iPhone

AT&T Wireless, the cell phone company, is one of those big, faceless corporations that bumps along and manages stays in business despite itself, I believe. Case in point is the fiasco over the announcement on AT&T’s Web site that Apple iPhone users would get free access to AT&T’s 17,000 Wi-Fi hot spots around the country.

The AT&T announcement said:

“AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and free Wi-Fi even hotter, which is why we are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi hot-spot network with more than 17,000 hot spots, including Starbucks. Now users can relax and access music, e-mail, and Web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their favorite location.”

It was not true … not a word of it … even though the announcement stayed on the company’s Web site for weeks. What’s more, no one at AT&T is accepting responsibility for the lie.

The lie was compounded when an AT&T spokesman told CNET News, “We have not made any announcement regarding free Wi-Fi and iPhone. The webpage was posted in error and is being removed.”

Who vets the content on the AT&T website? Clearly, AT&T is a company where no one is accountable.

At the risk of gushing over the latest iPhone updates from Apple, I must write a few words about the exciting new iPhone feature, called Apps Store.  It is a giant WOW! and blows the competitor, the Blackberry, away, in my opinion.

A few months ago, Apple made its development software available at a reasonable price to anyone who wished to develop a useful application for the iPhone.  That move, in and of itself, has been significant and unprecedented in the technology industry and enormously successful.  It has resulted in countless applications for iPhone users which are distributed through iTunes, either free or for a nominal charge.

Among the new and free iPhone applications are news resources from The New York Times and Associated Press to keep you up to date.  There’s an app called, “NowLocal,” that delivers local news and events.  There is a new Facebook app that’s simply terrific and another one called, “BoxOffice,” where you can find what’s playing at the local movies and reviews of flicks.  My favorite so far is “Dial Zero” that provides the phone numbers of hundreds of businesses and services and how to hack past voicemail hell to reach a live person.

The list of neat iPhone apps just goes on and on.

A friend went by the ATT store in downtown Washington, D.C., today to buy an iPhone 3G … no joy because the store had sold-out. I suspect both ATT and Apple are celebrating with sales despite yesterday’s significant glitches with activating new iPhones and installing the new software on older iPhones.

I had no problems when I synced my first generation iPhone to update with the new software from Apple. My wife’s iPhone was a different story - the backup had gotten corrupted, causing her iPhone to lose configurations on email. But … and this is a BIG difference between Apple and most other companies on the planet … an Apple tech provided her with professional guidance to solve the issues within a few minutes. Tell me another company that has such incredibly good customer technical support!!

Such solutions-focused interface with customers is how Apple has earned the respect of a loyal base of fans who are … well, almost cult-like … in their enthusiasm for Apple and products, like the brilliant new iPhone. It’s really sort of like … a love affair with Apple.

Apple’s highly anticipated rollout of its new MobileMe service to provide hopefully seamless syncing of calendar, email and contacts between your computers and iPhone is working … its first day … like a train wreck. The primary Me.com Web site (screenshot is left) has crashed, the older .Mac Web site has crashed and other Apple online systems, like the ability to download iTunes, which is an essential component, have crashed.

Not sure what’s going on because this is highly unusual for Apple. All I can guess is that consumer demand for the new iPhone 3G and its services is much greater than anticipated.

The scene (left) at the ATT store in downtown Washington, D.C., this morning was similar to that at other ATT and Apple stores across the nation this morning - lines of people waiting to buy Apple’s new iPhone 3G.  

Apple has intentionally kept the iPhone off the market for the last month, both to build near-hysterical customer demand and media frenzy, and to eliminate the previous problem of people taking advantage of the company’s liberal 30 day money back refund to trade-in an older model.  Smart and gutsy corporate move by Apple on both counts.

As a typical Apple enthusiast, I was online earlier this morning to download the iPhone 2.0 software update, which gives my earlier generation iPhone just about all the bells and whistles as the new 3G model … except better wireless speed.  My iPhone uses ATT’s ancient EDGE network that delivers about 70k, akin to old-fashioned dial-up speed.  The new iPhone 3G is supposed to be about three times faster but even that doesn’t set the world on fire.  At the risk of sounding less than “WOWed,” I am less than WOWed by the new software features.  I will leave reviews to the professionals but I thought … (yawn) it was considerably less than what I had expected.  

Sorry, Apple … but I still love you.

When it comes to hyping an honest-to-goodness fabulous new product, no one is better than Apple. The company’s newest iPhone - the iPhone 3G - is being released this Friday, and people are already camping out at Apple stores to be first in line to buy one. While the iPhone 3G is front-page news, more details are coming out about the cost of the faster 3G service … that is, if it is available where you live.

Here’s the story - the price of the entry level iPhone 3G is $200, one-half the price of the original iPhone that debuted a year ago. Why the lower price? Because AT&T Wireless, the service provider in the U.S. is subsidizing each iPhone. But you, the user, will ultimately pay the difference, and then some.

For the iPhone 3G, the data plan costs $10 more each month than the data plan for the original iPhone, and that does not include any text messages.  Texting will cost another $5 a month. My six-month-old iPhone has 200 text messages included. So, right off the bat, you will be paying an additional $360 for the joy of playing with an iPhone 3G over the term of a 24 month AT&T contract.  

But then, is it worth it?  Absolutely if you are someone who needs to stay connected and informed.

For anyone who uses .Mac email, as I do, Apple’s newest offering is now automatically available - @me.com. In other words, if your .Mac email has been (yourname)@mac.com, it’s now also (yourname)@me.com.

While I have read Apple’s announcements about MobileMe, of which @me.com is a part, I am not sure how I feel about having a “me” email address. Have we really entered the “me” time in our society when so many people feel, “all about me,” (see previous post) that we need such an email address?  What impression does that give?

Naw, maybe I’m too old as a baby boomer that @me.com doesn’t feel good.  I’m from a long-lost generation when it was all about - all of us.  I’ll stick with .mac.com. I think that’s cool.