On 6/29/07, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: [Actually, I believe Deepa was quoting someone else, but ....]
Now here's a prediction: the iPhone will not be seen as perfect, by Saturday
there will be a minority of less-than- thrilled new iPhone owners who will form an anti-[iPhone, Apple, AT&T] culture. Why AT&T? Because these days when you get a phone from a wireless provider they will have disabled a number of the features that they don't consider to be to their advantage for users to use even though the capability was built into the hardware, or they will hold such features "hostage" unless the user pays for a more expensive plan that offers it. One example is WiFi, which the iPhone is capable of. Other phones which are sold by Cingular and T-Mobile that are WiFi-capable often have that feature disabled by default by the Cingular or T-Mobile firmware so the user cannot go to a Starbucks and use the free WiFi to browse the internet on their phone unless they pay the cell phone provider a $10/month "ransom". But, I digress. A mob or two of angry users -- that's my prediction.
Apart from being a cool new toy with the power of the Apple marketing juggernaut behind it, I think one of the ways in which the iPhone promises to revolutionize the U.S. market is by changing the way consumers think of their phones. As the above excerpt suggests, wireless carriers in the US control the equipment that is available to consumers in the US and often disable cool new features to protect existing revenue streams. Anyone who has been to a US wireless carrier store knows that they don't really promote the handsets -- the handsets are usually chained to the display and you can't really pick them up and play with them. The iPhone promises to change things, in that people who buy them are very clearly buying the device -- the AT&T service is an afterthought. If US consumers begin to think of their handsets in this way, it could open up the handset market as consumers demand the cool new features that are currently being held "hostage." Skype filed a petition a few months ago that challenges the extent of the control that AT&T and other wireless operators exert over the handsets that are available to consumers and the features available on them. (More on the petition here<http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2007/02/opening_the_dialog_about_consu.html>, and for the hardcore legal minds, a copy of the petition is available here<http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518909730>.) There's an interesting debate happening in DC telecom policymaking circles on this issue, and the iPhone helps bring these issues to the forefront for the average consumer and in the popular press. (And now, at the end, full disclosure -- Skype is a client of mine, and I worked on/wrote most of the petition referred to above. The opinions expressed here are mine, however.) Pretty sure I don't need to say this, but comments welcome. :-) Dave
