4 ms·
The carrier straight jacket is the big one. I know plenty of people that won't switch from Verizon or Sprint because ATT's network is horrible or nonexistent fo
by angstrom 16y ago
The carrier straight jacket is the big one. I know plenty of people that won't switch from Verizon or Sprint because ATT's network is horrible or nonexistent for them. Allowing ATT to have a 1/2 decade grip may be the biggest mistake of all.
- SoftwareMaven 16y agoExcept Apple probably didn't have a great deal of choice at the time. Remember, at the time, the best thing people had to compare the iPhone with was the Newton (and many of those comparisons were made). AT&T was either extremely smart or extremely lucky for making the deal they did. I'm sure Apple gave up way more than they wanted to just to get the phone out the door.
- angstrom 16y agoFair, but I remember one of the major sticking points was how much the carriers were willing to subsidize the cost of the phone at launch. Verizon wasn't willing to give as much as att on their contracts. There was certainly give/take, but the generosity of the lock-in is starting to be stretched. At least there are other markets that are less restricted to allow growth outside the US market.