Richard Stastny’s post on the iPhone struck a sombre cord with me in a good way.
While the iPhone is a work of engineering art, being out of the USA (and knowing I would be) on June 29th gave me a very detached look at it. His link to pal Michael Robertson’s post also resonated.
You see, I don’t believe Apple got what they wanted, but chose to make the best of what they had. The iphone should have been on an EvDO network in the USA. When Verizon balked at Lord Jobs terms, he went to plan B, Cingular because of the size of the network. Now AT&T has a chance to build a better high speed wireless network, but if they don’t then the iPhone is not much more than an iPod with a phone in it, versus a phone with an iPod in it. By capitulating Apple got their foot into the door, and over time things will change, as Jobs is clearly one of the great masters agents of change.
My feeling about the iPhone remains. Wait for the next one, as it will be better than the first.
P.S. It looks like Apple is playing ball with the GSM leaders and being very smart about their distribution.