iPhone Verizon Launch Rumors Good News for NYC Travelers

Next iPhone Beachead

AT&T signal failure in NYC is more than an urban legend.  Always a skeptic, I experience it myself every time we go.  At times this becomes so frustrating I would willingly defect if I had to endure this more than I do.  The Verizon iPhone is certainly coming soon, as Apple Insider me-toos, focusing on speculation about when and how the announcement will be made.

iPhone Launchpad

The ensuing devastation of the AT&T iPhone built success is, in my view and that of others, exaggerated.  One reason, if the customers desert wholesale as the Verizon fan boys fantasize, AT&T would enjoy a ridiculously successful year collecting the contract forfeiture fees.  

This cellular carrier warfare has all the passion of Ford/Chevy or iPhone/Android, with none of the reason. Both companies are masters at pushing customer exploitation to the extreme.  Will Verizon change it's reputation for being abysmal at customer service? Doubtful.  Will their network be able to withstand the kind of traffic explosion AT&T's failed with?  Unlikely they will have to, so the reputation will be preserved.  Taking on the iPhone will mean Verizon has had to relinquish some of the self destructive control they have exerted over devices up to now.  There is no way Apple will allow Verizon to screw up the carefully crafted usability of the iPhone.  In fact, I expect the Verizon phone will operate exactly as the AT&T iPhone. 

The AT&T agreement that launched the iPhone is going to be studied as a turning point in how the phone companies were forced to cede absolute control over hardware, to their ultimate benefit.  The recent success of Apple must in large part be attributed to Jobs and Co. indefatigable negotiating skills.  The willingness to be the first phone company to cede power to a mere hardware supplier has to be seen as courageous and far sighted.  The ensuing network issues were a different kettle of fish.  These issues were at first business challenges, and eventually became examples of greed and short sightedness overcoming strategic thinking.  

For Apple, think of it!  In the US, they will double their potential market overnight.  The fact they iOS and iPhone are so dominant while being one phone device on one carrier is remarkable indeed.  No wonder the level of usability is so high.