Tonight at the D8 Conference outside of Los Angeles, Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed the iPhone’s exclusivity with AT&T in the U.S. This has been the subject of debate for three years now, and it’s getting more heated as the iPhone continues to grow in popularity. For his part, Jobs seemed fairly all over the place when talking about Apple’s relationship with AT&T. He would gush about them one second, and then take a jab at them the next.
When Walt Mossberg asked Jobs how AT&T was doing on the network side of things, Jobs at first said AT&T was doing “pretty good.” But then quickly noted that “they have some issues.” But Jobs said that the other carriers would have likely had the same issues had you put the iPhone on any one of their networks (which is a great argument for why it should be on more than one network).
Jobs then noted that AT&T was making improvements to the network, but then said he wish they were improving faster.
When asked if there would be an advantage putting the iPhone on two carriers, Jobs acknowledged that “there might be.” Asked if that would happen in the near future, Jobs said he couldn’t comment on that. But earlier Jobs noted that they meet with AT&T once a quarter, so the fact that this wasn’t a firm “no” or something implying that, is interesting — or maybe that’s just my wishful thinking.
“AT&T took a big leap for us,” Jobs said in mentioning that they weren’t sure if they’d be able to break into the phone market at all when they first set out. The big question remains: was it a big enough leap to justify another year of exclusivity?
The subject of AT&T came up again later in the Q&A session. One person asked what Apple is doing to ensure you can actually make a call on their phone on AT&T’s network. Jobs said Apple was talking about it with AT&T and gave a fairly technical answer for what they’re attempting to do (involving increasing the backhaul).
Interestingly, Jobs noted that, “things get worse before they get better.” He then continued, “If you believe that, things should be getting a lot better soon!” To which the audience burst into laughter.
Jobs came back to say that he’s been told a lot of places are supposed to get better by the end of the Summer. When asked what happens if they don’t, Jobs cryptically replied, “then they won’t.”
[photo: Engadget]
Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. in January 2007. Among the key offerings from Apple’s product line are: Pro line laptops (MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac Pro), consumer line laptops (MacBook) and desktops (iMac), servers (Xserve), Apple TV, the Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server operating systems, the iPod (offered with...
AT&T is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and DSL Internet access in the United States and the second largest wireless service provider in the United States.
Apple’s iPhone was introduced at MacWorld in January 2007 and officially went on sale June 29, 2007, selling 146,000 units within the first weekend of launch. The phone has been hailed as revolutionary with its bundle of advanced mobile web browsing, music and video playback, and touch screen controls. The iPhone is exclusively carried on the networks of both AT&T and Verizon in the U.S. An iPhone can function as a video camera (video recording was not a standard feature...
Steve Jobs was the co-founder and CEO of Apple and formerly Pixar. Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, California to Joanne Simpson and a Syrian father. Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, California then adopted him. In 1972, Jobs graduated from Homestead High School in Cupertino, California and enrolled in Reed College in Portland, Oregon. One semester later, he had dropped out, later taking up the study of philosophy and foreign cultures. Steve Jobs had a deep-seated interest in...
Sponsored Ads
Sponsored Ads
Sponsored Ads
San Francisco, CA
