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Survey Says Most iPhone Users Love AT&T
Hugh Pickens writes "In a report sure to raise eyebrows, CNN Money claims that despite a very vocal group of detractors, the vast majority of iPhone users love AT&T. A survey released this week by Yankee Group reports that 73% of iPhone owners scored their satisfaction with the carrier as an 8, 9, or 10 on a 10-point scale. The results seem surprising, given the pounding AT&T has taken in the media and on the blogosphere about its service-related issues with the iPhone and AT&T's recent iPad-related security glitch. For its part, AT&T says its network really isn't as bad as many people think. 'There's a gap between what people hear about us and what their experience is with us. We think that gap is beginning to close,' says Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. 'It doesn't mean we're perfect; we still have work to do. But that's no surprise to us, because we have a great network.'" Buried in the penultimate paragraph is the somewhat alarming note that "77% of iPhone owners say they'll buy another iPhone, compared to 20% of Android customers who say they'll buy another Android phone."
77% of iPhone users are fan boys/girls
80% of Android users value freedom of choice
95% of all fanboys don't realize they're fanboys.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
The vocal minority bitch and moan. The majority of people like the service. It can't be all bad otherwise people would flee. Also, Apple would have nothing to do with a company that its consumers don't support. If Apple is happy then the majority of people are happy.
So everyone who likes their iPhone is ignorant and has no technical knowledge? Is that how it works? That statement is a blatant lie and shows a lot of ignorance on your part. I have owned the last two iterations of the iPhone (I bought both the 3GS and 4 when they launched) and I love both devices. I don't suffer from a lack of technical knowledge, I am a college student majoring in a computer science related field, and have had an interest in all things technology since I was in grade school. I own an Apple laptop because I enjoy their above average battery life, their design, and the fact that I can install windows on it should there be anything I need to run. I don't think it is infallible, I had a problem with the battery but Apple's customer support handled the issue that day and got it replaced. Along with that laptop I own a windows desktop that I built over the summer, and have previously built and helped built other computers. I know the specifications of my phone compared to other phones on the market. I am aware of their faults, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't like the device more than any other phone. It is largely a matter of personal preference. I wouldn't mind owning an android phone, I think most of them are great, but I enjoy the iPhone more. I think the design is fantastic, it has an equivalent if not (for the time being) better hardware than other phones on the market, and I like the software. I can make the signal drop if I take the phone out of the case and hold it in my left hand, but I am right handed and I ordered my case with my phone before the antenna was even a problem, so it isn't like I wouldn't have used one anyway. For others it's a deal-breaker and I can't fault them for that. The incessant need for people the validate their own technology choices by berating others is unnecessary. People will use what they like.
As for AT&T it also largely depends on who you ask. I live in a suburb of Philadelphia and AT&T provides pretty much the same coverage as my old Sprint phone and other people's Verizon phones. I have my areas and they have theirs, but overall it is a moot point. I have yet to experience a dropped call because where I live the service is fine. Chances are the vast majority of iPhone users live in a place where the service is not an issue. Other than the service the carrier is just like any other.
tl;dr The arguments are unnecessary, it boils down to individual preference / a personal choice.
Its not like they had the opportunity to try an iPhone with another carrier.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
I think phone companies are much like banks. They're fine until something happens that causes the user displeasure, and then they become the most evil thing on the face of the earth causing them to change their service to some place else. The new place is fine, or even great, until something bad happens there, and then there are two most evil things on the face of the planet.
I'm with AT&T (and an iPhone). They have good service in my area ( I did ask around first for people's opinions of various phone company's service in my city), they had the phone I wanted (pre-iPhone), the store next to my house where I bought my phones, they give my company a discount, and I've never had any issues with them. Why shouldn't I like them?
Buried in the penultimate paragraph is the somewhat alarming note that "77% of iPhone owners say they'll buy another iPhone, compared to 20% of Android customers who say they'll buy another Android phone."
It's a throw away comment at the end of the story, but I don't believe that 'statistic' for a second.
The only way I can make sense of it, is perhaps the idea that only 20% would buy another Android phone from the same manufacturer. Due to the number of options, the grass always being greener and the effective 'arms race' between Android manufacturers etc that sounds vaguely plausible. But 80% ready to abandon the platform? That has to be nonsense. Apart from anything else, where are they gonna go?
FWIW I have an iPhone, never owned an Android, blah, blah...
"...but how am I ignorant for buying one?"
Obviously you're not. But people like your parent poster tend to base their hate more on emotions and wanting to be on the anti-Apple bandwagon than on real issues. Apple makes great stuff. Not perfect, but great.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
I herby revoke your geek license.
Part of the reason there is so much negative buzz about AT&T is that their network *does* suck in NYC and SF, and people from these areas make up a disproportional amount of the blogosphere and media.
Whenever I'm outside of these areas, AT&T is totally fine. But it's pretty well-known that trying to place a call on Friday afternoon in either NYC of SF is an exercise in futility.
There aint no pancake so thin it doesn't have two sides.
Um, if you do a subjective survey of only people who use the service, of course it's going to get high marks. The people who are dissatisfied with it have mostly left for a different service. This is why you do random samples. So you get a representative sample of the entire population.
The only way the stat they measured carries any weight is if you compare to an identical survey of customers with other phone networks. The relative satisfaction rate between different providers can carry some statistical meaning. e.g. If AT&T's satisfaction rate is 73% and Verizon's is 90% (made up as an example), that tells you something. Otherwise, all you're doing is measuring the degree of self-selection of a self-selected population, which is pretty useless for market analysis.
Excuse me, but I don't know how else to put this: fuck off.
I love my iPhone, despite it's faults, and I'm a pretty technical person. How technical? I have a degree in physics, have worked with open source and Linux since 1995, was a senior Linux sysadmin for 10 years, and spent a few of the years in between working as an *embedded Linux developer* for mobile projects.
Do I go around telling people that OS X is completely safe and free from viruses and other malware? No. Do I tell them that it's a platform that lets them access the power of Unix without having to fuck around at the command line? Yes.
Same with the phone. Do I say "Hey! This phone was made by Jesus himself and is completely infallible"? Or is it more likely that I say "Hey, it's got its faults - but it's still a great phone ... especially if you're not a Slashdot commenter"?
Enough with the self-righteous anti-fanboy shit. Your generalization of "Apple users" is insulting and wrong.
Too many options. I'm a fairly hard core geek but sometimes you just don't want to be bothered with all the options. They just make things confusing.
Sorry, you just lost your geek cred. Go astroturf on the Apple forums, please
Here's a novel concept for you - sometimes people just like to perform a task at hand without having to endlessly tweak the tools they want to use. Now if you'd please go back to the Gentoo forums, that'd be great.