No Verizon for iPhone... Yet?

Lost amid yesterday's iPad announcement is the disappointment of many iPhone users that there was no announcement about Verizon or any other service carrying the iPhone.

Here's more on that.

While I'm disappointed, I can't say I'm surprised. I guess Verizon operates a different technology than AT&T, but I don't understand the technobabble. It looks like Verizon is rolling out a new technology later this year that will still be different from AT&T. Then we could see Apple dump AT&T as the sole provider.

Another thing I thought of... No matter when the Apple/AT&T contract ends, won't it be in the middle of the year? The iPhone was unveiled in June or July of 2006, right? My guess is that we can assume the contract lasts for X number of years, meaning it will still end in June or July. As for which year it ends your guess is as good as mine. But I wouldn't be surprised that when the announcement comes, it happens as a last minute in June thing and then Verizon is selling the phone two weeks later. Am I on to something here?

Fail #19

Got a voicemail yesterday from a friend. He said he called me three times... none of them came through. I got the voicemail a minute or two later. In AT&T's defense, it is possible I was in the basement as he called. I don't know whether or not to expect to have cell phone service in a basement at this point.

Fail #18

Was in Cleveland last weekend. I tried to access internet while using the 3G coverage my phone alleged I had, but web pages took a long time to load. I am wondering if this is what Owen Wilson is talking about when he mentions a better 3G experience?

And now a question to that ad, iPhone users: How often do you feel the need to be on the web while talking on the phone? I've probably done that like twice in a year and a half. Big selling point.

Fail #17

January 22: Called someone and the call was dropped after a few seconds. She called me back and things were fine after that.

Fail #16

January 21: Failed to send a text message.

Fail #15

My sister's car broke down yesterday in the late afternoon. Usually what this means for me is I go to wherever she is to see if I can understand what is wrong. Upon hearing about AAA towing her car in shame to the mechanic's I asked why she didn't call me before calling them. She said she did - twice. I just didn't get the calls.

*Usually calls that I don't receive are the most difficult thing to track. Luckily over the last two days I have been informed that I did not get calls. If you have trouble getting a hold of me, please let me know so I can document it properly!

Fail #14

I returned a call late this morning and after about 20 seconds my call was dropped. He returned the call but I could not hear anything. We ended up communicating via email since it is easier than using AT&T these days.

Fail #13

I had solid coverage at home for a whole week, but now things have reverted back to the old ways of spotty coverage. Yesterday I answered a call, but heard nothing on the other line. The caller told me he received a hang-up signal.

When I called him back we had coverage go in and out for a few moments. He is also an iPhone user and we can't be sure whether it was him or me that went out. My coverage at my house is notedly bad and he says he goes through a dead zone in the area of Greater Columbus in which he was driving.

During our conversation he received another call and he called me back. He said he called twice and was sent to voicemail after two rings in each call. I never received either of these calls. His third call came through and we wrapped up our embattled conversation.

Fail #12

Text message fail at Panera. Sent three more successfully right after failure.

Fail #11

Attempting to ensure adequate coverage for my last phone call, I went to a local Panera. Also thought I could get some work done. Knowing I had a long wait for my call to get beyond hold, I put on the headphones to listen to elevator music for about 15 minutes. Finally, I got through and was figuring out the next step with this insurance. As I got toward finishing what I needed to do - probably within two minutes of finishing the call - I was dropped. The call totaled 19 minutes. That's 19 minutes wasted... and 15 minutes more of elevator music I get to listen to when I call back... Awesome...

Fail #10

Normally a dropped call is cause for lots of frustration. Say you are in the middle of a 10-minute phone call when your call is dropped after six minutes. You have to reconnect with whomever you were talking to to finish the four minutes of the conversation. The one thing you have going for you is that at least you have the six minutes under your belt.

Made a call about my insurance today and got stuck on the old "All representatives are busy. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received." After about a minute on hold my call was dropped.

These are the worst types of dropped calls because you lost your spot in the hold line. Instead of having made some progress in my call, I have to start all over. If I was destined to spend 10 minutes in a hold wait line and I make it six minutes in before the call drops, I don't get to call back and finish out my four minutes. I have to start over. In this case my saving grace is that it was just one minute and not 10 minutes. Still, it is a complete waste of time rather than simply annoying to call back.

Fail #9

Failed to send a text message. Tried again. Failed. Decided to update the blog, which took about five minutes or so. Just tried again and it went through.

Fail #8

Received a voicemail today at 11:00. Usually a voicemail is preceded by a missed call, but not with AT&T. The voicemail originated at 10:15 with no call coming through and 45 minutes for the voicemail to show up.

Fail #7

I had been amazed that my service at home had been much better since I started this blog. Well, that run of good luck is gone.

Failed to send a text on Sunday. It promptly when through when I resent.

Fail #6

Another day at the library, another day of fails. I failed to send a text message, but lucked out because I had to run to my car to grab something I forgot. The text went through when I went outside. Now I know how a dog feels when you let him out to use the bathroom... it's just I run outside with the pure joy that my phone might actually work.

As I sent text messages throughout the rest of the day I got up and stood by the window to make sure they were successful going out. I felt like I was in the year 2000. (And speaking of Conan, I am with Coco too.)

Unfortunately, my window method helped me little when receiving texts. Someone sent me a text at 6:48 saying I should leave right then in time to make it somewhere at 7:00, which would have been helpful had I not received the text at 7:30.

And don't even bother to wonder about Words Free... 3G coverage doesn't exist inside the library, but I did get a couple of Words in during that walk to use the bathr-- I mean, my breath of fresh air to use my phone.

Fail #5

At the library on January 13... not even a Friday the 13th and I still couldn't get a full day of service from my carrier. Service was in and out, per the norm when I'm at the library. Tried to send a text but it didn't go through. It went through on the second try. Got a call that I had to decline but the corresponding voicemail didn't show up on my phone until I got home about an hour later.

Fail #4

One of the topics of discussion at the bar in the previous topic was a Vegas trip I hope to go on in March. I wanted to inform our Vegas leader that our friend I met at the bar is probably game for this trip, so I gave him a call on my way home. He didn't answer, but he called me back. I was in a bit of a predicament when he returned the call... I must admit I was on the can. I answered anyway, but my phone failed to connect. My minute counter stayed stuck at zero and I'm not sure if my friend could hear me. I finished my business and tried to call again, but I got the hang-up/busy signal... yes, if you have AT&T that still exists. Tried him again an hour later and got through when the AT&T Gods smiled upon me.

Fail #3

I had a meeting at a bar last night. Yes, it was a real meeting. During the meeting I tried to send a text message to two people, but I got the 'ole Send Message Failure. Afterwards, still bubbling with excitement over my Scrabble app, I wanted to show another friend. Imagine my shock when once again I had no 3G coverage in the bar. At least this time my phone didn't lie to me about having 3G service. It was one of those cases where I had that single service bar. It's like that bar is there to mock you. It's not like you have no service or service that you can just get by. Nope, you have really poor service, the kind where if you try to make a call it will take a minute to try to dial only to drop the call once your friend picks up.

Fail #2

Two nights ago, on the night of January 11, I was minding my own business at a local Chipotle. At 9:30pm, it was a late dinner for me. I had my norm: a chicken burrito with no beans, mild salsa, the slightest bit of medium salsa (they usually add more than I care for), sour cream and cheese. Pretty standard as far as Chipotle is concerned. Over dinner I was discussing an iPhone application with my friend. It's called Words Free, an online version of Scrabble and I have been addicted since I got it a week ago. I was very eager to show my friend the app, but unfortunately for me I could not access the app even though my phone said I had 3G service. I wanted to throw my burrito, but we all know only bad things can happen when you throw your burrito.

Fail #1

Attempted to send text message at 12:25pm in Columbus. Send failed. Attempted a second time and message went through.

Welcome to the Blog

Please see the summary for the blog on the sidebar. We will get started on January 9 since that is the first day of the month for my coverage. That way when the month ends we will have an accurate portrayal of how many calls and texts fail against the ratio of total calls/texts I receive and send.

Hope you enjoy the blog and it helps you make an informed decision on your phone service. Please feel free to share your experiences with AT&T, both good and bad, by commenting on this blog.