by Verizon) so the percentage was even smaller for AT&T.
However, only half of the reported iPhone buyers for AT&T were new to the carrier (or like me returning after vowing to never to return to Cingular).
Another thing to consider is that we know that iPhone users had to pay at least $60/month to signup, a good $20 more than the a basic voice package so it's quite possible that AT&T's 200k less new subscribers actually generated more gross profit for the company than Verizon.
Mind you, I don't imagine that more than three or four beardy weirdys will turn up anyway.
To make a long story short, it was actually CHEAPER for me to cancel my contract with Verizon and buy the iPhone, rather than buying one of their smart phones at retail. (They claimed I wasn't close enough to the end of my contract to get any upgrade discount.) All I have to say to Verizon is Thanks! The iPhone is hands down the best phone on the market, and I have no regrets leaving Verizon's lagging technology behind.
If you told them what you were going to do I'm fairly certain they would have bent over and grabbed ankle to keep you as a customer.
I thought it was one of those hammer-wielding Nordic gods?
Also, what is Ogg Theora?
Dead video codec. Inferior to h.264.
They know that the iPhone was scarce as hell between May and July 11th?
Fuck, they would only have needed to sell a couple of handsets in June to sell more than AT&T sold iPhones.
Lets see what the figures are like after this quarter.
..... beardy weirdys.......
That is funny.
Do you even know what you're trying to say?
If you told them what you were going to do I'm fairly certain they would have bent over and grabbed ankle to keep you as a customer.
Yeah, you're probably right. I hinted at what I was planning to do, but honestly, unless they could offer me the iPhone, I wasn't staying! Obviously they couldn't, so I didn't want to deal with their rig-a-ma-roll. I just left it alone for the most part, and went to the Apple store to get the iPhone.
NOT Open Source but Freetards.
Jeez, lets do a DOS attack on Genius Bars and watch as Apple customers think that freetards are even greater morons.
But seriously...NOT Open Source but Free Software proponents (zealots). Please fix the article.
Yeah there's actually been a pretty big backlash against this "antiDRm at any cost" group. You should see the thread on slashdot... it's got antiApple people even rushing to Apple's defense.
What a stupid way to protest. The parallels to PETA are obvious and accurate. They're just interested in showboating themselves, not the cause.
Apple is a great Open Source enabler. Their source code contribs to FreeBSD go largely overlooked since it's all on the back end and in kernel land... Lets not Forget that the infamous Jordan Hubbard ( a cofounder of the FreeBSD project) has been employed by Apple since 2001 in their Unix/BSD division. What do you think he does all day?
Alot!
It was a smooth purchase at the Apple store using a Microsoft/Windows software based wireless ordering and credit card swiping device.
today, for now apparent reason, all my contacts became only numbers, all the names have vanished. LOL!
glad i'm only using this free 2 month trial period.
I really have zero loyalty to a cellular network... They are all the same. My cell reception in my apartment, since I live in hollywood hills, is pretty weak with either network.
The key will be when IPHONE releases a VOIP wifi application.. like the upcoming ICALL.
Then I can switch to the 450 minute plan.. and use wifi at my home to make the majority of my phone calls and save myself loads of money.
id Software iPhone game? NICE! Been waiting for some killer games, frankly, and I'll be ultra stoked to play anything in the Doom or Quake "world". If it's multiplayer, I would ultra stoked!
As for the open-source whiners... You know what? All I have to say is: OpenMoko. :P Have fun.