For Apple, the A in AT&T “stands for albatross,” said Therese Poletti in Marketwatch. iPhone customers have never been thrilled with Apple’s exclusive contract with the “increasingly maligned carrier,” but the “griping” about AT&T has become nonstop since Apple unveiled the iPhone 3GS this week. The newest iPhone is made for speed, tethering to your laptop as a wireless modem, and sending media files over IM—but AT&T customers will get none of those things, at least not yet.
It’s hard to tell if AT&T and its network are really inadequate for the demands of the hot smartphone market, said Scott Mortiz in TheStreet.com, or if its angry iPhone customers are just “tech-adept gadget fans who bring oversized expectations.” Either way, AT&T’s exclusive iPhone deal is up for renewal in a year, and with the growing chorus of complaints, competitors such as Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint “are no doubt eager to come off the bench.”
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