"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:4acf88b4$0$1669$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> Cameo wrote:
>
>> Interesting, John, though you have dismissed T-Mo's current Android phone
>> offerings. Why?
>
> If you want informed opinion on where the smart phone market is going you
> can read:
>
> "http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139026/Android_to_grab_No._2_spot_by_2012_says_Gartner"
>
> It's far too early to dismiss T-Mobile and Sprint. Normally you'd think
> that everyone would migrate to Verizon and AT&T since they will eventually
> have most of their 3G service at 800/850 MHz thus providing better
> coverage than the 1900 MHz carriers. But most users simply don't
> understand the differences in technology and how it affect coverage and
> quality of service even when companies like AT&T explicitly state the
> reason why they're moving 3G services to 800 MHz is to improve coverage.
>
> Even now, most users, when they don't have coverage when driving, simply
> assume that no one else has coverage on any carrier so why should they
> switch. When you're at a public place like an airport or national park
> where you're talking on the phone but someone near you can't get a signal,
> is the only time they get an inkling of the vast coverage differences
> between carriers. Maybe the new TV ad will have some effect,
> "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37NKnDRPFKU"

The new TV ad is interesting, and makes AT&T look pretty darned bad. But
there's a problem with that TV ad for many, and that problem is that it
doesn't mirror their own reality. For me, I've been able to get 3G coverage
on my iPhone everywhere I've traveled. Now perhaps I just happen to travel
in AT&T corridors? And the few places I haven't picked up 3G I've gotten a
very good Edge signal.

I don't disbelieve the Verizon map. Verizon clearly has a better network.
I'm just not convinced that 3G towers in the desert are a huge deal for most
customers, especially if Edge coverage exists in those areas.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA