The Flying Jalapeño Lives

I’m not at WWDC this year, but in light of the announcements, I figured I would chime in on a few things.

I’ll first get my AT&T hatred out of the way. This isn’t exactly developer related, but it is annoying enough that I feel compelled to address it.

I usually have few complaints about AT&T. My reception as been good where I live, customer service has been tolerable, and usually don’t have billing issues. I am not happy with how they gouge for text messaging and internet, but prices aren’t “outrageous”.

But for the first and largest iPhone wireless carrier to be lagging behind the rest of the world is absolutely ridiculous. Their rationale for the MMS delay is like an excuse from a student who didn’t do his homework. The non-answer on tethering is almost better by comparison.

The real reasoning is likely two-fold. First, I am sure they are contemplating how much they can charge us. The other stems from holding a monopoly on iPhone service. They have no motivation to provide good service to retain their iPhone customers. We would never give up our perfect phones and they know it.

Sadly, Apple is also to blame for creating this type of environment. They may have needed to commit to a single carrier in 2 years ago, to obtain certain network guaranties, but those reasons no longer exist.

Just having Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile as potential competitors would scare AT&T enough to force better service and competitive prices. From the sound of things, Apple is more than savvy to this fact. I am optimistic that the AT&T’s exclusivity contract will soon be coming to a close.