So Apple/ATT will require ATT service even after the 2 year contract

[compuguy1088]

i think this might catch the attention of the EU. forcing a consumer to one network for the lifetime of the phone (unless you buy another phone) seems anti competitive to me. and before someone says that apple have lawyers so it must be ok, microsoft also have lawyers but didn't fare too well with the EU.

It may, it does to me as well seem anticompetitive....

 

[compuguy1088]

We are entering a brave new world where everything is up for sale - at a price. News this past week spoke of ads on runways/taxiways at some airports around the globe. We already have shopping centers here in the US that have ads on their sidewalks and on stands in the parking lots. Even our DC Metro system has "moving picture" ads in one of the tunnels from what I am told.

Apple has close to mastered the OS update "need". Microsoft stumbled in that regard. But we are talking about a cellphone that gave us a bit more, but not quite what we wanted. So the hackers stepped in (never mind the unlocking hack) and gave us what we thought was missing.

In keeping with the topic here, Apple seems to have an obligation to AT&T to keep the iPhone on only AT&T. It is in the best of both interests. If we want to be able to go to T-Mobile here in the US or be able to port our iPhones to other countries in our travels by using a simple SIM swap - then we need to get Congress to act. Fat chance on that since the corporations can "buy" their way to the laws they need and want.

There are ads in the tunnels in the DC Metro?? That must of been recently, because I've not seen it...what line is said to have this?

 

[megfilmworks]

It may, it does to me as well seem anticompetitive....

I think carriers have always walked the fine line (before cells) between monopoly and necessary service that is allowed to walk the line. Remember the break-up of Ma Bell? Virtually all phone and cell service has Ma in its maternal family tree. There are good arguments on both sides of deregulation.

 

[skubish]

It may be the case in the U.S that nobody has a clue about unlocking, but not in Europe where people are used to unlocked phones and travel all over the place using local sims. We'll see how they respond.

Apple changed the rules for the worse. If you like that, fine. I don't and won't accept it even if it means losing functionality on my iphone or, if it gets bad, selling it. There will be other competitors in the near future which may not be as elegant, but probably better in functionality. We'll see.

The whole 'you're not entitled to anything' is boring and repetitive. We're talking about changing thinsg for the better by limiting huge corporations ability to exploit their power and limit customer choice and mobility. If you want to play by those rules, that's your choice. Many people won't.






Yes, and it's different from almost all the countries I've lived in, from countries in Asia, to the UK and Scandinavia. The U.S. is the worst in terms of limiting abuse and lock-ins, yet people don't seem to care at all and, indeed, defend it. Stockholm syndrome?

I am pretty sure that if you move to an area without ATT coverage, they will be willing to unlock it for you.

 

[carfac]

I am pretty sure that if you move to an area without ATT coverage, they will be willing to unlock it for you.

I would argue the opposite is true.

ATT customarily will unlock ANY locked phone after three months of service. I have called and asked- they will NOT on an iPhone. They even told me they currently have NO WAY to unlock a phone.

Try, see what happens. But I do not think they are set up to do this.

 

[compuguy1088]

I think carriers have always walked the fine line (before cells) between monopoly and necessary service that is allowed to walk the line. Remember the break-up of Ma Bell? Virtually all phone and cell service has Ma in its maternal family tree. There are good arguments on both sides of deregulation.

I wasn't alive when that happened, though I have heard that mentioned. And now AT&T is starting to become that again. The only major landline carrier left is Verison, to which I can recall, besides AT&T.

 

[benfilan]

It's almost as if the iPhone is everyones very first experience with a cell phone.

well peoples first experience with a phone that isn't renewed at the end of every contract (like with UK subsidised phones) or with a phone that isn't 100% 'yours' after you begin the contract.

usually when i get a new phone from o2, i play with it, do whatever i want with it, and at the end of the contract, o2 gives me another new handset (for free). i think we UK customers get treated a lot better than the US one.

 

[zwida]

I wasn't alive when that happened, though I have heard that mentioned. And now AT&T is starting to become that again. The only major landline carrier left is Verison, to which I can recall, besides AT&T.

No, they're really not. It's hard to remember what it was like pre-84, but the current environment is NOTHING like that and no plausible amount of corporate merging is going to change that.

 

[compuguy1088]

No, they're really not. It's hard to remember what it was like pre-84, but the current environment is NOTHING like that and no plausible amount of corporate merging is going to change that.

Well, at least in terms of coverage, they have alot of in the landline sense. They may not be like what they were before, but yea, they are the largest landline carrier in most of the US, except for Verizon.

 

[gkarris]

This is the same as any phone bought thru a carrier in America. The phone is locked to the carrier. After your contract is up, it is still locked. ATT is under no obligation to unlock it.

Take your issue up with your Congressman or the FCC for allowing this to happen.

Actually, I thought if the contract is up, then they MUST unlock the phone upon the customer's request.

I can see having it locked if the phone is subsidized.

Steve Jobs and AT&T is out to change this. An unsubsidized phone, that must always be locked to the carrier regardless. If you cancel your service, the phone and iPod functions becomes "deactivated"...