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Why I !♥ AT&T, and by extension Apple…
By keeper | August 23, 2008
My Glofiish (yes, that’s the correct spelling that ETen choose to call their new phones) X500 went into retirement early and I had to get my hands on a new phone pronto. As iPhone is all the rage these days, I naturally drove down to my local Apple store, thinking I could get my hands on a the 3G. Though I am aware of its many deficiencies, such as the contractually crippled GPS, capped 3G connection speed, deliberately castrated bluetooth, and poor battery life, I was still hopeful. Until I was told by the coolest geeky-looking apple guy that I am ineligible for the subsidized iphone for $199, since I am already a AT&T customer, which I already expect. But what really sets me off is that even if I spend $325 more for the unsubsidized iphone, which I was fully prepared to pay for, that the phone will still be locked to the AT&T network.
AT&T Sucks
So why the fuck should AT&T have any say over a piece of technology which I purchased and own fully? It is the same perverse indistrual logic which tries to tied the operating system (Windows) with PCs. The goal is to hope that customers will be blindsighted by the glorious iPhone and dumb enough not to consider the total cost of ownership, which forces customer loyalty, and pedding up the bottomline and long-term financial guidance. Good for the company, and bad for everyone else.
People would argue that they are getting the wonderful tech toy that has “twice the speed at half the price”, and locking phone is a industrial norm. Looking at most of Europe and Asia, where customers fully own their phone and are capable of switch their carriers without the intimidation of contracts, cancellation fees, and cost of purchasing new equipment, our cellphone system sucks. The only way for phone makers to distribute their product is through phone companies, which decouples the competitive attention with the need of the consumer. It is such perverse system which stop technology advancement, and kept the real price of owning a cellphone surprisingly high in this country.
Therefore my main beef is with AT&T, but also shame on Apple, since they wasted their unique position of having a product that basically markets itself.
Rock on, the iPhone dev team!!!
Update: PwnageTool 2.0.3 Released!
Topics: General Rant, Technology |