Exactly when I was thinking about grabbing a beer, playing some music as loud as possible and enjoying a nice afternoon, something hit me right between the eyes. Don't worry, I am alive and kicking, no harm was done, only that I just found out that some time must pass until I'll finally be able to forget about the iPhone 3G and AT & T. What about them? Well, we'll leave the new iPhone aside for now, because there's nothing really new about it, just same old problems, of which the greatest one is the fact there are not enough units available to satisfy the demand yet, and we'll move on to AT & T and its exclusive iPhone rights in the US.
Nothing is perfect, so the iPhone 3G or AT & T's services aren't perfect either, but it seems those disappointed with the later should move out of the US...or wait a few years. Why? I am no seer, obviously, but this is, unfortunately, as official as possible, because it comes right from AT & T, as we're going to see right away...
In an interview published in USA Today, AT & T chief Randall Stephenson said they were "betting on Jobs" back in 2005, not on the handset, but it all proved to be a smart move, in the end. When talking about iPhone 3G and AT & T, Stephenson said "it's all about wireless." Hopefully, soon it's going to be "all about 3G," too, because there are still a lot of areas without coverage.
To make a longer story short, especially since most terms of the deal are not going to become "public domain" anytime soon, it's enough to say no other carrier will be able to get near to Apple's iPhone in the US until 2010. That's it! Like or not, if you want the iPhone, you'll also have to take the AT & T pill.
So, will you move out of the US until 2011, or not? After all, there are excellent iPhone 3G subscription plans in Hong Kong or Australia... so you don't have to live with the iPhone 3G and AT & T until 2011, don't you think?
