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- Amazon releases Kindle Application for Mac
- iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 - Build: 10M2148 released
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- Google's Nexus One phone announced on all four US carriers
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Comments (38)
I wish AT&T was better in my area but having an iPhone is totally worth it because it kicks ass!!!
Dropped calls and lack of signal in some places is really frustrating. Or getting 5 bars in a small town but no edge or 3g, or when it says 3g, you get no response from any data source.
However, I can't just say I hate AT&T, because I don't know how Verizon would do if every iphone user switched to verizon's network. Would they buckle also?
I have an iPhone 3GS and am not all that impressed by it. It is jailbroken, I have lots of apps and have decent (minor issues) reception where I live. I do not get all the hype. I guess I am not defined by the phone that I carry like most iPhone users are. It is a phone!
Sorry but if you don't like the iPhone then you won't like any other smart phone that are on the market. Your better off sticking with a RAZR or even a Tracfone. Smart phones (like the iPhone) are pocket computers that have the ability to make calls. Don't take the phone part to serious.
Try a Nokia 3210 - I think they are suppossed to be reasonable for making phone calls and you won't have to worry about all that 3G and WiFi nonsense!
I had Verizon for 4 or 5 years with no problems. Then I got an iPhone and switched to AT&T. I've done more traveling than ever and still no problems. I'm happy with AT&T and would stay.
Lets not forget but it was AT&T that allowed Apple to start a Smartphone Revolution. If it wasn't for them taking a financial risk in subsidizing millions of phones to make it affordable ($99-$199) with a $400 subsidy, who knows if the iPhone would've taken off. Verizon certainly wasn't going to do it. I doubt that millions of people would spend $600+ for the phone if they had too.
No, it was us that made the revolution. Apple and its customers are solely responsible. Remember, the iPhone wasn't subsidized when it first came out. The cheapest one was $499 for a 4GB and it was purchased directly through Apple and activated at home. The users took the financial risk. AT&T just let us use the network. It wasn't until after it was a success did they realize the mountains of cash they could make and started subsidizing hundreds of dollars to lure us in.
There was no "risk" for AT&T in subsidizing the iPhone because they required signing a minimum $1700 service contract for the phone.
Over the past month I have noticed an influx of dropped calls in Omaha. The signal fades completely from 3G to no data service and then to one bar with EDGE. A few seconds later it's back to 3G with five bars. Best part: I am standing still as this happens.
Overall if we compare it with to other service providers we will find that it is far better. But I personally feel that they are certain areas were AT&T can improve. Lack of signal in certain areas is one of the major problem I am facing because my profession demands lots of travelling and it is quite annoying when weak signal disrupts your work.
Honestly, the service in my area fine. I haven't had any problems with AT&T. (and if and when I travel, its fine everywhere else I go too)
I'm not in love AT&T though and would definitely switch if there was another carrier that was cheaper and offered good enough service...
People pay about $1700 for two years of AT&T service. And 70% of AT&T users, according to this survey, are unsatisfied.
Is the iPhone really that important to these people that they'd pay $1700 to be unsatisfied? Didn't these people do their homework before they signed up for service? Didn't they use the service during the 30-day "contract escape" period? Don't they just bail with the $175 termination fee in order to minimize the duration of their dissatisfaction?
I find it nothing but bizarre that so many people would spend so much money for service that didn't satisfy their needs. So you people that are spending the big bucks for nothing: what's YOUR story?
The $1700 for service is a bullsh*t number. Everyone who throws around that number forgets that you'd be paying a substantial portion of that number with EVERY phone that you get from AT&T. The only EXTRA cost to iPhone service over above what you'd have on every other phone with the same voice and messaging plan is the cost of the data service, which is $30 per month. Interesting, that $30 per month is actually cheaper than data plans for other phones like Blackberries, and it's "unlimited" which other phones' plans aren't. Additionally, on the iPhone, MMS is free if you have SMS, I believe you pay extra for MMS on other phones.
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At any rate, with the true price difference just being $30 per month over something like a Razr, you're only paying $30*24, or $720 over another phone. And it's still not a valid complaint, the real question is "do you think unlimited email, websurfing, youtubing, and app network access is worth $30 per month. Obviously, most iPhone users do, or they wouldn't have gotten one.
OK, I'll bite: if must pay $30+ a month for telephone services, would you spend it on something that (1) gives you satisfaction, or (2) something that leaves you dissatisfied?
According to the poll, the majority of people are in category (2).
You'll bite what?
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The poll is poorly phrased. There's no option for people like me, who don't have problems with AT&T (or Verizon/Sprint for that matter), but just happen to use a particular provider because that provider carries the device (like the iPhone) and others don't. How should I vote in the above poll? I wouldn't jump ship just because I'm on AT&T, and I wouldn't stay on AT&T just because it's AT&T. Since none of the selections address me, I either don't vote, or vote facetiously to screw with the poll. Either way, the poll's results can't be trusted, so your conclusion is flawed.
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As for the first point you raise, it's practically the same thing. If I want an iPhone with unlimited 3G data, I have no choice other than AT&T. Even a hacked phone switched to TMobile can't use 3G data (hardware's not compatible), so the question is self-answering - people are satisfied with the $30/mo plan for data, or they wouldn't opt to get (and stay with) the iPhone on AT&T.
I'm guessing that the dissatisfied people either (1) get their service paid for by their employer, or (2) get their service paid for by their parents.
That's the only way people would have a service that doesn't satisfy their needs - they get it for free. They certainly aren't paying $70/month. People are stupid, but they aren't THAT stupid.
I pay for the service my self - In the event that the iPhone was available on Verizon I would gladly pay the early termination fee with AT&T, purchase another iPhone, and pay the monthly service charge (which would be nearly the same).
The iPhone is a valuable tool to me and provides me with Apps that take my business to the next level (minibooks, salesforce, etc). I stay with AT&T because those tools on the iPhone paid for the 2 years of service within the first week of use.
Just because AT&T offers a great phone while providing subpar service does not mean that people are stupid for sticking with their current service plan. If anything trying to deduce such a conclusion for the facts presented would elude to stupidity.
I am an Apple addict. Mac Pro, Mac Book pro, iPhone
Today, after months of endless service calls, I finally managed to get AT&T to cancel my contract on my 3Gs iPhone.
AT&T has wonderful committed staff and a rotten network. Dropped calls make the iPhone almost unusable in my part of the Bay Area.
Sad for me as I love the hardware but I'm paying $100 a month for an iPod touch and that does not work. But the Bay Area is not close to any urban population so what was I to expect?
I'll switch to a pay as you go phone and hope that Apple partners a phone company with a network.
Message to Steve - Your choice of partners is also a statement about you. Ultimately, the best phone on the worst network was more about your profits than my satisfaction.
I'm sad about this
Rob
The bay area IS one of the biggest urban areas and the 3g coverage is fine for the most part throughout the area. The only real problems are in the dense downtown area of SF and the more rural areas surrounded by hills. I'd bet that the bay area as a whole has one of the best 3g services of all the urban areas in the US although looking at SF only it is extremely poor.
i switched from verizon to att when the iphone first came out. mind you that at the time att was the best carrier where i lived. three years later, att now has the worse quality and consent droped calls. their service is quite poor (took one year to get my deposit refund back). though they do have a large network and rollover minutes.
over all…i think that if people began switching from att, then their calls will get better as the network becomes less strained
Today, I was in place where I had no signal, just another day with AT&T. I'm on AT&Ts network of course. I looked to my side and I see someone texting. I asked this person what wireless provider do you have? This person said "I have T-mobile" can you believe this! T-mobile, better signal then AT&T? yup believe it t-mobile is doing better then AT&T.
I get a corporate discount with AT&T and that's the only reason I switched to them about a year and a half ago. Since I am with them, I was considering getting an iPhone, but not a chance. I'm not a "power user" and I haven't been on every carrier in the U.S., but the carrier I had previous worked very well for me. I'm switching as soon as my contract with AT&T is up.
iPhone or not, it's just not worth paying $100 for something so crappy.
Yes I would drop AT&T in a heartbeat for ANY other provider. My preference being T-Mo, although it is somewhat like comparing devils... they are all villified and not all that different from one another... seemed everyone hated Verizon just a few years ago.
Anyway, I think AT&T is way over priced and underserviced. You can't pay full price for a iPhone and then choose a pre-paid plan. There is STILL no freaking tethering for the iPhone on AT&T? You can get tethering in Bulgaria but not the US...
I have AT&T for cell and Verizon for my expresscard (I travel quite a bit) and Verizon's net is really no better. There are *few* times when I have 0 of either carrier and and a few times when I do not have AT&T voice (wait 5 miles, it'll show up). The speeds on this v740 are crap most of the time (yes I know your location may and will vary) but the only better part about VZW are the tower handoffs (when i use my iPhone in edge I have 0 issues w/that add plus there are times the expresscard just craps the bed), can't say I'm impressed w/Verizon enough to even remotely contemplate switching. Their network may be larger, but the quality of the data service is ehh.
You should have other options for those who have switched due to the network or those who have an opinion even though they are not on AT&T's network. For instance, I am not an AT&T subscriber, but I can honestly say I will never be because I feel that strongly about their service problems.
Where is the option for "I had AT&T, but dropped them becuase their service sucks?"
I would stay, but only because I live in DC and AT&T has overbuilt the network here (3G @5 bars every where I go...). I have not had to deal with AT&T customer service but that could change my mind if they really screwed things up (which happens allot). If I lived in NYC, SF or outside a major metro area I would never get an AT&T phone....
Just one mans observation - Get outside the beltway in NOVA and there are spots where AT&T is dead. Had to drop Cingular/AT@T when the kids starting to go off to college, VT, JMU, and Penn State because of dead spots along their travels. In talking to other parents found that Verizon was the way to go.
I'm satisfied with AT&T (in Texas). But, if there were another network, I would definitely compare pricing. In my opinion, $85/mo (1st gen) is a little steep considering I hardly use voice services.