Archive for the ‘AT&T’ Category

Much to Do About Nothing

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

The blogosphere is in a tissy about AT&T “encouraging” employees to contact the FCC about net neutrality. Even going so far as to suggest that management pressured employees to do this.

I call BS on this. I worked for the other evil empire – Verizon – for 7 years. We used to get e-mails from our government affairs group every so often presenting the company’s position on various issues and encouraging us to write our representatives in support of these views. These e-mails were from “corporate”, not from our business unit. Never once did anyone from our business unit nor in our chain of command ever bring up one of these e-mails. No one cared. There was no pressure. I find it very hard to believe that it would be much different at a very similar AT&T.

Is Phone Scoop Still Relevant & What’s Next

Monday, July 27th, 2009

I got to thinking about some of the sites I used to check out all the time. One of them was Phone Scoop. I used to LOVE phonescoop.com. Checked it out all the time. Loved seeing all the new phones. Then came the iPhone. Since then, there’s no reason to look at anything else. Nothing else is even close. Game over.

I loved my old Nokia smart phone even after it died until the minute I got my hands on my first iPhone. I forgot about the 6620 pretty fast, despite the many years of service it gave me. Despite the fact that I had been through 3 Nokias and had positive experiences with all of them.

It’s funny how one product can change things so much. It’s that good. If only AT&T didn’t suck so bad.

I can’t wait for Apple’s next game changing product. Maybe it will be a tablet. Though I’m also waiting for the CrunchPad (do a search for it on TechCrunch). But I’d really love for them to do something cool with the AppleTV. Hopefully mostly in software so that my older model can benefit.

I think this officially makes me an Apple fanboy. But they earned it, so I’ll wear the tag with pride.

My New iPhone 3GS is DEAD !!!

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

It worked one minute, it was dead the next. Going to the Apple Store on Monday to get it fixed/replaced. Major bummer. I’m glad I kept my old iPhone.

iPhone 3GS

My New iPhone 3G S – Not a Life Changer

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
Apple iPhone 3G S

My first generation iPhone was a real life changer when I got it. I loved it. It did things I hadn’t considered using a phone for. It was like always having a computer with me, as well as a phone and an iPod. It served me well until the battery quit holding a charge about two weeks prior to the launch of the new iPhone 3G S. I considered this pretty good timing. So I kept my old iPhone near a charger all day and prayed it would last. It did.

I received my new iPhone at about 10am PST on the launch day. I couldn’t wait to get home to set it up. I bought the 32GB model in black.

I’ll cut to the chase. The new phone is simply evolutionary. It’s faster than my old phone. It has WAY more storage (which is pretty sweet and solves my longest running complaint about my old iPhone). And it does a few more things, but nothing that makes my jaw drop. Turns out, after a few days with the new phone, it’s simply another iPhone that holds a charge and a lot more music. Nothing wrong with that, but not necessarily worth $300. And not a life changer.

I haven’t done much with the camera. Maybe that will improve my opinion somewhat. I don’t care about video.

Also, I was hoping that the reception and call quality would improve with my new iPhone. It didn’t. AT&T still sucks! I’m not a big fan of Verizon Wireless, but if they ever offer the iPhone, I’ll leave AT&T immediately. Even if it requires an early termination fee.

Here’s a link about the 3.0 software that comes on the iPhone.

Here’s a link to a review of the 3G S hardware.

I loved my old iPhone and I love my new iPhone even more because it holds most of my music. But my advice is that if you have a functioning iPhone 3G, I’d pass on the upgrade to the 3G S. If you have a first generation iPhone, maybe it’s worth the upgrade depending upon your priorities. But try installing the 3.0 software first. If you have ANY other phone, upgrade to an iPhone NOW. I’d actually recommend the $99 3G. It’s a MAJOR bargain.

AT&T and the 1st Gen iPhone

Sunday, January 4th, 2009



If this is true, it goes a long way towards explaining why my service has degraded so much. I have a 1st gen iPhone on AT&T. I’m in the Bay Area. Here’s the story:

Open for Business has learned that AT&T has been quietly sacrificing 2G signal strength in an effort to speed up the build out of its next generation 3G network…

…While previously the company had been primarily relying on the 850 MHz band that offers a more robust signal, including superior indoor reception, company technicians confirmed to OFB that transmitters for the 2G signal used by the original iPhone and most other handsets, including most AT&T offered BlackBerry and RAZR models, have been shifted to the weaker 1900 MHz band in some areas.

If this is true, AT&T really sucks.