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As a huge example: they would auto enroll me in things like unlimited data plans (at $45 a pop!) that I did not sign up for. I only noticed 4 months later (so I'm slow...). To their "credit," they did eventually refund those fees (hundreds of dollars) - but those kind of tactics are the very things that made me all to happy to leave.

This padding of a customer's service plan is a big part of AT&T's "business strategy". If you do business with AT&T, you have to keep a close eye on your monthly bill. If you go with an electronic bill only with auto bill pay, they will assume you're paying even less attention to what they tack on.

I've even heard stories where they've refused to remove these charges. I imagine if you're adamant enough about it, eventually you'll be able to escalate it to a level where someone will remove the charges, but don't let it go more than a month without checking your bill.
 
bloody English

Glad its going to be o2, i was hoping o2 or orange. Vodaphone have a horible logo, are english and put up they adverts with that idiot football player. 3 dosnt work anyware and t-mobile are expenicve.

Hmm... never expected that to be a complaint... in the UK. ;)
 
This padding of a customer's service plan is a big part of AT&T's "business strategy". If you do business with AT&T, you have to keep a close eye on your monthly bill. If you go with an electronic bill only with auto bill pay, they will assume you're paying even less attention to what they tack on.

I've even heard stories where they've refused to remove these charges. I imagine if you're adamant enough about it, eventually you'll be able to escalate it to a level where someone will remove the charges, but don't let it go more than a month without checking your bill.

Half of the billing items are obscure and hard to know what you are really paying for. I wish cellular/ phone companies where required to include all the extra fee's/taxes/fines in their advertising. It would make consumer choices much easier to make.
 
From my experience, the majority of the people I know who use ATT/Cingular have very bad service (dropped calls, conversation goes in and out)

Perhaps your experience was like mine. I had a AT&T phone before Cingular bought AT&T Wireless. It was an older TDMA standard phone. When I first got the phone, it worked great. Over a couple of years my reception kept getting worse and worse.

What was happening was a changeover from TDMA standard phones to GSM. I switched to a Moto RAZR around two years ago on Cingular and everything was fine.

I just sold the RAZR to a friend at work.
 
Reports of a complicated work around to use Skype are coming out.
Thank you, I hope Apple can build this functionality in though. I suppose, the carrier wouldn't like it. But, if Apple don't, the competition will.

Not yet; although, I would not be surprised to see a future software update that enables this. Clearly, integrating phones into WiFi service is the direction most advanced phones are taking. This would also be a very nice feature for those at our homes who have WiFi but have lousy cellphone reception.
Thank you, Yes, exactly. My father has lousy cellphone reception. If he stands at an angle of exactly 37 degrees, on a sunny afternoon, near the back door, he might just get the call... lol
 
Is it likely to be possible to upgrade to the iPhone if you are already on O2? My contract doesn't expire until March 08.

If the handset is not subsidised ,like in the USA, then I don't see it being an issue. I'm sure you could buy the device at the Apple store and then just pop your o2 sim card into it, that is if o2 won't let you upgrade directly through them.

Jay

Hmm... never expected that to be a complaint... in the UK. ;)

He could be scotish, welsh, or northern irish :0)
 
That's the only surprise on the article I see. I am actually paying about $100 a month less.

My guess is that the increase is due to many people switching to a call-only phone to one that includes data. Based on the other stats, it wouldn't be surprising if there are many customers for whom this is the first "data" phone they have ever owned. Not to mention that it is far more mainstream consumer friendly than other options.

So people are paying more, but only because they're getting a completely new feature they never had before.
 
I called my service provider (Vodaphone) to cancel my contract with them , it seems I am not the only one. They tried to put me off the iphone by saying ipods were crap & that I would miss out on an upgrade . Who cares when u want an I phone .

Love it!

I'm with Vodafone at the moment (contract ends around now). I think we all must make sure we tell Vodafone that we are leaving them to get an iPhone just to rub it in...
 
51% of buyers switched to AT&T for the iPhone alone? Wow, that's great news! I really hope Verizon is kicking themselves. A half percentage of a whole... that's huge.

That's not only huge; it's probably the HIGHEST percentage of positive feedback for any electronic device in history. And we don't even have to worry about Rev. 2 matters...the iPhone is just gonna get better and better, even if perfection is something impossible to achieve.

Apple has simply created THE BEST product ever in the mobile telephony industry...all competitors must be wetting their pants now...it's a CLEAR WINNER in any developed market on the planet.

I just wait for it to come to Switzerland now...bring it on, APPLE!
 
That's not only huge; it's probably the HIGHEST percentage of positive feedback for any electronic device in history. And we don't even have to worry about Rev. 2 matters...the iPhone is just gonna get better and better, even if perfection is something impossible to achieve.

Apple has simply created THE BEST product ever in the mobile telephony industry...all competitors must be wetting their pants now...it's a CLEAR WINNER in any developed market on the planet.

I just wait for it to come to Switzerland now...bring it on, APPLE!

It will be great to see the iPhone being successfull over the longer term. There are many examples where the best product isn't always the most successful (take betamax versus VHS for example), so I hope the iPhone is both a great product and a successful product.

Edit: duh. I just remembered Windows VS Mac. Classic example of where the best product isn't the most successful (in terms of number of sales).
 
I guess I'm the odd man out...

I got an iPhone on the first weekend, and took it back yesterday. I liked most of the form, but function was a bit too lacking for me. The email was painful when dealing with a bunch of accounts (and messages), and at least once a day it showed me messages it claimed "had no content". The battery life was also inconsistent, and often would barely get me through the day. And the lack of a real third-party app capability meant that I had to just wait and hope that Apple would see fit to fill the remaining functionality gaps (like a real offline RSS reader). It was also quite annoying that it didn't work with just about every iPod accessory I had, from headphones to my car kit.

The AT&T service was okay around where I live and (usually) work, but it is virtually nonexistent at another office location I frequent. Every call I tried to make from a moving car (granted, only a handful) broke up or was dropped. The lack of tethering (and a data network fast enough to be worth tethering to) meant that I couldn't really give up my Sprint Treo. Sure, the browser on the Treo is lousy, but I can also hook it up to my MacBook and use a "real" browser (and keyboard), like I am right now.

I have been dying for an excuse to ditch my Treo, but the iPhone wasn't quite it. Sure, some of its glitches will be fixed with software updates. But I find it interesting that the three top complaints in that USA Today article (battery life, EDGE speed, and memory capacity) aren't things that can be fixed via software (well, except for those bugs in the battery functionality). I wonder how happy those people will be when the inevitable upgrade comes out, probably in less than two years. In the end, I'm hoping that Steve will just finally come out with a new widescreen/wireless/100GB iPod or mini MacBook.

But it sure was tempting to cancel the AT&T service and just keep that nice little gadget around... :)
 
that's good to hear!

I am about to drop my Verizon and switch to AT&T. I am just not 100% sure with AT&T reception is that great in San Diego. That's the only thing holding me back. Plus I would love the iPhone to have at least 16gig storage. 8gig won't cut.
Oh my, decision, decisions.

Can't speak on San Diego coverage, but I'm guessing we won't see 16GB until at least MWSF 08. Then, or sometime after I suspect we will also be seeing iPhone nanos. Blind guess.

That's the only surprise on the article I see. I am actually paying about $100 a month less. I had a Sprint Family Flexible BS plan combined with an all you can eat data plan at it was costing me nearly $200 a month. I was only using, on average, 700 minutes, 30 text messages, and EV-DO data when I travelled.

Granted, EDGE is as slow as my great grandma trying to eat a dry turkey sandwich, but it is fine for checking my e-mail or macrumors. I have also noticed more and more airports are switching to free Wi-Fi or Small Fee Wi-Fi.

Really you shouldn't be browsing the internet while driving, but when I was riding as a passenger with a friend, I tried to look up directions while on the move, IMPOSSIBLE, and we were on a major Highway in the Seattle area. A little disappointing, but still worth the switch.

I agree. Totally shocked by the "paying more with AT&T" claim.
Before the plans were announced, that was my main concern. And AT&T/Apple delivered, big time.
$60/mo is insane, considering the capabilities, IMO.
Only thing I changed was bumping my SMS to 1,500.
Otherwise, surprisingly golden.

This padding of a customer's service plan is a big part of AT&T's "business strategy". If you do business with AT&T, you have to keep a close eye on your monthly bill. If you go with an electronic bill only with auto bill pay, they will assume you're paying even less attention to what they tack on.

I've even heard stories where they've refused to remove these charges. I imagine if you're adamant enough about it, eventually you'll be able to escalate it to a level where someone will remove the charges, but don't let it go more than a month without checking your bill.

Thanks for the heads up.
I don't auto-pay anything, save school loans (what a gyp!).
I'll be keeping a close(r) eye on AT&T. ;)
 
VZW's practices are short-sighted, nickle-and-dime, typical big corp crap. And they'll be paying the price for not only passing on the iPhone (morons - reminds me of when the Portland Trailblazers passed on Michael Jordan to select UK's big man, Sam Bowie. Sam who? Exactly.) but also for conducting business the way they do. They have been my least favorite carrier to date, by far.

I agree, Verizon is expensive and they nick their customers with extra fees every chance they get. I'm still a happy Verizon customer though. In the 4 years I've been with them I've had 2 dropped calls in the 10+ metro areas I've traveled between. Their network is tops and their price for service is worth every penny for those who depend on their phones.
 
Can't speak on San Diego coverage, but I'm guessing we won't see 16GB until at least MWSF 08. Then, or sometime after I suspect we will also be seeing iPhone nanos. Blind guess.

I have mine in SD. SD ATT coverage is good. I've gotten edge speeds from 75 to 220 kbps and seem to average just below 200 so maps and youtube is great. I keep the real-time traffic available for the 5/805 mess when driving and its quite accurate.

WRT to memory I just have no problems wit 8GB given the ease of iTunes. I have 30 GB of music and 400 GB of video so no iPod is ever going to hold that. OTH I won't listen to more that a few GB of music or video on any one use of the iphone (couple of days) so I simple change the syncing play list and it updates while charging. For longer trips I have the tunes/videos I want either on my laptop of external mobile drive.

For me battery has been fantastic. If I use everything (WiFi safari, ipod, etc) i'm getting at least 6-7 hours.
 
The bottom line is that people switched almost entirely due to the iPhone, not anything that AT&T did.

Now all AT&T has to do is not totally suck and they have a huge user base til 2012 simply due to loyalty to Apple, not AT&T.

That's me. I was a 4 year customer, relatively (though not completely) happy with Verizon. Definitely not unhappy enough to leave for AT&T... but I heard the iphone calling me. ;)
 
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/skype/skype-on-iphone.asp
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2194109/skype-come-iphone

The way I see it, is that you use Safari on the iPhone to connect to a Server that acts as a gateway. That computer is actually making the Skype calls but 'forwarding' them via the internet to your iPhone.
Well, maybe. Somebody else please check the links to see if they confirm or contradict my interpretation.

What the linked articles describe doesn't seem possible right now:

From http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/skype/skype-on-iphone.asp

Essentially, the workaround is to install SoonR Talk, a AJAX-enabled application. SoonR’s AJAX-enabled interface is available now for any mobile phone that can run the Opera Mobile browser version 8.6 and above, including the Apple iPhone.

Unless Apple opened the iPhone to 3rd party developers when no one was looking today, there's no way it can run Opera Mobile.

From http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2194109/skype-come-iphone:
"Once you are logged in and connected, you can view your buddies using the Ajax client and then click on the buddy you want to talk to," said Keating.

"SoonR Talk will tell your PC to call your mobile phone using SkypeOut. Then SoonR Talk will instruct Skype to call your buddy over the Skype IP network, placing you in a conference."

As Keating points out, this is not end-to-end Skype because the PC has to use the PSTN to call the iPhone which will consume two SkypeOut credits to set up the conference call.

But this may still be cheaper than making calls direct from the iPhone using the AT&T mobile contract.

Well, no. It will be exactly the same price because you are making calls using the AT&T mobile contract. The only savings would come from international calls, since AT&T includes nationwide long distance in the calling plan. A mobile minute is a mobile minute whether you're calling next door or across the country.
 
Well, no. It will be exactly the same price because you are making calls using the AT&T mobile contract. The only savings would come from international calls, since AT&T includes nationwide long distance in the calling plan. A mobile minute is a mobile minute whether you're calling next door or across the country.

If you're using skype, how does AT&T know you're making a call. Since it's just sending data, wouldn't that be covered under the unlimited data?
 
This padding of a customer's service plan is a big part of AT&T's "business strategy". If you do business with AT&T, you have to keep a close eye on your monthly bill. If you go with an electronic bill only with auto bill pay, they will assume you're paying even less attention to what they tack on.

Yup. On my first AT&T bill, I found a "Roadside Assistance" monthly charge for $2.99. Apparently they tacked it on at the AT&T store where I bought the iPhone. When I called to complain about the charge, I made sure that the phone rep followed through and reported the store where the 'slamming' occurred. Hopefully if that store gets enough red marks, the store manager will change his tune about the practice.

[Edit] I should clarify that the phone rep told me that this is not a corporate policy, but most likely at a local level. But who really knows?
 
Anyone heard of delayed gratification?

I'm stunned at how many people paid those odious and exorbitant "early termination fees" to get an iPhone NOW!

If 35% of the switchers (51%) paid to get out of their contracts and gave them "Money for Nothing" as Dire Straits would call it, and that number is somewhat correct, then this means that about 100,000 people just couldn't wait until their old service expires to get into iPhone nirvana.

That's tens of millions of dollars worth of parting gifts for the losers in the wooing of Apple in the battle for the iPhone. I'm sure Steve wants to call Verizon and say, "Can you hear me now? Good!"
 
Unless Apple opened the iPhone to 3rd party developers when no one was looking today, there's no way it can run Opera Mobile.


This might just be a misprint there on the website. Its very likely that an ajax / javascript application that works on Opera could also work on iPhone Safari. Perhaps they're waiting to test it, or some other confusion led to the misstatement about Opera mobile and iPhone (in the same sentence)

Well, no. It will be exactly the same price because you are making calls using the AT&T mobile contract. The only savings would come from international calls, since AT&T includes nationwide long distance in the calling plan. A mobile minute is a mobile minute whether you're calling next door or across the country.

There has also been talk that AT&T will soon implement voice-calls over WiFi (I forget what this feature is called). Someone also mentioned that those minutes are free with other carriers. So it seems likely, AT&T might add this feature and bundle it alongside free nights and weekend as "free calls from your private network". Its not quite skype, but it would still be pretty nice.

[edit: combine the free calls from your private network and with the 3rd party service and you've got unlimited world wide calls bundled as long as you're not on Edge]
 
If you're using skype, how does AT&T know you're making a call. Since it's just sending data, wouldn't that be covered under the unlimited data?

Deep packet inspection and/or statistical profiling of the connection behavior. Statistically, VOIP conversations should look much different than typical web activity.

All AT&T probably needs to do is randomly drop and or delay enough of the suspected packets to make the service unpleasant to use. If the connection is a typical web connection, most users won't notice the delays/drops as the protocols correct this, but for live conversations and/or video, it can be very noticeable.
 
Oh, my gosh 90%

What other consumer product has ever had a 90% satisfaction rate? You know there are 5% or so of people who will never be happy (or at least admit it), so this means that nearly everyone was highly satisfied with their iPhones.

I know I am very happy. To quote a friend "Why can't is be more like a Mac (iPhone) and JUST WORK!"

That's iPhones secret. Simple elegance that just works! :)
 
milo said:
If you're using skype, how does AT&T know you're making a call. Since it's just sending data, wouldn't that be covered under the unlimited data?

Deep packet inspection and/or statistical profiling of the connection behavior. Statistically, VOIP conversations should look much different than typical web activity.

All AT&T probably needs to do is randomly drop and or delay enough of the suspected packets to make the service unpleasant to use. If the connection is a typical web connection, most users won't notice the delays/drops as the protocols correct this, but for live conversations and/or video, it can be very noticeable.

No, the Skype server is calling your iPhone and then calling the other party and conferencing you together. The Skype calls do not come in as regular data (under your unlimited data plan), they come in as just another phone call. Its just you can manage the call through a web interface.

To do this over pure data connection, would probably require third-party software installed to get the input from the iPhone microphone transfered over the network. You're probably to going to accomplish that with javascript, DOM calls and other ajax stuff.
 
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