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How Jobs Played Hardball In iPhone Birth

Posted by kdawson on from the my-customer-dammit dept.

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Apple bucked the rules of the cellphone industry when creating the iPhone by wresting control away from normally powerful wireless carriers, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'Only three executives at the carrier, which is now the wireless unit of AT&T Inc., got to see the iPhone before it was announced. Cingular agreed to leave its brand off the body of the phone. Upsetting some Cingular insiders, it also abandoned its usual insistence that phone makers carry its software for Web surfing, ringtones and other services... Mr. Jobs once referred to telecom operators as "orifices" that other companies, including phone makers, must go through to reach consumers. While meeting with Cingular and other wireless operators he often reminded them of his view, dismissing them as commodities and telling them that they would never understand the Web and entertainment industry the way Apple did, a person familiar with the talks says.'"

3 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Still Two-Faced by paedobear · · Score: 0, Troll

    Have you considered the idea they knew that such a huge, expensive, closed device that looks like it will make a shit phone (and will be AWFUL for SMS) wouldn't do well in Europe/Asia without momentum? (It was so obvious it would fail in Japan they've not even paid lip service to the idea of launching it there)

  2. Re:Ignores carrier upgrades by JakiChan · · Score: 0, Troll

    And then Apple would not be able to provide features like visual voice mail which require changes to the carrier network. So Apple is embracing and extending voice mail and it's ok? Cuz when Microsoft does it y'all piss your panties in frustration.
    --
    "Where quality is like a dead stinking rat - you just can't miss it."
  3. Re:On a general level... by Monkeyman334 · · Score: 0, Troll


    Could you show me where I said anything like "I still don't get what advantage proprietary formats give to companies"?

    >I didn't say Apple should license fairplay, I implied that Apple is not above using proprietary tools to lock out competitors (just like the cell phone companies).

    Lock out of what exactly? ... So Apple is locking out others out of not offering an online music store? Or not offering an iPod? Or being better than Apple?


    Have you figured out what's being locked out yet? Dumb dumb dumb.