danielredbeard’s weblog

I am an unapologetic Apple fanboy.

My home is an all-Mac, all-Apple home. My son has probably heard rumors of Windows, but not used a Windows OS. Hope he doesn’t have to be subject to that inefficient black hole.

Last September I took the plunge and bought an iPhone 3G after being really unhappy with Cincinnati Bell’s call quality. Lots of dropped calls, mouth-breathers for tech support, and devices that had “lowest bidder” written all over them – I was happy to join the ranks of iPhone users and be part of yet another innovation from Apple.

All was going so well until August 1st, 2009, which is around the time when Apple released iPhone OS 3.0.1, which has a security patch. That’s when the dropped-calls-polluza began.

At one point I had 5 dropped calls in a single conversation with my biggest client, no less. I called AT&T and they ran diagnostics while bemoaning Apple’s product construction. Their conclusion: Not an AT&T problem.

So I called Apple. Same rap – not their problem, it’s an AT&T network issue.

I then made a call to my local AT&T store and talked with a very nice guy, Andy, who talked with me like someone who understood the impact of a bad device in business. We set up a 2pm appointment for Tuesday.

Yesterday (Tues.) at 2pm I showed up, and was greeted by a frumpy blonde who just looooooves her job. She couldn’t have been snarkier or more uninviting, so I dismissed her and began working with her co-worker. He was decent, but not a businessman. We figured out a plan of action – for my wife to take over the iPhone and for me to get a very stripped down phone that could just be used for calls. Simple enough.

Only… they didn’t have the phone I wanted in stock. I took it as a sign when my sales dude was pretty indifferent about the situation I was in.

Disgruntled, I hopped in my SUV, called my wife and asked where the nearest Verizon was. I wanted to see what their plans were these days and maybe, just maybe break my AT&T contract and make the jump.

I walked into Verizon, was greeted professionally by a non-pushy sales guy, and was introduced to Ben. This guy, Ben, is a guy who understands business. We talked as adults, he actually listened, and as I considered my situation of being made a fool by AT&T and Apple’s blame game, I made the jump.

Within an hour I was no long an iPhone user, and instead walked out using a stripped-down Nokia that does one thing right: Makes phone calls without dropping them.

Don’t get me wrong – the iPhone is a device that truly changed the game in mobile. I have no doubt that in a matter of a year or so I will be designing branded apps, etc. for iPhone or other rip-offs. But the one thing Apple went horribly wrong on was only allowing AT&T service their device. When you take competition out of the mix, mediocrity is always the result. No exceptions.

I hope to return to Apple’s device some day, but it won’t be until they let a reputable company service their device.