I find Cringely (the PBS Cringely, that is) entertaining and sometimes informative. But on this one, I think he is out in the night. Stephenson’s comment isn’t new information. When Jobs introduced the iPhone earlier in the year he said that 3G iPhone would have to wait until next year after Apple worked out power usage / battery consumption issues.

I suspect that Cringely’s personal feelings about Steve Jobs, which might be well founded, clouded his judgment in interpreting Stephenson’s comment. Cringely admits that he has no inside information to back up his conclusions. In other words, his conclusions are baseless.

Okay so they have fired a round across the bow of the battleship iPhone. So now what happens? Will Task Force Apple cross the T of AT&T and not brick any unlocked iPhone when updates are released? Will the next update let the iPhone work on AT&T and Google?

Does the contract with AT&T only apply to the current model of the iPhone, I think that I read that somewhere. Could another provider be looking at the success of the iPhone and be going "hmmmm", how can we get some of the action

As with all opinion pieces, while conclusions may be baseless,
experienced opinions should be respected.

-JM

Why should they be more respected than anyone else's? Everybody has their waterloo... even an experienced opinion may have no merit.

Not that I'm saying that they have to be disrespected as such, but I'd have to argue against a blanket valuation given to 'experience' in the case of opinion.

Do either of these billionaires care in the least about their customers? Steve the Egomegalith Jobs practices the time honored price creaming strategy, and AT&T with God's worst network is his partner. Wake up people, this is the big guys stepping hard on your wallet.

Stephenson did not make the comment to hurt Apple, because AT&T stands to loose money as well if Apple sells fewer iPhones this holiday season.

I for one have no plans to upgrade. I am very content with my phone. I have read technical articles on the Edge system, and it seems to work ok.

Now if only Google, AT&T, and Apple could figure out how to make a three-part team, we might be getting somewhere.

I'm really looking forward to the day that iPhones will work (without using a workaround) on other phone services.

I'll not be giving any funds to ATT in this lifetime.

And likely not the next few as well.

Cheers,
Jerry

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

Jobs actually didn't give a timeframe for 3G to be added. He did, however, make it seem like it could be a while for battery technology to catch up. So, Stephenson's information is new in the respect that he gives a time frame for when Apple will release the technology.

For what it is worth, I doubt Stephenson had any ulterior motive for releasing the information. He probably was showing off to the crowd while at the same time thinking the information wouldn't be that widely decimated.

I personally do not get the whole 3G thing. First, it is cool the iPhone can search the Internet. However, who really sits around surfing the Internet for pleasure on the iPhone? The screen simply is too small for it to be enjoyable. I will take my laptop over my phone any day. Instead, it is just a tool to be used when needed, and maybe occasionally to show off to friends. Accordingly, I suspect most people do not use the capability enough to make speed a major issue. Second, the iPhone's speed on the Edge network is fine for reading email and occasional Internet usage (e.g. to get directions using Google). Third, in most places there are Wi-Fi networks negating the need for 3G (at least around me). Fourth, AT&T recently added the ability to iPhone service plans to exclude the data part of the plans so users do not have to pay for AT&T Edge at all (e.g. instead of paying $59 a month, you pay $39). So, there must be enough people who only are interested in the iPhone's Wi-Fi capabilities. I fall into that category.

Finally, I agree that Cringley's personal feeling towards Jobs often clouds his judgement. If I recall his dislike for Jobs stems from Jobs agreeing to do a joint Interview with Gates and Jobs if Cringley would get Gates to agree. When Cringley got Gates to agree, Jobs changed his mind saying that due to the SCC investigation he didn't want to give personal interviews at the time. Cringley somehow attributed Jobs change of mind to just being a jerk and snubbing Gates. However, it is fair to point out that months later (after the SCC thing cleared up) Jobs did appear with Gates for an interview with Mossberg. Cringley should get over that already.

Quote

Black_Dog wrote:
I find Cringely (the PBS Cringely, that is) entertaining and sometimes informative. But on this one, I think he is out in the night. Stephenson’s comment isn’t new information. When Jobs introduced the iPhone earlier in the year he said that 3G iPhone would have to wait until next year after Apple worked out power usage / battery consumption issues.

I suspect that Cringely’s personal feelings about Steve Jobs, which might be well founded, clouded his judgment in interpreting Stephenson’s comment. Cringely admits that he has no inside information to back up his conclusions. In other words, his conclusions are baseless.

Quote

Terrin wrote:
He probably was showing off to the crowd while at the same time thinking the information wouldn't be that widely <b>decimated</b>.

Quote

maclover wrote:
I'm really looking forward to the day that iPhones will work (without using a workaround) on other phone services.

I'll not be giving any funds to ATT in this lifetime.

And likely not the next few as well.

Cheers,
Jerry

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

OK, let me get this ground breaking AT&T announcment right---at some point in the future, like maybe next year, there will be a newer, faster iPhone? wow. That is some real industry insider info there...If the AT&T boss didn't that that cat out the the bag we'd all be sitting in the dark.

Please. When will these analysts and tech writers look at their own cell phone buying habits and realize that people don't just wake up one day and say, 'oh I want an iPhone. Off to the store.' In the US, people plan cell purchases around their contract. Anyone who really wanted an iphone has one by now. The rest of the population who is interested is waiting for their contact to be up. Then they'll go and get one.

Knowing that a new version may be out in 6-12 months may stop a few people but it is not a big issue at all.

He had a one (hyphenated) word explanation for why the first gen iPhone didn't support 3G: 'battery-life'. He then went on to say that he fully expected this problem to be solved 'sometime in 2008'.

Again, this was months ago. AT&T's announcement was very old news - more of a confirmation, really, of what anyone who'd been paying attention already knew.

Switched from satisfactory Verizon service to abysmal AT&T just to get the iPhone. I would gladly follow the hardware in a migration to a better world, a sentiment shared by virtually every iPhone user I've met.

Cringley is a PC bigot. Whenever he talks about Apple he usually does it with his foot in his mouth to put it politely. Don't believe a word of what he says when he talks about Apple. He doesn't know what he's writing about.

ATT shoots themselves in the foot as well, no? Such an announcement delays iPhone sales for themselves as much as it does Apple. Or perhaps they though such an announcement an enticement for later sales?

Shooting oneself in the foot and blaming someone else almost always works as a diversion however. The best thing ATT can do is improve their own network speed and coverage. I don't think their pricing or customer service pales that much in comparison with Verizon or Sprint or Nextel, merely the speed and coverage.

It is the dissolution of the present business (or past) model that is somewhat of a concern for ATT and all US Telcos. Europe is better in some ways, but not all ways.

Quote

Terrin wrote:
Finally, I agree that Cringley's personal feeling towards Jobs often clouds his judgement. If I recall his dislike for Jobs stems from Jobs agreeing to do a joint Interview with Gates and Jobs if Cringley would get Gates to agree. When Cringley got Gates to agree, Jobs changed his mind saying that due to the SCC investigation he didn't want to give personal interviews at the time. Cringley somehow attributed Jobs change of mind to just being a jerk and snubbing Gates. However, it is fair to point out that months later (after the SCC thing cleared up) Jobs did appear with Gates for an interview with Mossberg. Cringley should get over that already.