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iPhone: limited by AT&T?

I wrote yesterday about the importance of selecting the right partner to do business with, especially if they come in contact with your customer.

The official launch of the iPhone, available today exclusively from AT&T, makes me wonder what Apple was thinking.

While AT&T has the largest network (I think), they are one of the slowest for data, which will really impact iPhone performance for email and web. And according to Guy Kawasaki, AT&T customer services isn’t so hot, either.

To Apple’s credit, if memory serves, I think Apple selected Cingular as their carrier, which had a brand that lined up well with Apples… younger, hipper, cool. Then AT&T buys BellSouth/Cingular and decides to replace the Cingular brand with the AT&T brand… older, boring, dull… the same attributes, that when combined with the poor performance of their original wireless network led to the original AT&T wireless downfall. So how have things changed to make displacing the Cigular brand a good idea? But I digress…

The iPhone/AT&T exclusivity deal is limited to the US, but is reported to be multi-year. Should be interesting to see how this pans out.

Add comment June 29, 2007 at 10:11am Jordan

How competitors set expectations, and partners impact your brand

I just ordered my first Apple product: an iPod Nano to replace my aging Rio Karma mp3 player. It arrived a couple days ago, and it is clear why iPod dominates the portable music player market. It is a very elegant product, and I’m still amazed by the small form factor.

However, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in my overall purchase experience… namely because it took longer to be delivered than I thought it should have, even though it arrived a day early. Two points:

1. My expectations. Apple “said” that FedEx delivery would take 1 week. However, I dismissed that based on my history of Internet shopping. For example, the same day I ordered the Nano, I also ordered a set a headphones from an Amazon.com affiliate retailer. While this retailer also stated 1 week for delivery, I had the headphones in less than two days, which I have found to be fairly typical. I thought, if Amazon can send my order to the retailer, the retailer send confirmation back to both Amazon and me, plus process my order and have UPS deliver it all in 1.5 days, then Apple and FedEx can do the same. Afterall, there were fewer perceived steps as I bought it direct from Apple. Not so. Apple used 6 of their 7 days.

2. FedEx goofed. The above wouldn’t have been that bad, if FedEx had kept their online tracking system up to date. Until the day of arrival, I thought my Nano was stuck in Sacromento… however, it was really enjoying a nice cross-country trip ready to surprise me a day early. If I knew that the Nano had at least left the state of California that would be different. I also never received the email updates that I signed up to receive. Unless you count the email that told me, two hours after the fact, that my package had arrived. Gee thanks.

Now being a reasonably logical person, I know that I was told it would take a week and any minor glitches were the fault of FedEx and not Apple. However, when I look at my iPod, I think “I bought this from Apple and it took too long to get to me and I was in the dark about the delivery.” While I’m sure I’ll get over it, at some level it impacts my perception of the Apple brand.

So, the moral of the story is: know what your customer will expect (which may not be what you tell them), and select your partners carefully, because they are a reflection of you.

1 comment June 28, 2007 at 02:00pm Jordan

Where’s Jordan?

You may have been wondering where I’ve been… a common question for anyone that reads this website. Well, I can ensure you that all of us at the Carlson homestead have been enjoying hot water, that is for sure. But seriously, work and life have been very busy. A few highlights:

1. Work has been relentless. Work-life balance has been out-of-whack for a while, but things are starting to hit stride, even if the work load hasn’t gone down. But it isn’t all bad… I was just recently promoted, which is always nice. (Yes, this is a self-serving, self-promoting effort to build up my self-esteem.)
2. We updated the bonus room. In the South, many homes do not have basements. So, they put finished space above the garage and call it a bonus room or a FROG (family room over garage)… how catchy. Ours was stark white with 20 year old stained grey carpet. So we updated it with Southern Yellow Pine floors (the real deal, not laminate… thanks for the help, Pat), painted the walls and made it dual purpose: media room (aka TV) and home office. It is quickly becoming the hub of technology, and I love it.
3. Ethan got glasses. When Ethan was 18 months old, we noticed his left eye starting to turn in (strabismus). We had it checked out, and he is farsighted (hyperopia). As he tried to focus, his weaker eye turned in. Chances are, his brain was already starting to ignore the image coming in from his left eye (amblyopia), which, as you would expect, isn’t good. So we got him some glasses to correct the farsightedness, which we’re hoping will also correct the misalignment. If not, we’ll have to think about vision therapy or surgery (but hopefully not!).

So, that’s it in a nutshell. Photos of the bonus room and a really cute, curly headed 20 month old boy in glasses coming soon.

Oh, and did I mention that we’re expecting baby #3 in November?

Add comment June 7, 2007 at 01:37pm Jordan