11th
To begin, I’m totally on board with what a mess AT&T is, and that it’s holding the iPhone back - but where’s Apple’s responsibility in the matter? Did they not look at quality of the technology and coverage before landing on AT&T as the prime choice? Seems more likely to me that because of their lousy upkeep, AT&T made a big fat juicy desperate target that Apple could practically steal from while getting the iPhone “out there”. I’m just not buying the idea that Apple didn’t see any of this coming.
I’m talking out of my ass here; I don’t know details about much of anything. And I love Apple, and I don’t love AT&T. It’s clear that AT&T is the ball and chain in the relationship. I just keep seeing criticism of AT&T for what a wreck they are and not much from the perspective that maybe going with AT&T is, and was, something best left to companies that are willing to make compromises in the spirit of cheapness - a M.O. that is distinctly un-Apple.
My understanding is that Apple tried desperately to partner with anyone but AT&T, but in the impoverished landscape that is the American cellular industry, that left few alternatives. Remember that Apple didn’t need just a cellular carrier; they needed one who wouldn’t cripple the hardware design or slap ugly logos all over it, which was an unprecedented demand way back in 2006-2007. Verizon, for example, insisted that every phone on their network must go through something awful called “V Cast” for music sales—just try to imagine what a disaster that would have been.
What I think makes the real Steve Jobs so good is that he knows people will overlook shortcomings if they’re the right shortcomings: when a phone is otherwise enormously better than anything else on the market, people won’t mind so much that it doesn’t have copy and paste or can’t shoot video (both fixed in subsequent releases). He was probably livid that his customers would be stuck with the worst carrier in the nation, but it was better than trying to sell the Verizon™ vPhone™ by Apple (Bluetooth and GPS support subject to rate plan).
