foyleman

I gave in and am spending the next 30 days testing an iphone. Now let’s backtrack and explain.

I’ve been a loyal customer of Verizon for many years now. It could possibly be about 14 years that I’ve stuck with the same carrier and it’s not because I have a thing for Verizon. It’s because I know from experience and other user experience that they have the most reliable service in the Northeast (USA).

Being a fan of gadgets a gadget freak, I’m always ready to jump on board the next greatest thing. However, Verizon really doesn’t allow me to do that. They don’t release new hardware right away and the hardware they do release is usually not as feature rich as the manufacturers originally conceived. For instance:

• It wasn’t until about a month ago that Verizon realized their consumers like the availability of WiFi on their portable devices.
• Want to install an application? It better first go through a year of testing by Verizon before being approved. And that’s the easy part from what I hear.
• Tethering? I hope you know how to hack work around issues.

Aside from all those issues, I convinced myself it was the right thing to do to remain with a provider that was reliable above all other things. Then comes the iPhone.

My wife gave me an iTouch (iPod Touch) for Christmas last year. I fell in love with this new gadget. Not only is it a wonderful piece of hardware, it’s forever evolving thanks to applications. The ability to create an application and get it approved by Apple is so easy, anyone can do it. Heck, even I have a game coming out in about week (stay tuned for that bit of awesomeness). Applications to a gadget enthusiast freak such as myself is the equivalent of a bag full of gadgets.

The problem I’ve been having is that in order to get everything you can out of this new piece of hardware, you need to purchase the iPhone. And the problem with such a purchase is you have to sign up for an AT&T account as opposed to Verizon.

The plan was to head over to a Verizon store to see what kind of savings I could get out of my account by dropping services and then to head over to an AT&T store to see what kind of testing (try and return if I don’t like) I could perform on the iPhone.  At the last minute I realized the short path was to head to the local Best Buy where all the services were available in one location.

*Note: I have found that if you know as much as or a little more than the service provider, they will drop all the bullsh!t and tell you truth. Rather then make sure they don’t lose any money from additional services (which I know they are specifically instructed to do), I had the guy telling me everything about the company and how to get the lowest bill possible in my situation.

*Note 2: In case you wanted to know, Verizon will be launching 4G in the 4th quarter of this year which could quite possibly mean future iPhones on the Verizon network about a year after that. Also, they are interested in getting involved in the Andriod phone business, but haven’t figured out how to go about it. Expect a response next year regarding this.

Let me cut to the chase. I am testing my iPhone for the next 30 days in which time I can cancel my contract with AT&T without penalty. So far, it works. The service isn’t as bad as I’ve been told. I might change my mind about this in another week, but so far… why did I wait so long? I’ll let you know what happens.