me and my 3G iPhone
I have decided, after much thought and contemplation, to purchase an iPhone. This is a big deal for me because I am not a fan of AT&T. Let me give you a brief history:
My first cell phone was with AT&T. I got it primarily because a few members of my family had it. This was back in 1999-ish. I had a Nokia phone. No camera, very simple to use. It was awesome! The big thing I liked about it was how it searched for contacts. Without going into technobable, you could type "ic" and get "Michael", "Jessica", or "Maverick". I can do that with my LG enV. Implementing this would be as easy as changing the regular expression. But I digress.
Despite these awesome features, my service with AT&T was sub-par. I had issues with my phone and the service. I got hit with hidden fees, overage charges, and a list of other problems. And anytime I called AT&T to get these things fixed, it always proved to be difficult. I would get the run-around several times and basically left me bitter.
I was more than glad to pay my early termination fee to port my number to Verizon. I did this the very day the law went into effect. Ever since I’ve been with Verizon, I have never had any issue that Verizon couldn’t solve. With the exception of three calls, every problem I address with Verizon was handled with one phone call. The three other calls were due my own negligence and misunderstanding. Even then, the representatives were incredibly understanding.
So why move to AT&T if I like Verizon so much? One word: stupidity.
Apple went to Verizon first because they new that Verizon had the biggest and most reliable network. Verizon also had the most customers. When talks dissolved, Apple went courting for another cell service provider. AT&T was next on their list.
Verizon’s response to their customers: "We just couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial." Translation: Apple wanted too much money.
AT&T, on the other hand, GLADLY welcomed Apple and pretty much gave them everything they wanted. And now, AT&T has taking a huge collection of Verizon customers with them. Verizon, you lost out on a great thing.
Technologically, Verizon has got some piss-poor phones. All of their phones (with the exception of Blackberrys or Smartphones) all run the same interface. This is great so you don’t have to re-learn each phone. But it does take away from the unique features each phone had. Verizon is also the only company that cripples the Bluetooth interface so that you have to purchase applications from Verizon. You can use a headset, but you cannot send and receive data via Bluetooth.
I’ve been a Verizon customer for over 5 years and I’m sad to be closing my wireless relationship with them. I still have FiOS and don’t plan on getting rid of that anytime soon.