Re: About the Dark Side

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Drzyzgula <bob () drzyzgula org>
Date: September 30, 2007 5:29:30 PM EDT
To: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com>
Cc: David Farber <dave () farber net>, bob () drzyzgula org
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:    About the Dark Side

Ole,

Don't get me wrong, I'm not inclined to defend Apple so
much as claim that I sort of think I know where they are
coming from on this.

I see what you are saying in the first paragraph, except
that you may be missing my point about the uniform
experience -- I'm saying that, as things stand, if AT&T
offers a service for the iPhone that isn't available when
roaming, then all (authorized) iPhones will work the same
way -- they'll have that function available on the home
carrier, and will degrade in the same way when roaming. I
also mentioned that there were unavoidable localization
issues with the uniform-experience thing. However, I expect
that they are doing what they can to ensure identical
function within a given localization.

As for the second paragraph, again I think I see what you
are are saying, but if (a) the iTunes function requires
"magic" to happen between the carrier and iTunes, and (b)
you instead take the just-let-me-activate-it route with a
carrier that hadn't yet struck a deal with Uncle Steve,
would you not wind up with an iPhone without the iTunes
capability? Perhaps *you* would prefer that, but it isn't
clear that Apple would.

I suppose that the question becomes one of whether there
is sufficient interest in such an expensive and
highly-controlled device. In this regard, I guess it's
kind of up to the market. Not that I think that means we
shouldn't be complaining, because this is of course part
of the market's process. However, in my experience, there
are a whole lot of people out there who are not so concerned
about carrier choice so much as they are sick to death
of devices that only sort of work, and which one can only
sort of figure out. If Apple can satisfy those people,
it could well work out for them.

--Bob

On Sun, Sep 30, 2007 at 01:08:17PM -0700, Ole Jacobsen wrote:
> Except that Visual Voicemail only works on networks with whom Apple
> has a deal. Surely the whole point of GSM is that there are so MANY
> networks and that phones can roam (I was going to say "freely") for
> a price on any other network more or less. So, Apple cannot control
> that "experience" anyway, and a simple disclaimer saying "Visual
> Voicemail may not operate on some carrier networks" should not be
> that big a deal. After all, I cannot buy songs from the Apple iTunes
> Norway store, unless I live (or pretend I live) in Norway. ITunes is
> a SERVICE offering just as Visual Voicemail is a service offering,
> which at the end of the day depends on the capabilities of the
> "service provider".
>
> I was amused when someone from Apple tried to explain to me that
> things needed to be exactly the way they are with the iPhone, since
> getting service is usually so complicated and with the iPhone you just
> plug it in and select some options in iTunes to activate the phone. Of
> course, the flaw in that argument is that behind the scenes a bunch of
> magic happens between the iTunes store and AT&T to make it all work,
> but they COULD offer an option which basically says "I already have
> GSM service, I want to use my existing SIM card, activate my phone
> now."
>
> I hope someone from Apple is reading all this...
>
> Ole
>
>
> Ole J. Jacobsen
> Editor and Publisher,  The Internet Protocol Journal
> Cisco Systems
> Tel: +1 408-527-8972   Mobile: +1 415-370-4628
> E-mail: ole () cisco com  URL: http://www.cisco.com/ipj
>
>
>
> On Sun, 30 Sep 2007, David Farber wrote:
>
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: Bob Drzyzgula <bob () drzyzgula org>
> > Date: September 30, 2007 3:19:35 PM EDT
> > To: dave () farber net
> > Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
> > Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   About the Dark Side
> >
> > On Sun, Sep 30, 2007 at 01:16:37PM -0400, David Farber wrote:
> > > Begin forwarded message:
> > >
> > > From: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com>
> > > Date: September 30, 2007 1:06:20 PM EDT
> > > To: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> > > Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> > > Subject: Re: About the Dark Side
> > > Reply-To: Ole Jacobsen <ole () cisco com>
> > >
> > > Apple will argue that they have more control of the "experience" if
> > > they work closely with a carrier, and will point to Visual Voicemail
> > > as an example of something that requires network tweaks. While this
> > > may be true, it is either something that just can't scale or some
> > > kind of hidden GSM feature that everyone could easily implement. In
> > > either case (and no, I don't know the answer) I don't think it is
> > > important enough to restrict an entire market segment: those who
> > > simply want to buy a phone for its features and who will happily
> > > get service from any carrier as they choose.
> >
> > It strikes me that this starts to toy with one of the
> > fundamental differences between Apple and everyone else
> > in the world: For most smartphones, this would be an
> > opportunity for product differentiation.  Carrier A goes on
> > about how, on their network, the Foobar Brand Smartphone
> > can slice carrots, while Carrier B goes on about how when
> > it's connected to *theirs*, that same phone can dice them
> > as well.  But this is anathema to Apple. In Apple's view
> > of the world, when someone buys an iWidget Femto(tm), it
> > will work precisely the same as absolutely every other
> > iWidget Femto sold, localization notwithstanding. It
> > will dice carrots if and only if Apple claims it will
> > dice carrots. In Apple's view, it's all about Apple,
> > and the Apple-branded product. When it starts being about
> > the distributer/retailer/carrier, even just a little bit,
> > Apple has lost something.
> >
> > --Bob
> >
> >
> >
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