Odd phenomenon...ATT love?

[brando123b]

Maybe it is just me, but I feel like as we get closer to a Verizon iPhone, the ATT love is growing.

When the VZW iPhone was just a figment of our imagination the ATT hate was being spewed constantly. Now that the iPhone appears to be imminent on Verizon I have never seen people so blindly support their carrier (ATT).

You would think we were attacking people's children the way they are feverishly letting everyone know they are happy as clams on ATT and Verizon can go ahead and have their iPhone, they don't need it.

Just an observation, but I think someone is getting sensitive.

 

[gage006]

Verizon is the only carrier I despise more than AT&T. They're notorious for crippling or bloating their phones. I doubt Apple would let them do that to their baby but it's not changing my mind about them.

Wake me up when it's on T-Mobile with 3G or HSPA+

 

[tritonj]

i don't even know why there is even a carrier discussion its the same damn phone regardless of who is the carrier, no one is talking about O2 or Rodgers or any of the others. somehow att has attached itself to apple as 1 entity. so when someone mentions verizon it is as if you are denouncing the iphone

does it really matter if verizon gets an iphone, why is it even an issue, same phone either way, if they get it great, if not then great as well. still the same iphone

 

[yg17]

The fact of the matter is, there's not going to be a mass exodus from AT&T and any network's problems are overblown. People are more likely to complain than praise AT&T. You don't see people coming on to report that they made 20 calls today, none of them dropped, and had consistent, fast 3G coverage everywhere they went today. But if a webpage takes one second longer than usual to load on their iPhone, they're on the internet bitching about it. And if AT&T did have problems because of all of the iPhones on the network, then Verizon's going to have them too.

 

[Daveoc64]

does it really matter if verizon gets an iphone, why is it even an issue, same phone either way, if they get it great, if not then great as well. still the same iphone

That's the problem IMO - it's NOT the same phone.

A CDMA iPhone means a whole new set of quirks to deal with.

There might be problems and bugs that only effect one model of phone.

It could mean that iOS releases take longer to come out.

It'll worsen the stock situation when new models are released.

IMO the iPad has held back iOS over the last year. Apple has diverted a lot of attention to this newer device. I fear that a CDMA phone which most of the world doesn't care about will do the same.

 

[SteveAbootman]

Many of my friends have VZW, and are thrilled at the news, can't wait to get their hands on an iPhone. Me - i don't share their enthusiasm because I've used an iPhone since 2008. I could care less about the news, and so it appears I'm loyal to or somehow saying AT&T is better.

The feeling of loss of exclusivity is also at play. Up until now there was only 1 official carrier, and those of us with iPhone felt as though we were apart of an elite club. Now the doors are opening and people are naturally feeling that loss, defending the feeling and not the company.

 

[crazytiger86]

I'm going to laugh of it ends up being something like an iPad 4G or something.

I think it's incredibly odd that Apple hasnt sent anything. They seem like they've been laissez faire about it. Normally you would figure that they would send the invites out.

To some extent Apple seems like they want as little to do with the cdma iphone as possible. I think theyre just making the hardware. Thats it. It's probably going to have verizon branding on it. (i don't recall ever seeing a verizon phone without branding). And it's likely to carry a lot of extra software in order to charge for stuff the iphone can do already visual voicemail? No, use verizon visual voicemail instead. Maps.app? We have VZ Navigator! Itunes? Whats the point? Weve included VCast for your music needs! Apple isnt holding the press event. And to some degree CDMA users represent a small percentage of global cellular networks.

 

[tritonj]

That's the problem IMO - it's NOT the same phone.

A CDMA iPhone means a whole new set of quirks to deal with.

There might be problems and bugs that only effect one model of phone.

It could mean that iOS releases take longer to come out.

It'll worsen the stock situation when new models are released.

IMO the iPad has held back iOS over the last year. Apple has diverted a lot of attention to this newer device. I fear that a CDMA phone which most of the world doesn't care about will do the same.

same phone, different wireless chip, that's about it. as far as iOS goes, the update cycles will stay the same, it's not like they are quick now. features updates have nothing to do with the connection either, the features are technology agnostic, they work the same on GSM or CDMA

 

[crazytiger86]

The feeling of loss of exclusivity is also at play. Up until now there was only 1 official carrier, and those of us with iPhone felt as though we were apart of an elite club. Now the doors are opening and people are naturally feeling that loss, defending the feeling and not the company.

This.
Remember all the staunch opposition when Facebook opened up to non-collegiate users?

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

No, what you are seeing is skewed entirely by the nature of this forum. You are witnessing a small, but very vocal, minority of Apple fans who have some deep seated psychological identification with Apple products. To them, having an Apple product gives them a sense of self-esteem and possibly even a feeling of superiority over others (Verizon, Tmo, Sprint customers) who cannot or have not chosen to jump to AT&T. This is a core part of Apple's marketing strategy.

Suddenly, now that Verizon is getting the iPhone, they have to shore up their self-esteem by proclaiming that even if the product is available elsewhere, AT&T is still a "superior experience."

Fascinating, really.

 

[macsrcool1234]

Verizon is far better in my area. I get quite a bit of dropped calls and no signal (indoors). Outdoors is fine.

But im still sticking with AT&T - their speeds are much faster than those with Verizon.

That and I am facing massive ETF's.

No, what you are seeing is skewed entirely by the nature of this forum. You are witnessing a small, but very vocal, minority of Apple fans who have some deep seated psychological identification with Apple products. To them, having an Apple product gives them a sense of self-esteem and possibly even a feeling of superiority over others (Verizon, Tmo, Sprint customers) who cannot or have not chosen to jump to AT&T. This is a core part of Apple's marketing strategy.

Suddenly, now that Verizon is getting the iPhone, they have to shore up their self-esteem by proclaiming that even if the product is available elsewhere, AT&T is still a "superior experience."

Fascinating, really.

LOL! I'm sure there is truth to this.

 

[tritonj]

Many of my friends have VZW, and are thrilled at the news, can't wait to get their hands on an iPhone. Me - i don't share their enthusiasm because I've used an iPhone since 2008. I could care less about the news, and so it appears I'm loyal to or somehow saying AT&T is better.

The feeling of loss of exclusivity is also at play. Up until now there was only 1 official carrier, and those of us with iPhone felt as though we were apart of an elite club. Now the doors are opening and people are naturally feeling that loss, defending the feeling and not the company.

exclusive club? i don't know how you define exclusive, but everyone and the mother seems to have an iphone nowadays

lets get real here folks, the iphone have been around for long enough now that if you wanted one you have one, sure there are still some out there who want but can't have because of coverage but we aren't talking huge numbers, it's not like iphone users are going to double because all of a sudden another carrier is going to have them. you'll get some new users and some will migrate from att but it isn't that big a deal in the big picture for the iphone, not like it's some huge untapped community of users.

for better or worse the iphone is an expensive moto razor in terms of how many people have them, it hasn't been exclusive since the original when it cost $600 to get one, once you could get it at subsidized pricing it wasn't exclusive anymore

if you want to be in the "exlusive club" then jailbreak/unlock and run it on t-mo

No, what you are seeing is skewed entirely by the nature of this forum. You are witnessing a small, but very vocal, minority of Apple fans who have some deep seated psychological identification with Apple products. To them, having an Apple product gives them a sense of self-esteem and possibly even a feeling of superiority over others (Verizon, Tmo, Sprint customers) who cannot or have not chosen to jump to AT&T. This is a core part of Apple's marketing strategy.

Suddenly, now that Verizon is getting the iPhone, they have to shore up their self-esteem by proclaiming that even if the product is available elsewhere, AT&T is still a "superior experience."

Fascinating, really.

i agree, glad not everyone on this forum is completely blind

 

[darkplanets]

It's still going to be the same phone, albeit we may have fragmentation for a short time until the next major release. In the end, however, what's going to end up in there is a combi chip (probably Qualcomm, etc) that can do CDMA, GSM, and eventually LTE for one model, not several.

What is a possibility, however, is a new phone in terms of antenna and hybrid cell chip, making it an intermediary (and a fix) that will be sold on both networks going forward (of course on ATT once the regular stock deflates). Not likely, but possible.

Regardless, points still stand; ATT is still just a network, just like O2, Rodgers, Softbank, etc-- the only difference is that through their prolonged exclusivity they've acquired an extraordinary amount of bad press which sets them apart from their peers.

The fact that someone would have carrier loyalty to the point of defending them on the internet however is beyond me.

 

[Mliii]

Personally, I don't care and never have. It's a phone, not some membership in some secret society. I don't think of it as a special group or anything of the kind. If anything, having more users in the US as a result of adding Verizon subscribers will hopefully put some pressure on Apple to be more robust with their feature additions to the next generations of iPhones- more people demanding more things to keep up with the competitors.
And I'm ok with AT&T, at least for now. Let's see what having a little competition does in terms of them offering incentives for current iPhone users to stay with AT&T as opposed to jumping ship when the next iPhone rolls around.

 

[brando123b]

exclusive club? i don't know how you define exclusive, but everyone and the mother seems to have an iphone nowadays

lets get real here folks, the iphone have been around for long enough now that if you wanted one you have one, sure there are still some out there who want but can't have because of coverage but we aren't talking huge numbers, it's not like iphone users are going to double because all of a sudden another carrier is going to have them. you'll get some new users and some will migrate from att but it isn't that big a deal in the big picture for the iphone, not like it's some huge untapped community of users.

for better or worse the iphone is an expensive moto razor in terms of how many people have them, it hasn't been exclusive since the original when it cost $600 to get one, once you could get it at subsidized pricing it wasn't exclusive anymore

if you want to be in the "exlusive club" then jailbreak/unlock and run it on t-mo



i agree, glad not everyone on this forum is completely blind

I agree. The small niche, 92 million subscriber community of Verizon is not an untapped user base I will go ahead and say this move could potentially double the number of iPhones sold per year.

I assure you any person who has ever wanted an iPhone does NOT have one yet. There are huge numbers of VZW subscribers that won't go to ATT due to their horrific network.

 

[Zepaw]

I noticed it as well OP. I have just been in awe of the seemingly suden outpouring of love for AT&T.

I guess it makes sense that at first complaints will be most vocal but somehow a Vz iPhone makes them want to be more vocal about the good.

 

[Applejuiced]

The fact of the matter is, there's not going to be a mass exodus from AT&T and any network's problems are overblown. People are more likely to complain than praise AT&T. You don't see people coming on to report that they made 20 calls today, none of them dropped, and had consistent, fast 3G coverage everywhere they went today. But if a webpage takes one second longer than usual to load on their iPhone, they're on the internet bitching about it. And if AT&T did have problems because of all of the iPhones on the network, then Verizon's going to have them too.

Well said.
Competition is alway good for the consumer.
Hope it improves prices, service and pushes Apple to keep innovating.

 

[BHP41]

I have experienced dropped calls from time to time and also the ones where calls don't go through and you have to hang up,call again. Other than this I'm pretty content with the service. No one on here can deny that Verizon has the best coverage. I know I won't switch immediately but if the next one comes out has LTE support then I'll probably consider it since I do a fair bit of traviling in the states.

People will always complian. It's human nature. Once it's on Verizon well see a slew of new threads about different issues. Maybe similar ones. Time will tell.

 

[Applejuiced]

I have experienced dropped calls from time to time and also the ones where calls don't go through and you have to hang up,call again. Other than this I'm pretty content with the service. No one on here can deny that Verizon has the best coverage. I know I won't switch immediately but if the next one comes out has LTE support then I'll probably consider it since I do a fair bit of traviling in the states.

People will always complian. It's human nature. Once it's on Verizon well see a slew of new threads about different issues. Maybe similar ones. Time will tell.

I agree.
Time will tell and it would be interesting to see how it plays.
I wouldnt switch to Verizon cause AT&T service is great where Im at. If anything I would consider switching to Tmobile since I'd rather stick with GSM, their service is also great around here, prices alot better and wouldnt want to deal with CDMA Voice only or Data only "feature"

 

[jav6454]

... CDMA Voice only or Data only "feature"

That's a feature?

 

[Applejuiced]

That's a feature?

Yep, to some VZ fanboys here they act like it is.
They love it and wouldnt have it any other way

 

[BHP41]

That's a feature?

Lol.

If LTE is everything it's hyped to be then maybe. I can deal with no voice and data sometimes but there is a lot of times I'm on conference calls and emailing/texting at the same time to relay info to others. This is crucial to me because it allows my business to operate in real time with no delay.

If LTE let's me do this then we'll see. I can live with a few tropes calls here and there. Hell, by now no blinks a eye when you blame the cell carrier. Lol

 

[milani]

AT&T and Apple fundamentally changed the smartphone-carrier relationship. Ir also took on a massive and entirely unanticipated dataload thanks to the iPhone's runaway success. Why not show AT&T a little love? I'd say they've earned it.

 

[DeBaryFL]

Verizon is the only carrier I despise more than AT&T. They're notorious for crippling or bloating their phones. I doubt Apple would let them do that to their baby but it's not changing my mind about them.

I totally agree. A few years ago I switched to Verizon, mainly because of a good deal they were offering of the Motorola RAZR. Our relationship lasted less than 2 weeks. The RAZR I'd gotten from them had it's Bluetooth crippled to such an extent that it was useless to me. Also, call quality was poor.

Luckily for me, here in central Florida AT&T service is excellent, both for calls and data. An example: my daughter has an AT&T 3G USB modem she uses with her laptop at our lake house in Eustis, Florida. I recently bought her a wireless router so we could share the connection. Over the Christmas holidays we had as many as 5 people sharing the 3G connection at once (playing on-line poker, web surfing, playing Pogo games, etc.) and it was rock-solid for all of us. Yes, all the relatives brought their laptops - amazing how fast computers have become standard equipment for us, along with our smart phones of course

 

[themadrussian]

I lived in an area with absolutely horrible Verizon reception in Providence RI (could not make calls from inside, texts would show up 2-3 hours late, even standing outside I would get awful signal) and perfect AT&T signal for a year, and my Verizon contract expiration coincided with the release of the iPhone 3G, so I switched to AT&T then. I maintain that AT&T has the best network in Providence, hands down. I have friends on Verizon and they always have slow data speeds and stuff, even in areas with better reception. I get 4-6 Mbps download at non-peak hours on AT&T over 3G (1200-1800 Kbps during peak hours). Might not be the case in other cities (NYC, SF) but in Providence AT&T is amazing. Never had a single complaint.

This.
Remember all the staunch opposition when Facebook opened up to non-collegiate users?

I do. I hated the idea of anyone other than college kids using it. Then they allowed high-school kids to do so (if they had a verifiable email address), and then they opened it up to everyone, and I was so upset.

I still maintain that Facebook was better when it was just us college kids. There were no ads, no stupid apps or games, just a simple UI with a wall, groups, and photos. No "liking" or endless comment streams. Mmm, the good ol' days.