[Cialug] OT: Pre

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 3:10 PM, kristau <kristau at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yes, I remember people speculating that most providers were not
> willing to allow a phone provider that level of access on their
> network. Prior to Apple and the iPhone, the carriers held all the
> cards. The iPhone threated (and still threatens) to flip this around,
> allowing the phone manufacturers wield more power.
>
> Apple came along and said, "This is what it will take to put our
> devices on your network. If you can't provide it we will find someone
> else who will." AT&T was probably not Apple's first choice, but they
> were willing to play.
>

Remember too that it was with Cingular who announced that very day, on
stage with Apple, that they were being bought by AT&T. The work needed
to make visual voice mail was not done in a few days or a few weeks...
Also remember that they also (temporarily) broke out of the mold where
the provider subsidized the hardware in exchange for a 2 year
contract.

It boggles my mind to think about how that deal worked out and the
complexities involved. It was definitely a win-win situation.

-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, identi.ca and twitter