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Steve Jobs Wanted an iPhone-Only Wireless Network

Posted by samzenpus on from the welcome-to-the-iinternet dept.

jfruhlinger writes "One of the more profound ways that the iPhone changed the mobile industry was the fact that it upended the relationship between the handset maker and the wireless carrier: Apple sells many of its phones directly to customers, and in general has much more of an upper hand with carriers than most phone manufacturers. But venture capitalist John Stanton, who was friends with Steve Jobs in the years when the iPhone was in development, said the Apple CEO's initial vision was even more radical: he wanted Apple to build its own wireless network using unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum, thus bypassing the carriers altogether."

5 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Neat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The walled garden would have replaced the internet.

  2. This is what I'll miss about SJ... by rAiNsT0rm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Steve wasn't the greatest engineer, designer, or technologist but what he did do was think of what he saw as perfection and not waiver from it. This is the one thing I think all of us in tech really lost with his passing. Not even that what he came up with was always the best but the fact that he did dare to dream and then force it to fruition. So much of what we use and do came from his efforts even if they were taken or altered/improved upon.

    That is a very impossible thing to pass on or keep going by someone else and I really hope we don't begin a period of stagnation and minor iterative changes or updates because we seriously all lose. Linux, MS, or Mac user.

    --
    http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
  3. Myopic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the more profound ways that the iPhone changed the mobile industry was the fact that it upended the relationship between the handset maker and the wireless carrier: Apple sells many of its phones directly to customers, and in general has much more of an upper hand with carriers than most phone manufacturers.

    Maybe in the United States, but in the rest of the world it's always been like this.

  4. Re:Neat by marcosdumay · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well, it is your carrier that is overselling their bandwidth. It is really not Apple's fault.

    It would be Apple's fault if your phone couldn't use a signal that was there, or if ou had to hold it in a funny way to not touch the antena. That problem you describe, it's really an AT&T problem.

    --
    Rethinking email
  5. Re:Neat by nevillethedevil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No. You're holding it wrong.

    Note to /. : Never say that to a girlfriend, no matter how true.

    I don't think that's going to be too big a problem around here

    --
    Be gone from my sight or prepare to feel my flaming wraith!