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Like many others, I have been sucked into the chaotic hoopla surrounding the freshly unveiled iphone. Let me first say that I am a loyal Macintosh advocate of about ten years and also an employee of Cingular Wireless. My current position is a Tier 2 call center technician and I don't care for Cingular as an employer or a provider. Truthfully, if nauseates me to work for these corporate fascists, but until my conviction outweighs the mortgage, I'll swipe my badge and march into cubical hell each morning.
With the exception of my employment choices, i do have my priorities in order. That is why I called in sick yesterday, stayed in my pajamas and fervently read Macworld's Keynote updates all day on my glorious 24" imac. The pictures of the iphone blew me out of the water and when Steve announced Cingular as the exclusive provider, I almost choked on my Top Ramen! Steve, Steve, did you really just say that?
I was shocked by this announcement for a number of reasons. Firstly, as a Cingular employee, I knew NOTHING about the iphone. I realize that apple wouldn't have allowed Cingular to blow their secret on a bunch of moronic call center reps prior to the release, but we didn't have so much as a clue. Cingular is very thorough in it's marketing/sales tactics and employees receive hours of training on products and features months before they are available to the public. They transform most of us into feature swindlers and price gougers hiding behind the friendly guise of a "customer advocate." Most Cingular employees truly think that they are helping the customer by offering higher rate plans and $5 ringtones, they really do. But there are those of us who see through the capitalistic tripe, ignore the protocol and help out the customer with THEIR best interest in mind.
But the thing that shocked me most, was to see Apple release a locked and branded phone only available with a ball and chain 2 year contract. To me this totally contradicts Apple's often defiant, pioneering attitude. How can a company claiming to "think different" not allow it's customers to choose their own cell carrier? Apple generally creates hardware that stands on it's own and supports itself without help from anyone. Why isn't the iphone sold at the apple store unlocked and ready to accept any provider's sim card? This is not thinking different, they are doing the thinking for us and robbing us of our individual freedom to choose. This is cellphone communism.
It's not only a matter of consumer principal here, but the whole looming idea of Apple having a partnership with someone. To me it shows weakness. Apple has always stood on their own two legs without any support from outside affiliation, and that is what fans love so much. They are a revolutionary, American company not afraid to break rules or push boundaries...and who do they partner with? Cingular, The most hated cellular provider in the world. The only reason Cingular has the most customers is due to the absorption of all at@t customers after the merger. Take it from the horse's mouth, former at@t customers are NOT happy and as soon as their contracts start expiring, they're going to bounce!
I don't even have time to get into how Apple represents everything that Cingular isn't, most of you already know anyway. The perfect illustration of how wrong this partnership is, can be viewed in the keynote itself. The show kicked off with a charismatic Jobs strolling around in tennis shoes, making jokes and charming the audience with explosive anticipation. This was followed by the unveiling of cool, new products that eventually lead up to the climactic explosion of the iphone's presentation. Steve knows what he's doing. He is a showman in ceo's clothing. He knows what Apple loyalists want and he delivers.
After all the hype and iphone explanations, Steve introduced his new partner, Stan Sigman, ceo of Cingular. When I heard his name, my heart dropped and I began to cringe as he awkwardly sauntered into position. See, I know who the guy is because I have to watch his propagandist videos and delete his mind-numbing emails on a daily basis. This guy is as boring as rock and as socially awkward as a home-schooled Jehovah's Witness at the prom. For crying out loud, the suit read from handheld note-cards! He fumbled his way through a few in-sincere thank yous and turned the rest of his stage-time into a five minute long Cingular commercial. I know that his diatribe was blasphemous on Apple's grand stage, but a part of me couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was so awkward, nervous and out of place in his brand new Cingular-embroidered suit. When he finally stopped talking and shook hands with Steve, I couldn't help but notice the symbolism in two polar opposites representing completely different worlds awkwardly coming together.
The next day I rushed to work, hoping to receive new iphone training, some pamphlets, or at least a few informative emails. All I got was one lousy mass-email from ol' Stan with a very brief summary of the iphone's exclusiveness to Cingular. Oh yeah, and a link to some generic "talking points" for customers who ask about the iphone. It's filled with some doozies too. From what I can tell, Cingular is going to milk Apple's name for all it's worth in an attempt to appear as "cutting edge" and "revolutionary" as Apple is. It's kind of like Apple is a friends cooler, older brother that Cingular wants to be friends with.
Now onto what I know about the cellular business and what may happen with Apple and Cingular. Steve said that the phones are going to be in both Apple and Cingular stores. This could possibly be our red haring, but just maybe. Steve only briefly mentioned the partnership with Cingular and then changed the subject as if he didn't want to place too much emphasis on it. (Most likely because he knew what our response would be) Sigman is the one who will be playing up the whole partnership thing to lure people into Cingular with Apples top-notch hardware. I think if iphones could ONLY be used with Cingular, they would ONLY be sold through Cingular retail channels. Steve didn't ever say anything about the iphone ONLY working with Cingular. He didn't even say that the phone was locked. This whole "Cingular only" thing may only be what Stan Sigman wants us to think. And you can guarantee that Cingular will do everything in it's power to make people think it's the truth.
Getting cellular service is not an easy task like stopping in for a Big Mac and fries. You have to jump through all kinds of hoops with contracts, paper work, rate plans, credit checks, sim cards, imei numbers, hotline acceptance, photo id's and tons of other junk. Trust me, this is my job and I have to deal with this kind of nightmare on a daily basis. Actually obtaining an account and then getting it activated is the most complicated obstical one will face throughout their cellular experience. This is when entire address books are mistakenly cleared, sim cards erased and customer's lose their minds in a screaming, raging fury. I don't see any of this ever happening in the surreal environment of an Apple store.
If these phones were Cingular only with a two year contract that would mean that a Cingular employee staff would permanently be stationed in the Apple store along with everything required to activate new service. It's not a simple matter of putting a Cingular sim card in the box and sending them on their way, it is a gigantic, nightmare process. I can't foresee Apple allowing their stores to become a chaotic circus-stage with hundreds of angry customers lined up and demanding cellular service. It just won't happen. So that means that one of two things is going to happen:
1. The iphones sold at the Apple store will be unlocked, though not announced or emphasized whatsoever. Perhaps they will come with a Cingular leaflet suggesting some price plans or even insinuations that the phone will only work with Cingular service. Kind of like Apple's way of saying, don't ask, don't tell.
2. The iphones will be sold locked, only capable of working with Cingular service. It will come with something saying, "take this phone to a Cingular store and they will set you up with a plan," that kind of thing. If this is the case, it is nothing more than a slap on the wrist and some 14 year old hacker will break the code and post detailed how-to instructions on Digg the next day. Everybody wins. (As a sidenote, a common misconception is that the cellular provider has the unlock code for the device. In reality, only the manufacturer of the has this code and the cellular provider must obtain it from them.)
I think that it is a VERY good sign that the iphone is available for purchase from either Apple or Cingular. There is distinct difference between the two stores and there has to be a reason for it. Even if the iphones were sold unlocked from Apple stores, Cingular would still win huge and Sigman knows that. Just think of all the places where there are Cingular stores and no Apple stores. Practically everywhere! Most people think phone-phone store. The majority of people are uninformed sheep and will flock to Cingular in droves ready to sign whatever they have to in order to leave with a stylish new iphone in their pocket. Smart consumers and of course Apple loyalists will purchase their phone's from the Apple store, hopefully unlocked and rejoice in the fact that we make decisions with intellect, not emotion. So regardless of how things play out. BUY YOUR IPHONE FROM APPLE, NOT CINGULAR.
In the long run, I am happy with Apple's decision to create the iphone. It shall blow away all the complicated pda-smart phone pieces of rubbish and pave the way for a simpler communicative future. Let's hope we can beat this Cingular thing and given the reasons listed above, I think we have a really good chance. As far as I'm concerned, Cingular has only raised the bar once, and that was yesterday. A partnership with Apple is the best business move that they ever could have done. And for Apple? Well, we'll see. Thanks for reading and i hope you all
think different.
-jolly roger, wrench in the sprocket.
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