Comments on: It Must Be Nice to Be Verizon

By: Don

Don — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:47:21 +0000

Good post, but iTunes is not excellent. Far from it, especially it’s sync options and alternatives.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:36:12 +0000

I’ve often needed to access the internet while on the phone with someone to coordinate meeting plans, look up something, forward an email, etc. It is a very handy option you don’t realize you miss until you have had it.
I’ve had phones with all 4 major carriers in the US; they have all had their issues at one time or another. Yes, AT&T blocked BT capability a few years ago, like VZW does with GPS now, but the difference is, AT&T doesn’t do that NOW. VZW still nickels and dimes for extra features that already come with the devices as their manufacturers intended. Not even Sprint does that.
And let’s be honest: until the iPhone was released, Verizon was perfectly happy providing mediocre handsets. At least now, the name of the game has changed and it’s become interesting.

By: Rob Dunn

Rob Dunn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:22:08 +0000

Connecting to the Internet while on the phone? I suppose maybe only iPhone users might do this, which is like saying “Verizon customers can’t use their iPhones on the Verizon network”. But to be honest, I’ve never met -anyone- who does this, so I’m not sure how this is supposed to make me want to switch to AT&T.

I was on Sprint for 10 years personally and within the last year switched to Verizon and have nothing but great things to say for their customer service. I had AT&T from ’03 to ’06 for work, and had nothing but problems with billing, coverage and customer service.

Like another reader said, the snarky attitude of this post gives me the perception that this is coming via an iPhone/Apple fanboy angle rather than well-presented non-biased facts. To me, it sounds lashing out because of some sour grapes. The fact that the author feels he has to defend himself every other comment only affirms that he has written too much personality into the piece, or wasn’t clear enough with the facts.

Regarding Verizon and their ‘evil ways’: While yes, I recall hearing about my friends getting charged for GPS and having Bluetooth being crippled, VZW wasn’t the only one that was guilty – - – I remember not being able to use Bluetooth for anything but headsets on my AT&T BlackBerry back in ’06 (work phone)…it was maddening to see the options grayed out because AT&T wouldn’t allow it.

The reason people focus on AT&T is because the popularity of the iPhone has clearly overwhelmed the network’s capability, and now people are calling them out on it. Someone somewhere didn’t plan for how successful the device would be.

By: Andre Richards

Andre Richards — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:16:04 +0000

Was a Verizon customer for several years before going to the iPhone. Got just as many dropped calls on V as I do with AT&T. I don’t understand the carping about how AT&T is so much worse. It’s not.

By: Martin Hill

Martin Hill — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:14:34 +0000

Verizon disabling wifi:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/31/the-real-reason-the-blackberry-storm-doesnt-have-wi-fi-or-tri-band-hsdpa/

Verizon disabling GPS:

http://www.rimarkable.com/what-does-verizon-have-against-gps-in-blackberrys

Verizon disables Bluetooth:

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Verizon-Wireless-Users-Sue-Over-Disabled-Bluetooth-Features/

Etc etc etc.

By: Cole

Cole — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:23:19 +0000

All that a standard does is slow down the evolution of technologies.

By: Cole

Cole — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:18:52 +0000

or you could just get a prepaid plan from someone like boost or something similar and pay 50 bucks a month for unlimited talk, text, and web. Everything in this world has a price. Often more of the cost is for customer service. I’m in the computer industry and customer service costs account for way more than the equipment costs.

By: Cole

Cole — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:13:00 +0000

Holy **** why didn’t anybody ever teach you in school that in order to be a good writer, you have to be MUCH less biased? All this did was make me think “Wow what a dumb ***”. You have to be neutral or you will lose your audience or make a bunch of people angry. Me I will simply stick to what I believe and disregard the entire thing.

Thank you, and have a nice day!

By: Ash

Ash — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 03:58:05 +0000

Looks like someone is butthurt.

First off all, let’s get this straight – Apple came to Verizon first, but decided against it because Apple wanted to use their customer service if problems ever occurred with the iPhone.

Not everyone in the country wants an iPhone.

“* It must be nice to utilize the same pricing and subsidy strategies as AT&T, but get to remain above the fray while AT&T takes the heat for what the whole industry is doing. * It must be nice to charge for carrier cash cows like SMS and tethering, but have everybody only complain about AT&T doing it.”

You just contradicted yourself there. Besides, tethering isn’t an option for AT&T.

“* It must be nice to brag about having visual voice mail on some phones, while quietly hiding that it’s an extra $3 a month.”

Yes, MANY carriers have options that charge extra. AT&T, Verizon, whoever can brag about having the capability, but not everyone wants that option. Most phones these days can text and do MMS (except the iPhone), but it costs extra.

“* It must be nice to disable hardware features on many phones, such as Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi, with little complaint from the masses.”

Disabling Bluetooth and GPS? I’d sure love to see an example of that? I’ll give you the disabling of Wi-Fi FOR NOW, but all PDA’s coming out after the holiday season will be Wi-Fi capable.

“* It must be nice to avoid GSM, still using CDMA-based technology that the rest of the world (and AT&T) has abandoned. Its rollout to a 4G network could come with headaches as a result.”

The 4G LTE is GSM based. Argument null. As is your post.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:43:05 +0000

I’m with Lexi. You’re accusing Verizon of not trying to shoulder the weight that is crushing AT&T, that seems like a pretty good business choice to me. AT&T offered you multimedia whores more than they could provide. Thats AT&T’s fault my friend. Furthermore, your complaint isn’t even against Verizon, it’s against people who prefer Verizon over AT&T for what you call false reasons. They’re all evil, and they’ll all nickle and dime you just the same.