An Anti-Love Letter To AT&T
I have to take this opportunity to whine about something. What else is new, right? But let’s be real – what the heck is up with AT&T? I’m totally butt crazy in love with my iPhone but I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown thanks to the ever-so-flaky service. I’ve recently found myself spending quite a bit of time on the phone, whereas before, I primarily used my phone for texting, the web, and the apps. I’m more convinced than ever that AT&T is trying to ruin my life.
If I were a boxer, this would be my inspiration.
I totally get it, though – I live in a highly urban area, in an old, brick building that doesn’t allow for superb cell reception. But what I don’t understand is how every other call, literally, can fail. Call failed. Call failed. Ooh it’s ringing! Nope, call failed. Even when I can get a call through, the static is unbelievable. Nevermind the mysterious voicemails I get days late from phone calls I never received, that never showed up on my Missed Calls log. It’s endlessly frustrating and I’m finding myself more convicted than ever about the future of my relationship with my iPhone!
It wasn’t until I actually began using my cell as an actual telephone that I noticed just how awful the service is. You really can’t compare anything to the seamlessness of all other aspects – the aesthetics, the syncing, the convenience of having all my calendars, accounts and applications working in perfect harmony. But the cell service is total crap. What do I do?
It’s not like AT&T isn’t aware. The lack of service in Austin this past March for SXSW was the topic of many a conversation. The service just seems to be getting worse, and I’m sure I’m just one of the millions who are taking to their blogs to rant about dropped calls. What is keeping AT&T from getting their act together? I know you’ve got the fundage, the monthly bill for an iPhone is atrocious.
I noticed myself longingly gazing at my good friend Jason’s G1 on Sunday at church (yeah, shame on me for being distracted during church). Surely it wouldn’t be so bad to be the only one of my friends without an iPhone. Dare I risk not being one of the cool kids and allow myself the luxury of having access to a functioning cell phone? Could I possibly turn my back on the iPhone? That Pre is looking really nice about now.
The truth is, if the G1 or the Pre were available with Verizon, the Godfather of wireless providers, I would probably take the plunge. But I’m not totally sold on the reliability of T-Mobile or Sprint at the moment, definitely not enough to break my iron-clad contract with AT&T. The Pre WILL be available through Verizon in ~six months, but by that time, maybe I should just wait to see what Google has happening? Will G1 v2.0 be better? Perhaps by that time my long-distance boyfriend will be in LA and proper cell service won’t matter as much to me? What’s a girl to do?!
I am lost, and frustrated, and based on Twitter’s trending topics and the heated article on TechCrunch, I’m not the only one. One thing is for sure – AT&T is surely working doubletime to extend that contract with Apple, because once they switch providers, their customer base is going to be more sparse than hair on Homer Simpson’s shiny bald head.
FIX IT. Or I’m leaving. I mean it.
hosting by mediatemple
[...] Original post: An Anti-Love Letter To AT&T [...]
Who ya been spending all that time on the phone with?
I’m with you, though. The second the iPhone is available on Verizon I’m switching back.
[...] Read the original post: TechDarling » An Anti-Love Letter To AT&T [...]
Sarah, I have to take issue with a few of the concepts provided in your rant. For starters, all of the “cool kids” actually don’t have iPhones. All of the cool kids are iPhone-haters, and use phones that actually function properly. For example, I paid $24.00 (twenty four bucks, without the extra zeros) for this LG Vu and it works perfectly. My plan costs $85 a month, but I have two lines/phones for that price. On AT&T. In the D.C. area. And I work in a datacenter that was built to block external signals (like cell towers) on purpose. Everyone with an iPhone is sitting around waa-waa-waaing about AT&T, but you don’t hear a peep from people who have other phones. Why? I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to take a stab that it’s a battery-saving “feature” of the iPhone to have a horrifically bad signal. Just watch. There’ll be a press release. Dropped calls and late voicemails are a hip new feature! Yeah! Right along with all of those roll-over minutes!!!
It’s not like I can’t afford an iPhone… it’s just that for one, it’s plagued with problems, two, it’s DRM’d to the HILT, three, I can’t do anything I want with it (think Windows XP – where I can install anything I want) and four, and I’ve been whining about this for years, Apple products don’t have a removable battery!!! Oh, and five: no physical keyboard. Don’t like that either. If you’re looking for an alternative, I’d take a serious look at some HTC phones… HTC phones are ridiculous. They seem to have technology in them that hasn’t even been invented yet!
The other issue (and more to the point) I have with your rant and everyone else’s rants, is that AT&T doesn’t suck at all. It’s just really unfortunate that a good company like them has to get a bad rap over faulty hardware. They signed on the dotted line though, so I guess they aren’t without fault; however, I’m still placing the blame firmly on the shoulders of Apple, where it belongs. Just because it looks pretty on the outside doesn’t mean it’s not a heaping pile of crap inside. It’s lipstick on the pig! One of these days Apple will realize that form isn’t the only important part of creating a phone. It has to actually function properly too.
I disagree with Kasey about it being an iPhone issue and not an AT&T issue, as I tried AT&T a couple of years ago with a Blackberry. After ten days of failed calls and lots of frustration, I ran back to Verizon. I just bought an iPhone and once again have AT&T. I also once again have a lot of failed calls and more frustration. AT&T’s service is awful. I might go back to Verizon and Blackberry until Verizon becomes an option for the iPhone.
My gf and I are using our iPhones on Staten Island New York and in downtown Manhattan and have no issues with service. Even on our daily ferry rides service is good. I did read recently that AT&T is upgrading in several cities, so hopefully your issues will be resolved.