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And if all else fails, take their dog, Fluffy, hostage.

just stop, they're so fscked it's not even funny. they were barely hanging on in the first place with their shit customer service and funky phones. now, they're all about throwing anything out to dissuade customers.

dead in the water.

MW - respect - they're going to owe a lot of it to Apple/AT&T;

Wow, I think I want to swig by a Sprint store on my way to AT&T;just to mess with them.

"So it works with iTunes?"..."No?"

"The interface is easy to use?"..."Oh.."

Why does everyone try to fixate on the price? Quality is quality.
A few hundred dollars more or less is just a few hundred dollars. I want my stuff to WORK

Enjoy, see you in line on Friday in Bellevue

MDN MW: trying--> is that a pun? Sprint is 'trying' iPhone is 'doing'!

As Steve said about Microsoft and The Macintosh,

"What's a few percentage points between friends?"

I expect that most of the other carrier's will be rolling out similar talking points over the next few days.

The big news is that Sprint expects as much as a 6% drop in customers. Even if that's on the high side, it seems Apple's goal of capturing 1% of the market by 2008 will be EASY!

Can *anyone* hear me now?

Hello?

I emailed a to let her know the talking points are pure and utter BS. She's the Consumer Products head. You should email her too!

wow, running scared already


with good reason

iPhone, Bltch!

They do have one point, AT&T;'s network sucks. Sprint has a much better network. Frankly, I wish the iPhone was on Sprint's network.

haha, out of office reply

Thank you for your message. I am out of the office on business travel through Thursday, June 28, with sporadic access to e-mail. If you need immediate assistance, please call my wireless at (703) 928-3919.

If you are a customer, please call 1-800-SPRINT1 for assistance. For privacy reasons, only Customer Care associates have access to customer account information.

Thanks and have a great day!

Best,
Michelle Leff

Yo, ChrissyOne, where you been?

Here's the best one by far:

“The iPhone is an Apple product and has some nice features. It also has a nice price. Do you really need all those features in one device?”

Let's follow this logic thru, Sprint wants me to carry a digital camera, an mp3 player AND one of their phones? Hmmm, sounds so tempting.

The other major flaw with their talking points is that it takes a fleet of Sprint phones to fulfill the needs that the iPhone does alone.

@ Shogun

Contrary to publicized rumors, I actually do have a bit of a life. ;P
Did some photography over the weekend, and my general curousing with sketchy types. I'm currently getting my camping gear ready.

"Let's follow this logic thru, Sprint wants me to carry a digital camera, an mp3 player AND one of their phones?"

"Do you really need all those features in one device?”

“Sure we have less expensive phones than the iPhone. The MotoQ, for example, is only $79 and is an MP3 player, PDA, camera, mobile internet device, and of course, a phone.”

“With Sprint, you can download music instantly without being tethered to a computer.”

“With the broadband card and a laptop, you can be online just about anywhere, anytime.”

“Plus with Sprint, you get speedy, untethered downloads. You don’t have to be wired to a computer.”

========================

I'm very, very confused.

“The iPhone is an Apple product and has some nice features. It also has a nice price."

So, what if it's an Apple Product? I don't understand what they are pointing out in that first part. Seems as though they are saying since its Apple then you should stay away.

"Do you really need all those features in one device?”

Now that is desperate, we can't compare to the iPhone, take something cheaper we have, but it only sends sms via web and it, well turns itself all the time, but it's cheaper.

Oh, the competition is so scared for Apple again. Nice to see it !

I love this:

“Have you seen the Upstage? It’s a two-sided phone.”

Customer's reply: "Oh yeah? That sounds really stupid. So about iPhone..."

With Wi-Fi in so many areas, I will be using very little of the EDGE network... surfing and downloads being slow will be a mute point.

I enjoyed that they didn't even bother to mention 802.11 on the iPhone when talking about speed

I give hackers one week and the iPhone will be cracked to run on anybody's GSM network, just like normal phones can have their carrier exclusiveness removed. Linux will be on it in three weeks. A bluetooth micro-keyboard will take one month. Since it is OS X, the unauthorised hacks will be enormous - TV remote controls, widgets, games, Java, Flash, divX, missing link, VoIP, VPN, printing, etc.

Heard at Sprint HQ:

"Ah, Jones, we need you to put together a ten minute iPhone rebuttal for senior management. Make it hard-hitting, but leave the technical bullshit out."

"Ah..."

"Remember, ten minutes. Just twenty good PowerPoint slides."

Later....

"Jones, that rebuttal ready?"

"Oh, it was ready right away. Might not be ten minutes, though."

"How many slides you got?"

"One. Here, have a look."

Shows a single slide that says "We're toast."

"Jones, are you familiar with the Cobra program?"

"With a broadband card and a laptop, you can be online just about anywhere, anytime." "What if I can't afford to carry a device as large as my laptop around?"

"With Sprint, you can download music instantly without being tethered to a computer." "So I assume this music is DRM-free?"

"Using the iPhone on the GSM/EDGE network may be like having a really powerful computer on dial-up." "So what if I use it on a Wi-Fi network, faster than any mobile service out there? Can I use your phone on those too? Or do I have to pay for all the data transfer?"

These "talking points" seem geared towards uninformed customers. (Accidentally or not, they're blatantly understating the iPhone's capabilities.)

The same way The Steve rocked the sedate, crappy music industry with iPod, the cell industry will be shook up by iPhone.

Now that Apple will be holding the handle in the cell industry too, and the carriers the blade. My suggestion to Sprint, T-Mobile, ATT, blah, blah, blah: Take your time with your hand on the blade!

Very entertaining.

I agree with the complaints about EDGE (I'll wait for an iPhone with HSDPA).

I liked the bit about "external storage." I sort of agree--the 3.5GB iPhone (after OS X) is gonna be pushed pretty hard, IMHO. I have a 4GB iPod nano which has about 2.5GB of music and address book stuff. I haven't dared put photos on it because I'd probably fill it up.

So if you want to bring some movies and music on your vacation, you'd best not figure you're going to be taking a batch of snapshots with your iPhone.

...or you'd better buy the 8GB.

I agree that Sprint's talking points do seem desperate, HOWEVER they are trying to protect their business from going under just like apple had to do in the '90's. They are simply trying to stay competitive, and I never saw anything in those points that was untrue. Yes Sprint does have phones with similar functions and Sprint DOES have a better broadband system. Pointing out a negative aspect of a competing product does not qualify them as losers. Before everyone rejoices at the impending doom of sprint simply for trying to persuade people to use their products think of this: They are a business just like Apple trying to protect their investment and make a profit. In all honesty, the iPhone is a way to make huge sums of money for Apple, they didn't make it for some altruistic reason because the world needed this product. They made it to stay competitive. so don't be grudge sprint the same thing.

No point in arguing this. Next Monday will speak for itself.

"Most current Smartphones have secure email necessary for business functionality. The iPhone uses Yahoo and Mac email which is not secure."

Yeah, right.

IOW, iPhone can use industry-standard IMAP mail. What Sprint has syncs with Outlook and talks to Microsoft's Exchange. You can tell people that Microsoft's proprietary crap -- Outlook/Exchange -- is "secure", but it's the reverse of the truth. Jeez, the most damaging worm EVER -- it caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage -- leveraged the insecurities in Microsoft's phenomenally insecure email systems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILOVEYOU

Open standards are insecure and Microsoft's crap is secure, says Sprint! Do you really think people are going to believe such lies, Sprint? If open standards are "insecure" we'd all best get off the Internet -- the whole freakin' thing is built on open standards.

It's why it actually works.

Sprint is just doing what any business does... tries to keep customers. No big deal....

did Sprint completely forget about the part that it plays video? can you imagine a salesman with a couple short videos of his product on his iPhone, he can be ready when ever he needs to be to give a presentation. can sprint phones do that? didn't think so. :D (actually I don't know if they can or can't I just know they can't do it as well)

I don't blame them either. But it's still funny.

"But . . . um, the iPhone might kill kittens if left unattended. Our phones have been tested pet safe."

As a major Mac user and a software developer, I WILL say I am waiting on the iPhone. First, past rule - never buy a first generation Apple product. Second, they've basically insulted develoeprs with their "development environment" by using Safari. I'm sorry, that's webpages, not an application, and makes it difficult for me to do things like database synchronization to a desktop application, remote desktop connection, SSH client, etc. Particularly since there's a lack of Java, Flash, etc.

Now, regarding Sprint, their network IS better. But, their phones generally are pretty lousy, and the Treo's, though wonderful, are definitely dated interface wise. I'm still waiting though before i'll even consider an iPhone until development is opened up, and I can also use the iPhone without spending $80 a month on a phone and data plan (I've got unlimited internet, messaging, as well as my basic phone service for $35 right now, so no way will I switch).

SO, though the iPhone is a great product, it's still pretty limited at this point, and in the development/IT world, has got a LOT to prove and a lot of changes to be made before it'll gain a huge amount of attention.

@ Jason

A major something, anyway.

p.s. A LOT of the points above that Sprint is trying to make really is nonsense. As I recall, ANY of these phones, and the iPhone, should support standard SSL encrypted IMAP connections - Yahoo may not use the most secure connection, but it's not unencrypted necessarily. Honestly, the ONLY thing Sprint has going for them is their network. Email isn't a great excuse, although if you do use Exchange (let bygones be bygones, Exchange works for most people, and that's fine. CalDAV works for me, but Google Calendar works the best ), you just need a phone which runs Windows Mobile, available on any network.

SO, network is the ONLY point really that I see, and it's not even a huge point. Price in combination with that may be more of an issue, particularly if Sprint offers unlimited data for half the price ($50 a month for a data plan is danged expensive for most people).

By the way Sprint, Apple sells BETTER laptops that you can get a real web-browsing experience with anytime anywhere. So what's your point? People don't want to always be carrying a laptop!

You people are going to be pwned. Your fear is showing. Never show your fear.

S.

JackSpratt Talking Points:

"with Sprint, you get speedy, untethered downloads. You don’t have to be wired to a computer.”

until Apple opens the iTunes Mobile Store.

seriously, how dumb are people? the thing has a fair amount of flash memory. do they really think the iPhone isn't going to be upgradeable? do they really think Apple will release the first iPhone and go, "well, that's it!" and leave it at that?

"Are you sure 4G or 8G is enough storage for you? To give you a comparison, most iPods/MP3 players hold 40 to 60Gigs or more."

which is why sales of the iPod Nano -- which at 8 GB holds up to 2,000 songs -- are sooooooooo poor.

"The iP-830 is a slider-style phone which people tend to prefer over the iPhone style."

because so many people have tried the iPhone and decided they like the slider-style better.

“Sure we have less expensive phones than the iPhone. The MotoQ, for example, is only $79 and is an MP3 player, PDA, camera, mobile internet device, and of course, a phone.”

full web page browsing and zooming with one of the more standards-compliant browsers in the industry. multi-touch. 3.5" screen. CoverFlow music browsing. Mac OS X stability and security. proximity sensor. YouTube. visual voicemail. Mac compatibility. thousands of iPod accessories, many of which are already or will be updated to be compatible. got all that on one of those phones?

Mac1 "The big news is that Sprint expects as much as a 6% drop in customers."

Yeah, that what it says in the headline - and in the good old tabloid style, the text is much less thrilling, that's why you should never read the text:
"According to our sources, certain Sprint employees are being told to expect an initial drop of up to 6% of their current "smart phone" customer base (Treos/Blackberrys/etc.) as a result of a successful iPhone launch."

6% of Sprint smartphone users translates into 95580 customers (53.1 million Sprint subscribers, 3% smart phone penetration in the US).

http://www.itireports.com/MIAs/usa_mia.htm
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/trend-smartphones-moving-to-mainstream/2007-03-26

Here's another one:
THE EARTH WILL EXPLODE TOMORROW!!!!
My sister heard on the train an elderly woman tell to certain persons that there is a 0.72% risk of a magnitude 6 earthquake in Little Rock during the next 20,000 years.

Peter said, "So if you want to bring some movies and music on your vacation, you'd best not figure you're going to be taking a batch of snapshots with your iPhone."

Using your figures, say you moved everything from your iPod to your iPhone, leaving you 1GB of free memory. Then you take FIVE HUNDRED photos, and at a reasonable size of 100KB each they would take up 50MB, still leaving you with 0.95GB of free memory.

So go ahead, take all the photos you like.

I'm going to go into a Sprint store and ask if they carry the iPhone. After the salesperson drones on and shows me all of their phones that they think compete with the iPhone, my reply will simply be, so you don't have anything that competes with the iPhone and leave.

If they think that the MotoQ is comparable, even at $79, they are wrong. I have this phone and it sucks.

Like the folks in Redmond use to say 'resistance is futile'.

• “The iPhone is an Apple product and has some nice features. It also has a nice price. Do you really need all those features in one device?"
Yes damn it, I do!!!

just to be the devil advocate, do you expect sprint to sit back and say oh well, let AT&T;take our customers, its ok?

I have to agree though, Sprint has a faster network with CDMA but they will loose customers until all the iphone users clog up AT&T;'s GSM network, they may win some back then.

Sprint can't kill my desire for an iPhone unless they kill my brain first ...and after all those sample talking points it's almost dead ...almost.

Remember, your connection to the internet will even be faster now that there are fewer people using Sprint (because they left us for the iPhone). And if you do join AT&A;there now such a crowd that your speed will even be less.

“Are you sure 4G or 8G is enough storage for you? To give you a comparison, most iPods/MP3 players hold 40 to 60Gigs or more.”

"Most iPods/MP3 players" hold less than 8Gigs. The iPod mini and then the nano and shuffle have outsold the regular iPod by plenty. SanDisk is no.2 and almost all of its models are 8Gigs or less.

Bloody Dell Hell! how will their customers cope when the personnel can barely get all that round their heads to deliver a faultless sales patter?

Maybe I should deliver some Camels Milk to their sales rooms, that oughta sought out the palpable stress!!

I was with Nextel and they got bought by Sprint - boy does their customer service stink. I was paying a $150 bill per month and yet I got grief everytime I called customer service. They would send threatening collection letters (ofcourse automated) because THEIR automated credit card payment system was screwed - and not one apology. Now I'm with T-mobile and fairy satisfied - except for their coverage. So Sprint is trying to RETAIN customers - not me, I'll never go back.
AM

I wonder what the iPhone will be like making CALLS. We don't know yet, and wouldn't that be a major kick in the teeth if it managed to drop service every 15 seconds of a conversation? That simply cannot happen. The extras are nice, but the fact that it is being sold as a cell phone means that it has to be a PHONE first, features second.

Apple, reading this post provides it's sales people with counter-points. Brilliant (not) of Sprint to let this leak.