Oh man, AT&T might be rotten, but Verizon is actively evil when it comes to this. Like cackling Emperor Palpatine levels of evil.
They heavily modify the software running on the phones they sell, and they don't allow any others on their network.
Modifications include:
* Shoving their logo into every orifice
* Leasing you access to the GPS chip in your phone (or even the E911 data)
* disabling all file transfer methods to try to get you to pay for MMS
* disabling native Exchange support to upsell you to enterprise bullshit
* blocking any media content that doesn't come through their bizdev
* Still pushing motherfucking WAP (Gopher over telegram, I tell you)
I have a Blackberry 8830 on Verizon. I'm loathe to switch carriers or phones.
The customer service is pretty great. I have access to the GPS. I've been able to get media on and off the phone as necessary. It has unlimited network connectivity and tethering.
I'm not convinced they're any worse than any other carrier.
Most of the asia carriers would compete over their services(no carrier-locked phone). But, in US, it seems like most of the carriers are competing over what phones they can provide.
Apple has taken Microsoft's place as the biggest bully on the block.
Microsoft seems closed and bullying next to the FS/OSS communities, but its success among proprietary vendors has traditionally been a result of its relative openness - to hardware platforms and devices, to third party developers, to add-ons and plugins and even competing products.
Sure, they threw their monopoly power around by bundling applications with their OS, but it's not like they actively prevented third party developers from making competing products available.
(Obligatory aside: I'm no Microsoft apologist. I had been replacing proprietary software with open software on XP for several years, and when it came time to replace my PC, Vista was so bad that I finally made the jump to Linux. Likewise, I'm holding out for Android before investing in a handheld device.)
Apple, by contrast, has always been fanatically controlling about their products. They ship slick, highly refined products, but the flipside of that obsessive attention to detail is an obsessive need to control how you use those products.
The App Store is just business as usual: Apple exercising its customary full-spectrum vertical dominance of the entire hardware/software stack.
It's not like they could (on the handset level) even if they wanted to—you can install applications on Android phones from any source, since they don't have the draconian application installation restrictions that the iPhone does.
Though it's probably questionable for Techcrunch to keep posting about the same story, I think Apple's anti-competitive practices deserve the extra notice.
I'm definitely "not an Apple fan", but I think these stories get a bit old. Apple has been all about control since... well, the days of the Mac. Remember the look and feel lawsuit? Steve quashing the clones? Pretty much par for the course - I'd rather read about people doing cool new stuff (and that includes Apple when they're doing that instead of trying to rule their turf with an iron fist).
"Palm, if you’re looking for marketing material — take note."
They can't. They don't offer a Google Voice client either. The SDK they have released (that doesn't let you publish apps yet) doesn't appear to be capable of it either. Good marketing material for RIM perhaps.
The SDK would support a Google Voice app at the same level as the Blackberry one does, but it wouldn't let you hijack the dialer and SMS like the Android one. So good marketing material for Google. :)
Anyone know what the status is of a Google Voice client for the S60 platform?
It seems far less restricted than most of the other smartphones, except perhaps Android. It even comes out of the box with a SIP client, and you can toggle a setting that uses SIP preferentially instead of making regular cell calls, if you want.
If Nokia is willing to develop and include a SIP client, which I can only presume the cell carriers wouldn't be thrilled with, they don't seem like the types to block Google Voice.
It's funny how helpful and nice T-Mobile was when I brought in my unlocked iPhone. They got me setup on a pay-as-you-go plan in no time.
After 2 years of being a loyal customer, AT&T shut my account off for "excessive use of partner coverage" ... even after repeated begging and pleading, they wouldn't restore my service.
There's gotta be a way outside of the App Store to get software onto the iPhone, right? If nothing else, developers gotta test their apps out. If that whole process (whatever it is) were wrapped into a neat little app, an entirely new distribution channel could be opened up. Has this happened yet? And if not (I assume not), why not?
edit: not an iphone app, a regular-type computer app.
Apple is trying to lobby the government into making it a federal crime to install your own software on the iPhone. I love this digital millennium that we live in...
Anyway, it comes down to -- what do you want more, pretty icons, or your freedom? Right now, the majority of phone users seem to want pretty icons.
Code needs to be signed to run on the iPhone unless you've jailbroken it - which most users don't do. So a key step in developing your neat little app is brute-force reversing Apple's private key (or stealing it, I suppose).
As an iPhone developer, Apple vs. developers reminds me a hell of a lot of the MPAA vs. filmmakers as documented in "This Film is Not Yet Rated". The more I've experienced, the more it amazes me how true this analogy is.
It’s Likely AT&T’s Fault [..] it’s not hard to guess who’s behind the restriction: our old friend AT&T. [..]Apple is now actively stifling innovation [..] All the more upsetting is that this comes from the company that Steve Jobs built. [..]
Make your mind up! Is it AT&T or Apple you want to whine about?
[+] [-] blasdel|16 years ago|reply
They heavily modify the software running on the phones they sell, and they don't allow any others on their network.
[+] [-] joshu|16 years ago|reply
The customer service is pretty great. I have access to the GPS. I've been able to get media on and off the phone as necessary. It has unlimited network connectivity and tethering.
I'm not convinced they're any worse than any other carrier.
[+] [-] siong1987|16 years ago|reply
Most of the asia carriers would compete over their services(no carrier-locked phone). But, in US, it seems like most of the carriers are competing over what phones they can provide.
[+] [-] mcantelon|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RyanMcGreal|16 years ago|reply
Microsoft seems closed and bullying next to the FS/OSS communities, but its success among proprietary vendors has traditionally been a result of its relative openness - to hardware platforms and devices, to third party developers, to add-ons and plugins and even competing products.
Sure, they threw their monopoly power around by bundling applications with their OS, but it's not like they actively prevented third party developers from making competing products available.
(Obligatory aside: I'm no Microsoft apologist. I had been replacing proprietary software with open software on XP for several years, and when it came time to replace my PC, Vista was so bad that I finally made the jump to Linux. Likewise, I'm holding out for Android before investing in a handheld device.)
Apple, by contrast, has always been fanatically controlling about their products. They ship slick, highly refined products, but the flipside of that obsessive attention to detail is an obsessive need to control how you use those products.
The App Store is just business as usual: Apple exercising its customary full-spectrum vertical dominance of the entire hardware/software stack.
[+] [-] Derrek|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tocomment|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mdxch|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] w1ntermute|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zacharypinter|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jkincaid|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidw|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ntoshev|16 years ago|reply
Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store
[+] [-] jsz0|16 years ago|reply
They can't. They don't offer a Google Voice client either. The SDK they have released (that doesn't let you publish apps yet) doesn't appear to be capable of it either. Good marketing material for RIM perhaps.
[+] [-] mrkurt|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kadin|16 years ago|reply
It seems far less restricted than most of the other smartphones, except perhaps Android. It even comes out of the box with a SIP client, and you can toggle a setting that uses SIP preferentially instead of making regular cell calls, if you want.
If Nokia is willing to develop and include a SIP client, which I can only presume the cell carriers wouldn't be thrilled with, they don't seem like the types to block Google Voice.
[+] [-] callmeed|16 years ago|reply
After 2 years of being a loyal customer, AT&T shut my account off for "excessive use of partner coverage" ... even after repeated begging and pleading, they wouldn't restore my service.
Sometimes it feels like they don't want my money.
[+] [-] awolf|16 years ago|reply
Of course this a techcrunch article- so I have to ask: is there any other side to this they are leaving out?
[+] [-] dpatru|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonursenbach|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tybris|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stavrianos|16 years ago|reply
edit: not an iphone app, a regular-type computer app.
[+] [-] jrockway|16 years ago|reply
Anyway, it comes down to -- what do you want more, pretty icons, or your freedom? Right now, the majority of phone users seem to want pretty icons.
[+] [-] jerf|16 years ago|reply
Yes! And then that app could be distributed through the App Sto... uhhh... hmmm... err...
"And if not (I assume not), why not?"
See above.
[+] [-] qeorge|16 years ago|reply
http://cydia.saurik.com/
http://ripdev.com/icy/
[+] [-] defen|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kqr2|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bigwill|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lallysingh|16 years ago|reply
It's just sickeningly bad.
[+] [-] jodrellblank|16 years ago|reply
Make your mind up! Is it AT&T or Apple you want to whine about?
[+] [-] jrockway|16 years ago|reply
But, does anyone who's not from the US have anything to say about this? Are the networks that carry the iPhone in Europe and Asia as evil as AT&T?