3 ms·

I think rollout of 3G and affordable mobile data tariffs were very important to smartphones. If you'd had an iphone in 2004 it wouldn't have been much use becau

by jiggy2011 12y ago

I think rollout of 3G and affordable mobile data tariffs were very important to smartphones. If you'd had an iphone in 2004 it wouldn't have been much use because it would be too slow and you wouldn't be able to afford to use it.

quaunaut 12y ago
The first iPhone did pretty dang well without 3G. 3G helped, but it by no means was a requirement, especially with wifi prevalent even in 2007.
- jiggy2011 12y ago
  But there was still a fairly short window between common availability of wifi and Edge and the iphone. Especially when you consider that the iphone was probably in development for several years.
rmrfrmrf 12y ago
IMO we all have Apple and Cingular to thank for that. Palm and Microsoft were more than happy to allow telcos to force customers to pay extra fees to unlock Wi-Fi and to pay for insane, complicated data plans; so much so that Apple's demands basically had Verizon telling Steve Jobs to go fuck himself. It wasn't until the success of the iPhone that the ridiculous policies and prices of phone service started to drop.
- xorcist 12y ago
  That opinion is terribly short sighted. Cingular/AT&T/Verizon was very late to the mobile data revolution, globally speaking. The market would have developed the same way without the North American carries on board. Which they hardly were. I seem to remember quaint rules against tethering at the time of the iPhone.
  - bruceboughton 12y ago
    >> I seem to remember quaint rules against tethering at the time of the iPhone. In the UK at least, it's still very hard to get a sane data plan with tethering at a reasonable price.
    - xorcist 12y ago
      Agreed, the broadband situation in the UK leaves a lot to be desired. Building mobile networks is still very much a national regulatory affair, with a lot of upfront capital costs, so even the big multinational service providers do not offer the same service in two different countries (often charging you for roaming when you go abroad, even within the same provider's network!). I've been waiting for some big provider to offer true multinational mobile service at least within the EU, where the regulatory framework is similar and necessary agreements in place. But it looks like I will be waiting forever...

quaunaut 12y ago

The first iPhone did pretty dang well without 3G. 3G helped, but it by no means was a requirement, especially with wifi prevalent even in 2007.

jiggy2011 12y ago
But there was still a fairly short window between common availability of wifi and Edge and the iphone. Especially when you consider that the iphone was probably in development for several years.

rmrfrmrf 12y ago

IMO we all have Apple and Cingular to thank for that. Palm and Microsoft were more than happy to allow telcos to force customers to pay extra fees to unlock Wi-Fi and to pay for insane, complicated data plans; so much so that Apple's demands basically had Verizon telling Steve Jobs to go fuck himself. It wasn't until the success of the iPhone that the ridiculous policies and prices of phone service started to drop.

xorcist 12y ago
That opinion is terribly short sighted. Cingular/AT&T/Verizon was very late to the mobile data revolution, globally speaking. The market would have developed the same way without the North American carries on board. Which they hardly were. I seem to remember quaint rules against tethering at the time of the iPhone.
- bruceboughton 12y ago
  >> I seem to remember quaint rules against tethering at the time of the iPhone. In the UK at least, it's still very hard to get a sane data plan with tethering at a reasonable price.
  - xorcist 12y ago
    Agreed, the broadband situation in the UK leaves a lot to be desired. Building mobile networks is still very much a national regulatory affair, with a lot of upfront capital costs, so even the big multinational service providers do not offer the same service in two different countries (often charging you for roaming when you go abroad, even within the same provider's network!). I've been waiting for some big provider to offer true multinational mobile service at least within the EU, where the regulatory framework is similar and necessary agreements in place. But it looks like I will be waiting forever...