MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Dec 21, 09 - 10:27 am Comment from: silverhawk

SNL hasn't been funny since the 70's.

Funnier joke is SNL is still on the air after all these years of being not funny.

I wonder how much Verizon paid them for this little jab at Apple/AT&T;?

Chevy Chase and Bill Murray ... the good ol' days.

SNL hasn't been funny since the 80's.

MDN: There comes a point where it doesn't even matter if what's being said is even true, it becomes a commonly-accepted "truth" and the only way to change perception is to change the game in your favor.

Sarah Palin.

SNL hasn't been funny since the 90's.

Dec 21, 09 - 10:35 am Comment from: cptnkirk

Apple may want to 'change its game' but the agreement with ATT may preclude that at least until the summer. In Canada, the iPhone is now available on all the major carriers. The same is true for many other countries.

SNL hasn't been funny since the 00's.

Dec 21, 09 - 10:42 am Comment from: breeze

This lame attempt at humor is news?

sign of the dumbed down times...

@Riley:

"I wonder how much Verizon paid them for this little jab at Apple/AT&T;?"

Not one single dollar dude.....not one single dollar.

I've had Sprint, Verizon and now my iPhone with AT&T;. I would never trade my iPhone for anything and haven't had any issues with service here in Chicago AT&T;. I've actually had the best service with AT&T;and the worst with Verizon (soooo many dropped calls).

Dec 21, 09 - 10:49 am Comment from: breeze

ChicagoMusicGuy:

Ditto

"MDN: There comes a point where it doesn't even matter if what's being said is even true, it becomes a commonly-accepted "truth" and the only way to change perception is to change the game in your favor."

Czar obama

Dec 21, 09 - 10:59 am Comment from: TowerTone

Well, they do still put out a few gems on occasion

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/china-cold-open/1178451/

Dec 21, 09 - 10:59 am Comment from: breeze

BMWTwisty:

Actually that is the Official self stated - Karl Rove/Dick Cheney MO.

Dec 21, 09 - 11:02 am Comment from: clyde2801

OMG! MDN is being critical of Apple? Hell hath frozen over on Christmas week...

SNL Weekend Update hasn't been funny since Jane Curtain left.

Trouble making phone calls? Really? Not in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In fact - about 2 years ago AT&T;wasn't that good here - but they must have done some serious upgrading. The only place I've lost complete signal is in underground parking garages. I'm okay with that.

Dec 21, 09 - 11:14 am Comment from: HolyMackerel

Never had a dropped call once here in Western Asia despite long calls on O2. Only problem is PAYG account URL keeps resetting itself.

Do US hacked iPhones running on other US carriers have the same problems?

Dec 21, 09 - 11:14 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

What, no stated ways for Apple to change the game in their favor? How about some enlightenment MDN.

All this yapping about the AT&T;network. I've been an iPhone user since the first month it was out and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Every once in awhile I'll have network issues but that's almost always when I'm in the middle of nowhere. Pretty much a non-issue to me......

Dec 21, 09 - 11:18 am Comment from: Bread

I actually like SNL, but that just wasn't funny. And not because they insulted Apple, it's just that it came out of nowhere.

Dec 21, 09 - 11:19 am Comment from: Jimithy

SNL hasn't been funny since right before this clip aired.

ATT easily has the crappiest network world wide. The fact that Apple teamed up with this shit-for-brains company is a joke. Apple will really hate the day they linked up with them

Dec 21, 09 - 11:21 am Comment from: G4Dualie

@bates

that's easy, it starts with T-Mobile and Sprint and after they've experience being the butt of SNL jokes, then Verizon Wireless.

Dec 21, 09 - 11:22 am Comment from: ron

Haven't had a dropped call yet, but then I only use my iPhone a couple of times a day. I'm not one who yaps constantly. Except here on MDN.

I thought I'd better preempt that.

"MDN: There comes a point where it doesn't even matter if what's being said is even true, it becomes a commonly-accepted "truth" and the only way to change perception is to change the game in your favor."

Isn't this what Stephen Colbert's calls "truthiness"? Isn't this the essence of the "Bush doctrine" (i.e., the Republican Party platform)?

I don't have any problems with my iPhone.

SNL SUCKS!!!! Who watches that terrible show?

Dec 21, 09 - 11:34 am Comment from: AAPLguy

"I've had Sprint, Verizon and now my iPhone with AT&T;. I would never trade my iPhone for anything and haven't had any issues with service here in Chicago AT&T;. I've actually had the best service with AT&T;and the worst with Verizon (soooo many dropped calls)."


That's my experience exactly. I love my iPhone

Dec 21, 09 - 11:36 am Comment from: Ray

Well, maybe it is time to tell AT&T;either you provide all the services the iPhone can provide or we will sell to multiple carriers. The problem is not the iPhone...it AT&T;. They are playing the old 60's era Ma Bell games. Remember it took the supreme court to force AT&T;to allow 3rd party wire phones on the "delicate" network. Until then we all had to use Western Electric phones whether we liked or not.

just my $0.02

Dec 21, 09 - 11:37 am Comment from: ron

Renaldo, "Isn't this what Stephen Colbert's calls "truthiness"? Isn't this the essence of the "Bush doctrine" (i.e., the Republican Party platform)?"

Surely you jest? 'The Human's Causing Global Warming' spouters are the culprits. And don't forget the BS about 'No Public Option'. Lying b@st@rds

Dec 21, 09 - 11:37 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ G4Dualie,

I can see the T-Mobile hookup; that's a no brainer. But for Sprint and Verizon they need a CDMA capable phone, or one capable of handling GSM and CDMA. I imagine that isn't an insurmountable task, but I'd think they would have to sell a bunch of CDMA phones to make it worthwhile to them.

The Verizon aspect is a tougher matter, unless they decide to go with the flow and let Apple handle it like they do with AT&T. I have no idea if that's a viable scenario. I'm sure Apple is working the angles on this situation.

I don't get the joke. Oh wait... yes I do. It's SNL.

MDN is just saying that Apple is being uncharacteristically blasé about their image here. It's almost like... Microsoft letting everyone laugh at them over Vista, and just sitting there taking it.

Anyway, everyone in NYC has the iPhone, so yeah, the networks gonna get trashed. Still, that shouldn't mean you can't make a damn phone call.

Dec 21, 09 - 11:44 am Comment from: Predrag

Seems to me the joke kind of bombed. It got a fairly soft laugh, with very hesitant beginning of an applause; it was clear from his face that he was disappointed with the reaction to the joke.

The SNL writers are most likely all iPhone owners; for sure, they all definitely have MacBooks (Pro) in the writing room (presumably, loaded with Final Draft), so by extension of that logic, they are Apple fans. However, they are in New York City, which seems to be one of the two places in the country (the other being SF) with highest percentage of both highly-saturated AT&T network, as well as very whiny people.

For what it's worth, in NYC at least, this is 100% true. We've got over 50% call-drop rate with iPhone. AT&T;Blackberries have no trouble.

--Rob

Dec 21, 09 - 11:57 am Comment from: Macdoc

I didn't even know SNL was still on the Air. I watch very little network TV cause it all sucks.

People still watch SNL?

seeing my posts get removed shows exactly how gutless and cowardly MDN is. What a joke!

I miss the Coneheads or the Blues brothers. THAT was comedy. Once Dan Ackroyd left SNL dropped quite a bit but Eddie Murphy kept it going for awhile. After that...nada....

Schwetty Balls

Dec 21, 09 - 12:10 pm Comment from: madgunde

This joke hasn't been funny since I typed it.

SNL hasn't ever been funny - consistently, that is. Politically it's always been one-sided. Yeah, they made fun of Carter in his sweater by the fire. Ditto Slick Willie and his Lewinsky. But SNL jokes skirted real political issues criticizing Democrats. Never was that more apparent than its attacks on The One for not being successful with his Marxist agenda (ignoring the fact the first ones killed are the media munchkins).

All that aside, I have read reports of poor phone coverage in major cities. How can this be? Sometimes, you know, the truth hurts. Verizon's campaign against the iPhone is more one to get its grubby little hands on it and at a better price than what ATT pays.

Doesn't help that ATT complains about iPhone users.

Dec 21, 09 - 12:19 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ Buster,

My favorite skit was always 'Weekend Update', and especially the 'Point/Counterpoint' spoof of '60 Minutes'.

The first time Dan Akroyd said to Jane Curtain "Jane, you ignorant slut", people literally peed their pants. That was even better than the first time we heard Archie Bunker flush the upstairs toilet. Good stuff.

Take it with a boulder of salt, people. Remember that SNL hails from NYC, which is where ATT has had significant 3G issues. Plus, SNL needs to rip someone, anyone, anything that is popular to make a joke. That's all they have.

Dec 21, 09 - 12:25 pm Comment from: m159

When I got the first-gen iPhone, I had a lot of problems with sound clarity and dropped calls. It continued with the 3G. Then several months ago ATT upgraded their network locally, and, without changing phones, dropped calls stopped and the sound is clear. ATT needs to upgrade New York City.

Dec 21, 09 - 12:28 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

SNL 'Point/Counterpoint' with Dan Akroyd at his finest:

http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi119734297/

Let's see, SNL is based in New York City. 30% dropped calls in NYC is considered normal for the iPhone. (http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/09/30/apple-genius-att-dropped-call-rate-nyc-30/).

The SNL joke is dead on. The idea that one out of three calls being dropped is normal is ridiculous.

MDN's "perception" nonsense is just that--nonsense. It isn't perception when tech support documentation says a 1/3 dropped call rate is normal.

Dec 21, 09 - 12:38 pm Comment from: doc

What's SNL?

I have never had any service issues and I live in a small city, Sierra Vista, AZ. I had major issues with T mobile, and my wife had issues with Sprint. I've never had a dropped call or spotty service. So why do they assume it's a problem everywhere.

I think most people know the iPhone isn't to blame for ATT's network quality. The SNL joke wasn't dead on so much as dead on arrival. At least they ALMOST had the right idea, though.