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I love the comment from Robert Scoble: "My friend Andy Grignon worked for Steve Jobs and was on a very small team building the original iPhone. Steve told him

I love the comment from Robert Scoble: "My friend Andy Grignon worked for Steve Jobs and was on a very small team building the original iPhone. Steve told him "sorry, you can not hire anyone who has worked on a phone before." Why not? For exactly the reasons laid out here. He didn't want his team to find out what they were attempting to do was "impossible." Andy learned that when he went to AT&T to pitch them on what became visual voice mail. Andy and his team thought it was possible. The AT&T folks thought they were nuts. It took lots of work by Steve Jobs to convince AT&T to try."

Aloha 13y ago
Not all telecom people are sticks in the mud, that said modern at&t (SBC) is not known for being progressive, forward looking or flexible.
- mathattack 13y ago
  They are too big and mature to be reinventing the future. For better or worse, the modern AT&T came about by Southwestern Bell being the most disciplined of the baby bells. While other telecoms invested in pie in the sky projects that didn't work, SBC invested in operations and financial discipline. Their increased market cap relative to size allowed them to buy their less efficient competitors. They won on efficiency, not product development.
  - Aloha 13y ago
    Disciplined, is not the words I would use - SBC was the most corrupt (IMO) of the former baby bells too. They have been slimy for a long long time. In the 70's several executives were fired for what amounted to having a political slushfund [1] to buy off state officials when needed. While they may be successful they miss the concept of "Spirit of Service" in whole. [1] http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19760728&id=pgYkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2555,5732593 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19760728&id=p...
- grecy 13y ago
  I work at a telcom. The vast majority of people are sticks in the mud, and those that aren't are leaving, fast.
kenjackson 13y ago
Steve was probably very correct here. The thinking at the time at places like RIM was that the iPhone would not technically work -- even after they saw it. Capacitive displays weren't ready. A full screen display would drain the battery. On-screen keyboards were unusable. The great thing about "yes, if..." is that the discussion continues. People drill into the "if". "No, because ..." tends to end the discussion. "Oh, that will drain battery life? OK, lets not consider this any further."

Aloha 13y ago

Not all telecom people are sticks in the mud, that said modern at&t (SBC) is not known for being progressive, forward looking or flexible.

mathattack 13y ago
They are too big and mature to be reinventing the future. For better or worse, the modern AT&T came about by Southwestern Bell being the most disciplined of the baby bells. While other telecoms invested in pie in the sky projects that didn't work, SBC invested in operations and financial discipline. Their increased market cap relative to size allowed them to buy their less efficient competitors. They won on efficiency, not product development.
- Aloha 13y ago
  Disciplined, is not the words I would use - SBC was the most corrupt (IMO) of the former baby bells too. They have been slimy for a long long time. In the 70's several executives were fired for what amounted to having a political slushfund [1] to buy off state officials when needed. While they may be successful they miss the concept of "Spirit of Service" in whole. [1] http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19760728&id=pgYkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jwUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2555,5732593 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19760728&id=p...
grecy 13y ago
I work at a telcom. The vast majority of people are sticks in the mud, and those that aren't are leaving, fast.

kenjackson 13y ago

Steve was probably very correct here. The thinking at the time at places like RIM was that the iPhone would not technically work -- even after they saw it. Capacitive displays weren't ready. A full screen display would drain the battery. On-screen keyboards were unusable. The great thing about "yes, if..." is that the discussion continues. People drill into the "if". "No, because ..." tends to end the discussion. "Oh, that will drain battery life? OK, lets not consider this any further."