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June 08, 2009

AT&T hamstrings Apple?

You have to wonder how cozy Apple and AT&T really are when it seems that AT&T's network is holding back the iPhone in the States

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So as I've been sitting here, watching the Gizmodo coverage of WWDC, noting that Apple once again is doing some really amazing things with computing. If the hype is even halfway real, Snow Leopard will be a major boost, faster, tighter, more features, and so forth. It's also definitely priced to move at $29 for an upgrade. When it's released next to Windows 7 (which is still theoretically possible), it'll look quite attractive. As will the new laptop lineup that includes price cuts across the board, a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, and hardware upgrades all the way around. It's also obvious that the iPhone 3G S is the most advanced mobile phone/computing platform ever built. Some of the apps that were shown were extremely impressive (even though the demos fell apart).

Yep, the iPhone continues to be a revolutionary device, changing the way the world works, plays, and communicates. It's also completely obvious that AT&T is simply not up to the task of supporting it.

[ Find out what business can expect from Mac OS X Snow Leopard. ]

All of this wonderful technology, yet AT&T still can't support MMS and tethering, even though Apple's included it in iPhone OS 3.0.

7.2Mbps HSDPA? Sure, but AT&T doesn't even have 3G anywhere around here yet, and from what I hear, it's moving quite slowly to roll out a network capable of supporting a device like the iPhone 3GS. Some might even say that the company is slow in rolling out a network that can support the current iPhone 3G. When iPhone OS 3.0 is released, 22 countries will be able to use the MMS and tethering features, and the United States will not be one of them. How embarrassing is that?

One might wonder what the terms of Apple's contract with AT&T really are. Apple's presentation today certainly seemed to throw a few darts in AT&T's direction. I would certainly think that there's some tension there, with Apple releasing this hip new phone that can only function on a network that simply can't handle it. It's like a server farm at the other end of a Token Ring connection -- lots of horsepower and features, but the network is a huge bottleneck.

Verizon passed up the iPhone just over two years ago. I'm sure it's lamented that decision in many meetings. Yes, it was a gamble, but wow, did it pay off. But I have to think that Apple's also quite disillusioned about the deal. It must be quite frustrating to pack all those resources into a device that needs fast, widespread connectivity, only to have it hamstrung by what is increasingly being viewed by users as a very poor network.

Full disclosure: I'm ordering an iPhone 3G S right now and just found AT&T's twin $18 upgrade fees. Nice touch. Tell ya what: I won't be too upset about these BS fees if you use the money to upgrade your network. Deal?

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bookwyrm 8-Jun-09 2:47pm

Worse yet, AT&T is going to completely cripple iPhone 3GS sales with their upgrade pricing policy. Anyone that bought a current 3G phone will have to wait at least 6 months (assuming they got it at launch and not later) or they have to pay another $200 over the prices announced today by Apple. I was all ready to pre-order one after the keynote this morning until the ordering system informed me it would actually be $399 for the 16GB or $499 for the 32GB.

Add to that the fact that AT&T's network performance around here has actually been getting significantly worse lately and I really hope Apple untethers itself from AT&T soon.

Very disappointing start in the US for a great piece of hardware.

californialife 8-Jun-09 3:46pm
Funny how we always lag the rest of the world in actually implementing technologies like this. AT&T is a behemoth that seems more interested in controlling technologies than making actual use of them. Wouldn't it be a shame if they went the way of GM? Sometimes I think the rest of the world must just laugh their rear ends off...
Oliver Broodno 8-Jun-09 8:56pm
Apple people did not get off their West Coast rear ends and ask a few mid-western customers of AT&T and predecessor SBC about the customer service and the vacuous distance between customer services functions of this this abysmal beast of U.S. capitalism. If didn't have to, I would not use AT&Ts services. Unfortunately, shifting to someone else might be just as treacherous. I hear horrible stories from friends about Time Warner's broadband service. As for cell phone service AT&T is not an option. I will never get an I-Phone if it is only available through AT&T.
bohannjn 8-Jun-09 9:32pm
If you listen to the webcast the laughter in the audience every time the speaker announced "this feature will be available with 72 (or whatever number) carriers throughout the world, but not in the US" was not only palpable, but obvious. Meanwhile every slide was projected with the logos of every cell phone provider except one... guess which one? AT&T has become a laughing stock (just watch a CNET Buzz Out Loud episode) and their complete and total inability to provide reliable phone calls in the very city that CNET is headquartered in and WWDC is being held in is well known. I had AT&T and fled that contract the very day my contract expired because living within 2 miles of where WWDC is being held I could not get a cell phone connection once during my entire contract. That also applied to virtually every place I spent most of my time and in my office 20 miles away. AT&T was the worst cell phone company I have ever used and I have used 4 of them. AT&T is the achilles heel of the iPhone in the US and I think Apple knows it. I expect that "exclusive" agreement to be gone soon and was actually hoping it would be announced today. The day the iPhone becomes available in the US on Verizon is the day Apple gains millions of more users in the US who actually want to be able to make and receive "phone calls". That to me has been Apple's biggest mistake in the US. Sorry, but it is the network. I develop for the iPhone and have an iPod Touch and love it because it does most of what an iPhone does including phone calls via Skype, if I have a WiFi connection. But please Apple, coming from an actual iPhone/iPod Touch developer, put the iPhone on a network where developers in your own backyard can actually use it as a phone in San Francisco so that I can use an iPhone to run my own apps and do the primary thing an iPhone is supposed to do, make and receive phone calls!
tpct0626 9-Jun-09 2:10am
I couldn't wait for the iPhone 3GS announcement - with all the speculation and hype for the past 6 months. All in All, I am disappointed with the feature set of the 3GS - It was a natural progression of CPU, Camera and Memory - it was probably on the Apple Development shelves for the past year - Yeah, Great if you are a new customer to, dare I say it, AT&T, but if you want to upgrade - you will totally get ripped off by AT&T close to $500 for the 32Gig Version. I will be happy with just the 3.0 Software Upgrade to my 16Gig Iphone 3G - the Faster Processor, Memory & Camera just isn't worth the price - What a disappointment for the Upgraders - I can't wait for my Contract with AT&T to end and hope the Iphone is with Verizon - Dare I say maybe even Downgrade to a Palm Pre with Verizon.. Apple definately slapped the 3GS together when there was so much more the could have done with it, Just an incremental upgrade.
Chas 10-Jun-09 1:46pm
Thank the Internet Gods I didn't try reading these InfoWorld articles via my iPhone and AT&T. What's with all the extra pages?!? For every InfoWorld article I've read today, the second page consisted of no more than one sentence, just a few lines. Hardly necessary, guys. How can you seriously take AT&T, or anyone really, to task when you pull this kind of stunt yourself: putting your readers through another spinning wheel for a half sentence. Then again, it's all in the ads, isn't it? While you're looking at Apple and AT&T, the people who pay for ads should be looking at you. Shameless!

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