Remember the Big Black Phones from AT&T?
In an article on TechCrunch today by MG Sigler, the author is, well, griping about the fact that the AT&T network is slow, that the iPhone is slow, etc, etc, etc. He uses this issue to illustrate the genius of the AT&T contract/Apple release schedule, in that they have suckered people into perpetually updating and renewing their contracts.
Ok. This week I’ve noticed that the service is a bit slower, sitting at my desk with two stories of concrete and brick overhead, but let us put this in perspective. None of us are alive to remember when AT&T was THE phone company where you got your ONE LANDLINE phone FROM AT&T. The phone was big enough you could kill an elk with it and you needed an operator to call anyone. The iphone, on the other hand, is less than 5 ounces, pretty, and let’s me find the nearest restaurant, invite my friends to it for lunch, and calculate the tip from the same platform. The first generation iphone was amazing. The 3G iphone is a marvel of modern technology. Yes, there can be incremental improvements (I’d love the ability to record video on the fly.) but this is about the most impressive piece of technology I’ve ever set my eyes on. If you currently have a 3G and you feel like it’s not TRULY the greatest thing since sliced bread, you’ll never be happy with the next generation phone.