How we love the iPhone

TechCrunch: “But every single day I have some kind of AT&T issue. And many of the aforementioned people I know do too. So rather than making us pay the $150 for this device, why not just send one to every customer living in areas that you yourselves admit has service “below our standards“?” – Yep, that’s right, AT&T has a device you can pay $150.00 for that will use your existing broadband connection so your AT&T based service is better. What the? So, get this, most folks pay around $120.00 per month for the “honor” of using the iPhone, they could care less about the service provider, unless that provider’s service is horrible. Instead of fixing their network in San Francisco and New York they’ve found a way to make a profit off of it. Wow, just wow.

Let your money do the talking

Look, I don’t have this issue with AT&T where I live. The network seems to work just fine most of the time, cellular still has a long way to go to match the quality we get with land lines. Here’s the thing. Either you live with the poor network, or move to a different carrier. Yeah, it’s that simple. Ahhh, there’s a catch. You can’t take your iPhone with you. That one thing is keeping people on a network they’re unhappy with. Another wow. Really? You’re picking your network because you won’t give up your iPhone?

If you won’t let your money do the talking because of the device, should you complain about the service?

There are other phones

I don’t actually own an iPhone, I have a Palm Centro. It works for me. I only have voice and text services so the device isn’t as important, I just need something with a QWERTY keyboard. Sure I’d like to have one, but I’m not yet willing to play the extra price for the service. At one point back in the summer I’d looked at switching to Sprint because of their great pricing. You can get the same services; unlimited text, and data, with 450 voice minutes for $70.00. Sprint, as you may know, had an exclusive deal with Palm. The Palm Pre is an amazing smart phone, in fact I think it’s the second best smart phone on the market. Of course I think the iPhone is better, but the Pre is a great number two! I know they’re in trouble, and folks have criticized their hardware, but they do have an amazing operating system in WebOS, and they’re not going away anytime soon. If you want to spend a little more and get what most consider the best cellular carrier in the country you can now get the Palm Pre Plus through Verizon and you can tether with up to five devices. Nice.

What if?

If you’re an iPhone user and you could use your phone on Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile, what would you do? Would you switch in a heartbeat? My brother is a Verizon fanboi so he lives with the phones he can get his hands on. I’m not convinced he’s liked any of his smart phones because he keeps buying new ones. I know, I just know, he’s waiting for that glorious day to come! The day the iPhone is available on all the major carriers, then I’d put money on him buying one the day it’s available. I also know people that are living with AT&T service, because of the iPhone, and are due to commit to a new two year deal, but won’t do it because they’re hoping the exclusive iPhone deal will AT&T will lapse and they can switch carriers. Interesting isn’t it.

Yeah, people love the iPhone.