NY Times article (blog): The iPhone Excuse"

[iPhoneNYC]

This is in today's electronic edition of the NY Times and has a whole bunch of comments over there...

The iPhone Excuse
By SAM GROBART

A couple of weeks ago, my colleague Matt Richtel — a handsome devil if ever there was one — spoke truth to power. He said the thing that no one was saying, yet needed to be said. Here it is in a nutshell:

For all its abilities and powers, the iPhone is a tremendous pocket computer, but a lousy phone.

And he’s absolutely right. I’ve owned an iPhone 3G since Christmas, and I could add my voice to the growing angry chorus. See, before I was with Apple and AT&T, I was a Verizon customer for years. And I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but here in 212/718, you can’t swing a cat and not hit a big, strapping band of CDMA frequency. Verizon has New York in a wireless headlock.

Switching to an iPhone, I immediately noticed the difference. My office? Don’t even — I get nothing there. At home? Better, but not quite the same. And dead spots all over the place. At any time, I can (and do) lose a call.

But then I realized something. AT&T and Apple have given me a gift.

The promise of ubiquitous communication has also been its peril. With the iPhone, I have something that can cut out, that can drop a call, that can miss a voicemail. This is like gold in my hand: My ability to duck, shirk and hide has been restored.

“What’s that? You called me three times already? Sorry, man — got an iPhone.”

(That sound you just heard? That’s the sound of freedom, baby. Glorious, dissembling freedom.)

 

[wyatt23]

haha, OK... if that's what you want. i'd much rather say, oh sorry my phone was on silent.

i have never met a single person that was happy with their service on their iphone, but rather happy with their iphone device.

 

[juswest]

sorry that the service sucks there in N.Y but it works fine for me here in Richmond. Might just want to switch providers

 

[dlamin517]

reception is about 95% carrier 5% phone

 

[anjinha]

I have the iPhone since August. The only time I had dropped calls was when i was talking with my sister, who has terrible reception at her house.

 

[SFStateStudent]

SAM GROBART speaks of things that many iPhone owners don't want to repeat to others, let alone to themselves. Regardless of the situation where you live, travel or work, there will always be someone in the exact same situations that GROBART describes; and as long as AT&T has spotty cell phone coverage and refuses to accommodate those less fortunate customers, there will continue to be those silent revolutionaries that stand-up to be counted only when someone like GROBART speaks. Well said GROBART; nice post "iPhoneNYC" thou hast posted thy TRUTH......

 

[Goona]

So how come us iphone users who don't live in the States don't experience these issues?

 

[ntrigue]

It's true. I was a Verizon customer for six years and AT&T offers an inferior experience. If Verizon began selling a CDMA iPhone I would pay termination and switch instantly. So many times I look at my iPhone and just say, "seriously, no hills or buildings and you're just gonna drop the call?!"

On 2.0-2.1 it was definitely the iPhone but overall it's just AT&T. They have, to their credit, dramatically improved since 2007.

 

[PoitNarf]

How about linking to the article and just posting a few sentences of it instead of just pasting the entire thing, hmmm?

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/the-iphone-excuse/?ref=technology

 

[theDUB]

I can definitely say that the service (dropped calls, reception, etc) was better in my area* with the Verizon RAZR than my iPhone. I switched to ATT with my iPhone so I haven't experienced their network w/ any other phone. My VZ RAZR almost never dropped a call. iPhone does it regularly. Neverless, the service is still passable, I can live with it.

When people ask about my iPhone I tell them "I absolutely love it. I'm addicted to it. Greatest thing since sliced bread. It's a terrible phone though".



*lets not forget that your service is very much dependent on your location. people in different areas can have very different experiences.

 

[BergerFan]

So how come us iphone users who don't live in the States don't experience these issues?

I've had an iPhone for just over a year now(1st gen then 3G), and I've never had any call quality issues here in the UK, or read about any over here too. It must be AT&T's fault over there.

 

[QCassidy352]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

It's true. I was a Verizon customer for six years and AT&T offers an inferior experience. If Verizon began selling a CDMA iPhone I would pay termination and switch instantly. So many times I look at my iPhone and just say, "seriously, no hills or buildings and you're just gonna drop the call?!"

On 2.0-2.1 it was definitely the iPhone but overall it's just AT&T. They have, to their credit, dramatically improved since 2007.

I was a vzn customer for close to that long, and I disagree. In my experience the two have been equally as good as each other - and yes, both are quote good.

I know a lot of people refuse to leave verizon because of a perceived difference on network quality, but where I've lived (DC and Boston) I just haven't seen it.

 

[instaxgirl]

I've had an iPhone for just over a year now(1st gen then 3G), and I've never had any call quality issues here in the UK, or read about any over here too. It must be AT&T's fault over there.

Same, on a 1st gen. No call drops ever, always have edge (bliss after having a Sony Ericsson for about 15 months that dropped pretty much every call, even in the city centre )

 

[koobcamuk]

I've had an iPhone for just over a year now(1st gen then 3G), and I've never had any call quality issues here in the UK, or read about any over here too. It must be AT&T's fault over there.

Same, on a 1st gen. No call drops ever, always have edge (bliss after having a Sony Ericsson for about 15 months that dropped pretty much every call, even in the city centre )

Same here. It must be AT&T being crap. O2 reception is great here and I haven't ever had a dropped call. The phone is great... it's the American networks that suck.

 

[9822679]

Yes because the carrier has nothing to do with it .... God this is exactly why the old print media .


My roommate use to have Verizon and would always gloat about how much better his reception was compared to my horrid reception ( he had a razr and I had a Sony ericsson on at&t). Now we both have iPhones and are both on AT&T

He immediately complained about the lack of reception, but got over it after 2 months

My reception with the iPhone is actually better now compared to my old sony erricson


It's all relative, the iPhone actually get's decent reception, but AT&T has a weaker network ( at least in my area)

 

[numbersyx]

Silly title and content for that article. iPhone is not a lousy phone. AT&T are lousy service providers....

 

[Stampyhead]

Same here. It must be AT&T being crap. O2 reception is great here and I haven't ever had a dropped call. The phone is great... it's the American networks that suck.

Yep, totally. I had an iPhone with AT&T in the Kansas City area when I lived in the States and the service was ok. But now that I'm on O2 in the UK it's much better.

 

[ayasinsk]

This reporter is clearly an idiot. Don't blame the iPhone, blame the network it's on.

 

[Small White Car]

Silly title and content for that article. iPhone is not a lousy phone. AT&T are lousy service providers....

This reporter is clearly an idiot. Don't blame the iPhone, blame the network it's on.

What's the difference?

Apple forced me to sign up for AT&T when I bought the iPhone. If the bad reception is the phone's fault or the providor's fault, what's the difference? I had no choice in the matter, so who's fault it is is irrelevant.

The article is true. If you own an iPhone in the U.S. you probably have "average" call service at best. That's all he said and there's nothing incorrect about that statement. How can one be 'silly' or 'an idiot' for pointing out a truthful fact?

 

[cellocello]

It bugs me when people blame the iPhone for service quality or service prices. ESPECIALLY when the issue is US-centric (aka problems with at&t).

Did you see those gas prices? DAMN YOU SPECIFIC MODEL OF HONDA CIVIC THAT I OWN!!

 

[Demosthenes427]

My phone rarely cuts out, regardless of where I am on campus here in Geneseo or back home on Long Island. Hell, my college campus is the only location in Geneseo with 3G service (don't ask me how). I've had a few cutouts but those were in known dead zones in my hometown. Other than that, no problems here

 

[Small White Car]

It bugs me when people blame the iPhone for service quality or service prices.

But he didn't blame the iPhone.

He said that owning an iPhone on AT&T doesn't work as well as his old provider, and I would agree with that.

Where does he say it's the iPhone's fault and not AT&Ts? It looks like he's making it very clear that the difference was leaving Verizon.

 

[ayasinsk]

What's the difference?

Apple forced me to sign up for AT&T when I bought the iPhone. If the bad reception is the phone's fault or the providor's fault, what's the difference? I had no choice in the matter, so who's fault it is is irrelevant.

The article is true. If you own an iPhone in the U.S. you probably have "average" call service at best. That's all he said and there's nothing incorrect about that statement. How can one be 'silly' or 'an idiot' for pointing out a truthful fact?

Ok so if I buy a new fancy computer and get a crappy internet provider and as a result have poor online experince I should post an article about how bad this fancy new computer is? Little white car did you go to one of Sarah Palin campaigns last year?

 

[davidjearly]

No such problems in the UK. Never had a dropped call - and I get near perfect 3G signal throughout the entire City. Same in Glasgow and Edinburgh when I am down there.

 

[Small White Car]

Ok so if I buy a new fancy computer and get a crappy internet provider and as a result have poor online experince I should post an article about how bad this fancy new computer is? Little white car did you go to one of Sarah Palin campaigns last year?

So let me get this straight:

You buy a computer that ONLY works with a crappy internet provider, and so your internet expience is bad. This is the same for anyone who buys the computer since that's the only ISP it works with.

So you sit down to write your review knowing that any reader will have the exact same online experience that you have had.

You're telling me that you wouldn't mention that in the review? You'd just ignore it and say that the computer is capable of a good internet connection without mentioning the fact that the user will never experience that because it's impossible to get?

How is that helpful?