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Control, control, and some more control. Hope it hurts them!

Jul 14, 09 - 08:15 am Comment from: lurker

Fools. They don't get it is the Apple App Store, not the ATT App Store. It's all about the device, not the connection. Verizon needs to focus on making the connection better, more affordable and more attractive, not on binding consumers to them with contracts and feature rental schemes.

Verizon's goal should be this: "If every cell phone user could make a choice of carriers with each call, they would choose us each time." Anything less is just denying the inevitable.

Jul 14, 09 - 08:17 am Comment from: Brian Allen

This has a fundamental problem. Verizon sells different phone platforms.

You will be digging through applications for every different device to only find a few that work your phone.

Palm had this problem and they only had different versions of the operating system.

This definitively answers the question, "Will Verizon get the iPhone?"

And, for the short-bus audience, that answer is "NO!"

Jul 14, 09 - 08:19 am Comment from: Zune Tang®

Anyone catch any of the season 4 episodes of Three's Company on V CAST? Classic stuff. Joyce DeWitt and Don Knotts' interplay is pure magic. Verizon really knows what they're doing. MAC could learn a few things if they want to stay in the mobile arena.

Your potential. Our passion.™

@lurker Or maybe: "They don't GET the customer." Apple understands the buyer.

@lurker: spot on, spot on!

The sad truth is that there is NO COMPELLING REASON to choose one carrier over another, other than the available hardware. Every carrier sucks in some fundamentally irritating way, and each one is convinced it will be welcomed as liberators, but it will never happen while there are a *bunch* of competing providers, all trying to sell the same sand on the same beach.

"We suck different" seems to be the motto of the cellular 'industry'...and the search for a provider that doesn't suck like / as bad as the others continues.

Just everybody be glad Voicestream is *gone*....

Jul 14, 09 - 08:29 am Comment from: Big Al

Zune Tang, you're getting better. You must be on vacation, far away from the cubicle and the XP box resting there.

It must be nice, on the road with your Win 7 laptop.

Jul 14, 09 - 08:30 am Comment from: blah blah blah...

well there goes any verizon users hopes of getting the iPhone. Just like verizon in the end, its their way or no way. Great network shitty phones. and people are calling at&t;money grabbing whores. sorry verizon customers you have Verizon to thank for crushing your hopes of an iPhone.

@ NCG598; I was just there, lovely place to visit in the summer, love the beautiful methane blue skies and absolutely chilling nights... short though they are. Enjoy your visit here.

This is why the iPhone is not on Verizon and likely never will be. If you recall, Apple offered the iPhone to Verizon first. But they wanted everything their way, and told Steve Jobs to pound sand.

They still don't get it.

Verizon sells music to its customers at ridiculous prices, and I have little doubt that they'll try to foist the same crap on them again. Too bad - they do have a good network. But AT&T;is taking the revenue its gaining from the iPhone to build out its network. Yeah, I know. We're not satisfied. But to AT&T;'s credit, I have found my connections are improving over time.

Bookmark this announcement from Verizon as the day the company made a grave strategic error. I wish it weren't so - the company is headquartered in my town. But until Verizon changes its relationship with handset makers as treating them with arrogance as mere suppliers and not partners, nothing will ever change.

I'm hardly surprised.

Jul 14, 09 - 08:46 am Comment from: DLMeyer

Not being in the iPhone market, it's possible I misunderstood.
Help me out, here.
Isn't the iPhone App Store part of the iTunes Store? Thus, part of iTunes itself? Thus, a required part of the "iPhone Experience"? I guess I could ask my daughter, were she not busy-busy during "normal business hours", as she has told me how she loves her collection or apps ... you guys are "closer" at the moment.
Could Verizon bar the iPhone App Store from the iPhone's "desk"top? Without cutting iTunes, that is? Would they need to dump Safari, too? Can they support, what, a FIFTH platform? on their store?
A little help for the ignorant, here. Please.

Jul 14, 09 - 08:49 am Comment from: Rob

Steve Jobs: "It's over, Johnny . . . . IT'S OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Ivan Seidenberg: "Nothing is over!!!!! You don't just turn it off!!!!!!!!!!!"

Jul 14, 09 - 08:52 am Comment from: jocknerd

Apple needs to buy Sprint now. They can't rely on carriers so they need to buy one for themselves. Sprint actually has some cool technologies coming. Their 4G is using WiMax.

Jul 14, 09 - 08:54 am Comment from: deepdish

I am with AT&T;because of the iPhone.

AT&T;better improve their network. Where the iPhone goes, I go.

In my area, AT&T;coverage is not the best. If the iPhone goes to another carrier in my area, so do I.

Improve your coverage AT&T;!!!

And this, my friends, is why Apple can't dump AT&T;and go with Verizon instead. Complain about AT&T;all you want... the fact remains they are letting Apple innovate. Verizon stifles innovation and just wants to control everything while also ruining the customer experience. This will be a flop and they will fall further behind. Idiots.

To quote 'KarlW' over at engadget:

"We're getting better and better phones when the separation between carrier and phone manufacturer is more distinct. In my perfect setup, the two have nothing to do with each other, just as my ISP doesn't have any influence over my desktop OS. Verizon don't understand their role in this model. I'd never want to be with such a carrier.

I am absolutely against all carrier branding and other crapware they put on their phones as if I'm loyal to them - I'm loyal to whoever has the cheapest price and best network for as long as I'm contractually obligated to be. Their brand means nothing to me, just as I don't care for the brands of my other utility providers."

Jul 14, 09 - 09:06 am Comment from: HMCIV

Given a choice I'd rather develop for Palm Pre than Verizon.

Jul 14, 09 - 09:12 am Comment from: iSteve

So you buy a crackberry via Verizon and you get their app store. Then you download the RIM app store as well. So you want an app you end up looking at 2 stores? Too complex. Fail.

@ fandango - That take from KarlW is spot-on. That was my exact reaction when I saw this headline. Verizon's approach would be like Comcast telling their internet customers they can only download desktop apps from a Comcast app store. Wireless carriers need to think of themselves more like ISPs, to avoid this kind of micromanaging control-freak behavior.

Jul 14, 09 - 09:19 am Comment from: MacTony

Verizon execs live in la la land. They are just upset that they can't get the iPhone on their network until at least next year. It's ok guys, you'll be able to get it soon. But, don't expect anyone to drop Apple's app store with 60,000 apps for your crap apps store.

Jul 14, 09 - 09:24 am Comment from: cwa107

Yeah, good luck with that Verizon. Can't wait to see how many developers you're going to get.

Jul 14, 09 - 09:31 am Comment from: qka

@ DLMeyer

You understand correctly. Which is why Verizon & Apple is an union that looks extremely unlikely at this point in time, give each company's current philosophy on things.

Ichabod Mudd: "We suck different" seems to be the motto of the cellular 'industry'

Ha! So very true... and at least for now, iPhone customers can appreciate the ways in which AT&T sucks less than others. (Though I'm sure we'll all forget in another day or two...)

The more I think about it, the more I think Apple is playing the same long-term strategy with wireless carriers as they did with online music.

Like their online music strategy, Apple's approach to their iPhone platform provides a great experience for the consumer, while not fitting as nicely into the less consumer-friendly business models of competitors.

By fighting to maintain the old status quo in response, Apple's competitors virtually guarantee that their user experience will be inferior to Apple's. I don't think it's an accident that Apple has pursued these kinds of strategies.

Jul 14, 09 - 09:38 am Comment from: Predrag

this just keeps reinforcing the existing strategy. Keep in mind, stakes here are enormously high. Verizon is watching AT&T very closely. What they see is a big-name carrier descending into a no-name, commodity bandwidth provider and nothing else. Verizon will fight with every drop of their blood to prevent that from happening to them. The problem is, all carriers are still convinced that the only way to build their business and grow it is to differentiate themselves not by price and network services (free minutes, bandwidth, etc), but by all these different, branded services (V-Cast, MediaNET, etc).

When you buy any phone from any carrier, you don't get it in an original box. You get it in a box heavily branded by the carrier. I had gone through 6 different phones on Cingular/AT&T. All of the boxes were always white and orange, with AT&T (previously Cingular) logos on every side of the box. Even the documentation inside is branded by AT&T. Carriers have forced handset makers to completely abandon their own industrial design, so much so you thing AT&T is making these phones, not Motorola, or Samsung, or LG, or even Sony-Ericsson. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile do exactly the same. If you bought the same phone (say, KRAZR, or something equally common across carriers) from all four big carriers, it would come with four different logos on the phone itself, as well as four completely different boxes (yellow from Sprint, white/pink, with a picture of Zeta Jones from T-Mobile, white/orange from AT&T, and black/red from Verizon).

There is SOME movement, though. Obviously, iPhone turned this whole concept on its head (no AT&T logo ANYWHERE), so now, the "iPhone killers" seem to be coming in their own boxes (albeit, still with carriers' logos, but at least a bit more discrete), with less of an identity of the carrier, and more of its own identity.

Carriers will continue to fight this trend vigorously. And Apple will continue to win this fight. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Apple would win the fit for everyone else. None of the handset makers has enough muscle to force that change in the US market (other than Apple). As long as that is so, Verizon will continue to blaze its own trail. With iPhone in the AT&T camp, Verizon stands a very good chance of losing its battle.

I thought this was a joke until I read it on every tech website I subscribe to in the space of 5 minutes. Unbelievable. No wonder Apple decided to go with AT+T: as bad as they are, Verizon's a whole lot worse in the control department. They just don't get it. People identify with the phone manufacturer's brand. They don't care about their carrier's brand. The carrier should be invisible.
Verizon: SIDAGTMBTTS.

@Big Al
Zune Tang's no Windows fan–he's a die-hard Mac user; has a MBP 17", Apple TV, Air Port Extreme Base Station, 1 TB Time Capsule, iPhone G3S and a drawer full of iPods going back to the original. He just likes to pull chains.

Jul 14, 09 - 10:07 am Comment from: Anonymous©

So, didn't Seidenberg hint that Verizon was getting the Palm Pre by the end of the year? Does that mean that Palm apps will have to be bought thru Verizon, unless the user downloads what, the Palm app store, but isn't the Palm app store built in, or is Verizon going to force Palm to remove it? Now that is a job for the DOJ to investigate.

"competition is good!"
this time, that idiotic phrase is being mumbled by Verizon management. A half ass copy of real innovation isn't competition anymore than fruit 'drink' with 5% fruit juice in it, can compare to 100% real fruit 'juice'. The american public and investors should question why CEOs are paid so much to do nothing special for their companies or investors. The average CEO shttalks, gets applause, then later gets fired with a giant bonus then repeats the same at a different company. This is not how it should be, but then again, no ones really paying attention as usual.

Jul 14, 09 - 10:30 am Comment from: silverhawk

Handset makers need to collectively revolt against Verizon.

Jul 14, 09 - 10:35 am Comment from: Mac-nugget

I agree 200% with MDN take. Once thing shift, they are not going back. Change is the only thing that you can be sure of in this life. Nothing ever stays the same.

Jul 14, 09 - 10:54 am Comment from: John E

but hardware sales driven handset makers won't revolt - except for Nokia, which Verizon apparently intends to freeze out of its market. Nokia's Ovi store/services is just getting started and weak now. but Nokia has the global scale to make it into something significant - if its Symbian platform can really be developed into a quality super smartphone OS. so give credit where due - Nokia refused to cave in to Verizon.

Verizon will change its tunes seconds after it gets its hands on the iPhone in the coming months!

If not it will not be selling the iPhone....

Maybe the better course of action for Apple would be to improve its overall international position by going with T-Mobile in the US and that would be a real good thing for me as a current T-Mobile user <GRIN>!

From what I've read, similar battle is the sticking point so far preventing iPhone from showing up in China. Carriers do not want to become just dumb network pipes. But there is NO WAY I will let a carrier mess with the look and feel of my iPhone. Keep this up, and I can see utility companies other community and global technology taking over the provider role.

Jul 14, 09 - 11:22 am Comment from: John E

the other big thing about this announcement is it confirms the smartphone apps market will be totally fragmented. if (1) some telcos and (2) most major OEM's and (3) each OS provider have their own app/media store - which is how it is shaping up - the result will be massive consumer confusion and inconveniences, and inevitably some actual software glitches. there'll be about 10 different app stores in the USA alone (and what happens to Handango?).

this will strengthen the position of the combined OEM/OS companies - Apple, Nokia, RIM - who can at least enforce technical app consistency across their product lines/apps no matter what the telcos do.

but it will really weaken Android and WinMobile as they attempt to be all things to all telcos and OEM's. jacks of all trades but masters of none. bye-bye!

Jul 14, 09 - 11:43 am Comment from: twilightmoon

This officially settles it.

Verizon will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER get the iPhone.

Ever.

It's over all you Verizon whiners. If you want the iPhone move off Verizon.

Now.

Jul 14, 09 - 11:55 am Comment from: twilightmoon

DLMeyer "Could Verizon bar the iPhone App Store from the iPhone's "desk"top? Without cutting iTunes, that is? Would they need to dump Safari, too? Can they support, what, a FIFTH platform? on their store?"

MacTony Verizon execs live in la la land. They are just upset that they can't get the iPhone on their network until at least next year. It's ok guys, you'll be able to get it soon.

See my post above. Verizon has sealed their fate, and will never see the iPhone now. This officially ends all hope that Verizon ever will. Couldn't happen to a nicer company.

Good luck being last place guys.

Sprint has to be cheering because they finally have a chance to pull ahead of 3rd place Verizon now. Even 4th place T-Mobile now has a shot at pulling ahead of clueless hopeless hapless Verizon.

Sounds like apple told VZ & their control to cram it (again) and now VZ will attempt to do its own app store instead. Notice the vendor list VZ are 'aggregating' content from conspicuously omits the gold standard (apple). That alone says alot.

This sucks for anyone who was hoping for an iPhone outside of ATT. But it appears VZ is repeating the very same mistake they made when Apple approached them the 1st time..

Jul 14, 09 - 01:17 pm Comment from: Not Bill

If you have an IPhone, and its not jail broken, don't you have to use the ITunes App Store? Aren't you prevented from using another one? How is this different from what Verizon is trying to do?

One difference is they do not have the iPhone. Another is that they do not charge handsomely for a great product and design the user experience with the user benefit in mind. They tend to offer a seeming bargain and then try to screw him a little bit at a time. How about a $1.00 ring tone today?

Zune Tang,

Don't you think this deserves criticism?

"Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Marketplace won’t get placement on Verizon handsets"

And you are all excited drumming up business for Verizon V-CAST?

@DLMeyer,

"Not being in the iPhone market, it's possible I misunderstood.
Help me out, here.
Isn't the iPhone App Store part of the iTunes Store? Thus, part of iTunes itself? Thus, a required part of the "iPhone Experience"? I guess I could ask my daughter, were she not busy-busy during "normal business hours", as she has told me how she loves her collection or apps ... you guys are "closer" at the moment.
Could Verizon bar the iPhone App Store from the iPhone's "desk"top? Without cutting iTunes, that is? Would they need to dump Safari, too? Can they support, what, a FIFTH platform? on their store?
A little help for the ignorant, here. Please."

Since the iPhone syncs to a PC, (or Mac) through iTunes, and you can download and install apps through your PC, there is not much Verizon can do to control what goes on the iPhone without Apple's participation. So even if the iPhone should end on on Verizon, they (Verizon) would have to make an exception for Apple or ask Apple to make them a phone with a completely different sync and update mechanism, which is not worth the time and money to develop. Those who want and iPhone will simply switch carriers. The AT&T;network will improve over time, so Verizon doesn't have much of a window in courting Apple.

I agree, Apple should have its own wireless company and revolutionize that industry. I'm sure they are waiting for the right time.

Jul 14, 09 - 04:10 pm Comment from: twilightmoon

"This sucks for anyone who was hoping for an iPhone outside of ATT."

Actually this ONLY precludes Verizon. Sprint, T-Mobile, and every 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier Cell Network could get the iPhone, with the *exception* of Verizon.

In fact that would be a beautiful move on Apple's part.

It would definitely hurt Verizon materially. Both short term on stock price, and long term in revenue.

Actually this scam represents "business as usual" for Verizon. They are simply not happy with being a provider of connectivity. All of their dealings, phone, mobile and cable networking have been built on the premise that they will have total control.

I do not see this attitude changing until someone like the Federal Trade Commission requires some truth in advertising from the cellular providers. The consumers and media do not appear to be able to understand the "cost of ownership" issue. We have rules in place that require bankers to tell you the true cost of ownership and it is high time that the same constraints be placed on the cellular providers so customers can tell how much of their contract is the network and how much is the phone. In addition, the government should consider requiring all network providers (cellular, cable and internet) to offer network connections without the added extras (like the telephone).

AT&T;better improve their network. Where the iPhone goes, I go.
In my area, AT&T;coverage is not the best. If the iPhone goes to another carrier in my area, so do I.
Improve your coverage AT&T;!!!
wmv to mov on mac os x wmv to itunes on mac os x wmv to iphone 3g s on mac os x