\” An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier\’s reputation for an iPhone.\” Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and interesting expose on the \” loveless celebrity marriage\” this is Apple and AT&T — all from sources accustomed to the matters but who cannot (or cannot) be named, after all . In other words, don\’t take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the world of what we\’ve already surmised ourselves. In short, the two companies had been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T\’s part, the carrier was reportedly stunned when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube\’s bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon\’s Map for That ads: \” It was [effective] owing to AT&T\’s network. We’d had been allowing them to use the iPhone to position lipstick on a pig,\” remarked one anonymous Apple exec.
What\’s best to us this is the continuing reported discussion to drop AT&T in favor for Verizon. That chapter apparently begins just months after the original\’s launch, with an investigative team (including Scott Forstall) ultimately concluding that Qualcomm\’s CDMA (or CDMA / GSM hybrid) chips would require a whole redesign of the device, not to mention a foul lawsuit with AT&T over its exclusive contract (perhaps a minor issue, knowing Apple). Back then, Verizon wasn\’t seen as a guaranteed improvement, and in keeping with one executive aware of such meetings, the carrier switch has been discussed at the very least a half dozen times, with the overall consensus always being that it might \” cause as many problems as it solved.\” We will\’t imagine it’s gonna help stem the perpetual VZW iPhone rumor mill.
Hit up the source link for the complete tale, which does hit on a fundamental issue of the mobile industry going forward: as smartphone makers continue to push their devices\’ capabilities, bandwidth concerns will continue to grow and carriers tend to take nearly all of the blame. While you ask us, David Fincher has just found his ideal follow-up to The Social Network — we\’d especially love to peer someone film the part where AT&T asks Steve Jobs to ditch the turtleneck and wear a suit when meeting with its board of directors.
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