Weekly Weigh-In #4: iPhone + AT&T = poor service???

The hype surrounding the recently released Apple iPhone has created quite a stir around the office. Of course, some of us (hmm,hmm Dieter) can’t wait to get one, while others (who are undeniably envious of new toys) believe it to be overrated.

But rather than join this perennial debate, we would like to draw your attention to the network outages that AT&T customers experienced shortly after the release of the iPhone.

While some people have speculated that AT&T's network issues were due to the pressure of thousands of people activating their new Apple iPhones at the same time, AT&T representatives had this to say about the wireless data outage on their network: "Don't blame the iPhone"... There was a technical issue in the network, but it had nothing to do with the iPhone." It turns out that AT&T's euphemistic phrase "EDGE is down" was in fact "AT&T data routing system is down"!

I'm of the opinion that AT&T should have anticipated the strain that this surge was going to put on its network, and should have dedicated the necessary resources (AT&T is not exactly penny-pinching when it comes to buying other companies) to ensure a stable network. Instead, they played this "Let's-wait-and-see-what-happens" game and it seems when the network crashed they at least had their PR crisis management in gear.

So I invite you all to:

1. Join me in venting against the poor services we, The Consumers, have to put up with (especially when we pay a premium price for those services)
2. Offer any opposing view that will make iPhones users feel warm & safe
3. (wait... there is NO third option! Sorry "third-option-people")

/deka