AT&T vs. Verizon With a Splash of Apple
Living in Boulder Co. with AT&T and the IPhone is not as bad as living in New York City or Westchester NY with AT&T and the IPhone, but it’s still frustrating. Dropped calls, crossed lines, calls that never go through, etc, etc, etc…
Does it need to be, do we have options?
I run a monthly technology meeting focused on new technology in Boulder Co., its call New Tech, and I asked how many people have smart phones other then an IPhone. 15% of the people in this months meeting raised their hands, I was shocked. I asked the same question 6 months ago and about 2% of the people raised their hands. Granted our audience is technical, but if the geeks are starting to switch, it’s not long before they convince their friends and family to do the same.
I can see the next Verizon commercial. hello, hello, hello
Why is AT&T just giving this business away?
Here is my second free suggestion, focus on the people you’re losing rather then trying to acquire new ones. Otherwise I predict in 12 months the number of people who have switched will be significantly higher.
True! Now with Android phones a real contender and even better than the iPhone, a LOT of people will be jumping aboard the Verizon smartphone train, and even more jumping ship from the iPhone on AT&T to Android on Verizon.
Ian
December 7, 2009 at 1:37 am
Yup….The Droid is getting better and better! Great service on the Verizon network, compared to AT&T and the iphone.
Heather
December 7, 2009 at 11:39 pm
As a technologist, marketing bozo, and investment banker, this is fascinating to me. I can’t recall a similarly ubiquitous outpouring of criticism about a single company and their service, and yet, the company continues to thumb their noses at subscribers by denying the problem and continuing to staff their retail outlets with snobbish people with absolutely no connection to the success or failure of the business.
It’s as if by virtue of selling the iPhone, they’ve all become little versions of Steve Jobs – but without the skills or charisma or success.
John Ball
December 8, 2009 at 4:55 am
I had verizon for years before the Iphone came out. I am a mac guy and the phone was amazing so i made the switch and it has been the most painful 2 years of my life. I am constantly apologizing for my phone it’s horrible. I went with my brother to buy a new android phone (instead of the iphone just to avoid AT&T) and I was blown away.
I will be going back to Verizon as soon as possible. Verizon’s 4G that is coming out soon will probably be the nail in the coffin. People on a tight budget will go with with t-mobile and anyone who wants a phone that is both cool and functional will go to Verizon.
Josh Carr
December 11, 2009 at 3:19 am
I think the more telling stat will be to ask the same question in another 6 months — that’ll tell you if the tech crowd is genuinely making a switch or just testing out something new. Droid’s not the iPhone alternative, nexus one starts to get you there, but there’s still a couple of levels of refinement to go. The people that are generally complaining about the iPhone are more often than not complaining about AT&T. Once the exclusive contract is up with AT&T, then it’ll be a more interesting playing field.
On the flipside, it’s nice to finally see some real competition to the iPhone.
Bruce
January 13, 2010 at 7:24 am