Why I Like the iPhone (even though I don’t own one)
One of the luxuries of having a blog is that I get the opportunity to get philosophical now and again. Today, I want to talk a little about why I like the iPhone and in particular, why Apple’s phone actually represents a swipe against “the man” despite the fact that Apple is often perceived as “the man”
It would be hard to argue against the assertion that Apple is a PR-obsessed machine that wants to maintain an iron grip on its products. Many pundits have railed against the closed development environment of the iPhone and the power that Apple wields through its App Store. Granted there are those brave few who jailbreak their iPhones enabling them to run Apps not approved by Apple, but in the end, the percentage of jailbroken iPhones out there are relatively small and most users simply accept what Apple gives them.
While Apple is often perceived as the “evil empire” in terms of their App Store restrictions, in the case of the iPhone, they actually assume the role of the crusader against an even more evil force – that of the Cellular carriers. Anyone who has ever purchased a smartphone knows what I am talking about. Verizon, AT&T and their ilk take a perfectly good phone and load it with all kinds of crapware that the average user cannot remove. Verizon is particularly egregious in this respect in that they disable some of the native functions of the phones in order to force users to use Verizon-provided alternatives that carry monthly fees. One example of this is the GPS functionality. Many of the smartphones Verizon offers are capable of using Google Maps in conjunction with the built-in GPS chipset to provide turn by turn directions for free, but Verizon actively disabled this functionality in the native software in order to force users who want GPS to purchase the $9.95 per month VZ-Navigator utility. Even my provider, U.S. cellular loads its Android phones with crap applications such as City ID which offers to provide caller-ID functionality to incoming calls for a monthly fee. City Id cannot be uninstalled unless you want to “root” your Android phone and install a third party firmware which often comes from somewhat dubious sources.
On top of this, most carriers are loath to upgrade existing phones when new versions of the Operating System appear instead wishing to sell you a new phone along with the attendant 2 year extension to your contract. Many cell phone companies (and I’m talking about you, Verizon) have even instituted higher early cancellation fees that exceed the discount the offered in the first place to get the phone at a subsidized price. Verizon for example went from an early cancellation fee of $179 to $350 for its smartphones.
Against this tide, Apple has proven to be the only company with the clout to push back. It controls all apps that are installed by default on iPhones and Verizon and AT&T can either take it leave it. Furthermore, Apple offers free upgrades to its Smartphone users whenever it feel like it and the carriers are unable to prevent or restrict its users from getting the new features for free. Compare this to the latest fiasco to his the nascent Windows Phone OS on AT&T. Microsoft has had an OS upgrade available for some time and AT&T has simply refused to allow it. Even U.S. Cellular, a carrier that has high customer satisfaction is not above this practice. Android 2.2 and 2.3 have been released and I’m still waiting for them to approve a 2.2 upgrade to my Samsung Galaxy S phone – an upgrade that has been available to other Galaxy S phones on other carriers for some time now. On the other hand, they would be happy to sell you a new phone that comes preloaded with the Android 2.2 OS.
My underlying point is that while I certainly see Apple as the “evil empire” in many respects, in the cell phone world, it may prove to be one of the consumer’s strongest ally against and even greater evil.
Apple, iPhone, Verizon