caught this over at Boing Boing and it is really something to think about.
Apple’s iPhone already has its first controversy. Why is AT&T the exclusive wireless carrier for the iPhone?
As it stands now, Act for Change sees iPhone users locked into a service contract with “a corporation whose practices seem to run counter to everything Apple stands for.” Their announcement included complaints directed specifically towards AT&T — including AT&T’s “warrantless wiretapping” controversy and their sharing of customer phone records with the National Security Agency.
The group even cited the chairman’s political contributions of AT&T’s chairman, and called it “the same AT&T that is doing its very best to destroy net neutrality and create a ’slow lane’ Internet for the rest of us.”
You know, it’s interesting how we have all forgotten about how AT&T is part of the Warrantless Wiretapping fiasco….
June 29, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I hadn’t even heard of that! Disgusting… where’s Verizon on this one? I’m contemplating dropping my service.
June 29, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Apple offered the iPhone to every single major wireless carrier, and went to Verizon first. Everyone turned it down except Cingular (now AT&T).
Verizon specifically turned it down because they want all of their phones to have the same GUI.
June 29, 2007 at 3:04 pm
I still want that phone.
I MUST HAVE IT !!!
June 29, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Same GUI, yea right. Nope! Verizon wanted control of the phone features. They all did, but Cingular gave Apple what it wanted… Design freedom. Simple.
AT&T is still a bad company to do business with. They have deceived me in the past. Poor products, poor support.
Oh, and Jason, wait. More features are coming now that Apple has broken the stranglehold the carriers had on features. A friend over at seobythesea.com says we are in for a big load of change in the next year or so.
June 29, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Alan,
WAIT A GOSH DARN MINUTE! are you saying Ryan S is wrong?
shocking
June 29, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Same GUI, yea right. Nope! Verizon wanted control of the phone features.
The way I read it, Verizon considers their GUI to be a “feature.”
donviti, it looks like Alan and I are in agreement on this one.
donviti not reading a comment?
’shocking’
June 29, 2007 at 6:23 pm
The GUI is a feature! HaHa, sounds like some very conceited programmers there. I know this is long and stolen, but here is an article from the WSJ:
…a new trend: running cellphones on Wi-Fi. The technology, which extends landline Internet connections over radio frequencies within limited ranges, is already very popular with laptop users. Now, handset manufacturers want to bring it to cellphones as well, allowing customers to surf at higher speeds — and in some cases, even make calls — when their phones are near a hot spot.
The Sprint Mogul by HTC uses Wi-Fi
While high-end Wi-Fi smart phones have been available for several years, manufacturers of popular handsets are increasingly making the technology standard. Apple Inc.’s iPhone, scheduled to make its debut on AT&T Friday, will use Wi-Fi to let users browse YouTube and other content at much faster speeds than AT&T’s cellular network allows. Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA is launching a service today with phones from Nokia Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. that will automatically transfer cellphone calls onto Wi-Fi networks when users have access to them at home or at one of the company’s 8,500 hot spots. T-Mobile plans to offer similar features on other devices, including a BlackBerry from Research In Motion Ltd., later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Operators have resisted selling Wi-Fi phones in the past, fearing that such devices would eat into revenue from voice and data plans by allowing customers to cut back on cellular-network usage. They also worried that Wi-Fi could become a Trojan horse for third-party services that allow cheap or free Internet calling. While such mobile Internet calling services aren’t widely available to date, they do exist. EBay Inc. offers a mobile version of its Skype service for Windows Mobile phones that has been downloaded more than five million times. The iPhone won’t include any software for making Wi-Fi calls, but Skype and other companies say they are interested in developing such services if Apple will allow them.