| 16 January 2011
The long awaited moment of having the iPhone available on a provider other than AT&T is finally here. This has been a much anticipated joinder for at least a couple of years. I personally will not be joining in the festivities any time soon, as I am locked into multiple Sprint contracts, as well as being an Android enthusiast. Until the day Apple decides it's in their best interest to sell the iPhone to everyone, I will be sorting out the issues with my mobile platform beneath the glow of a green robot, as it laughs at me from high atop the Google cloud.
Anyway, back to the new iPhone and Verizon team. To most it would seem like a positive move to allow a larger percentage of people enjoy such a revolutionary piece of technological history. However if you listened to the commentary on the news and other sources, you would think Apple and Verizon were selling you a knock off out of the trunk of a car. The most popular mantra from the naysayers being, "You won't be able to talk on the phone and access data services at the same time with the iPhone on the Verizon Network." Yea and, so what? The majority of people using the iPhone on Verizon will be using the iPhone for the first time, and won't be AT&T customers. For the most part they will either be current Verizon subscribers, or former Sprint customers making the switch to get their hands on the gadget. Neither Sprint or Verizon offer the ability to use voice and data at the same time, so they won't know the difference.
The other part to the negative wave of commentary is the lack of 4G with the iPhone version being released on Verizon. This argument actually holds a little water, but is still not enough to turn this move into a flop. I contend that most people have yet to really get a taste of 4G, and the allure of the iPhone alone is enough to make anyone currently using 4G accept this shortcoming. Furthermore, as with most things in technology, the upgrade will soon be here. The biggest piece of the puzzle is in place. Getting Apple to broaden it's mobile horizons is what matters most, and hopefully the increased competition will help motivate Google to keep improving their platform. So go, run iPhone newbs, run to the light.
