To i or not to i, that is the question.
Thursday, December 4, 2008 by Palmer Attaway
So, here’s the thing. I am sick and tired of the whims of AT&T. I got rid of them in the home, but thought 
I’d be saddled with them when I got the iPhone… this is not to be. The story is long and drawn out so I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Back in July (no seriously, this is the abbreviated story, I promise) I started having issues with my phone. Almost immediately after getting the thing the front screen cracked, but I dealt with it. When I started dropping calls unless I was on the Bluetooth ear piece, I got annoyed. I contacted AT&T and complained. They put an “upgrade notation” on my account, effectively letting me upgrade early. I asked if it applied to the iPhone and they said yes. Now as much as I travel, I never have much time at home to deal with going to the store and placing an order or picking it up for that matter. I called the store a couple of times and again, yes, the iPhone is included in my upgrade meaning I’d pay the $299.99 for the phone and not the $499.99 others pay to buy one without the contract. I was going to place my order tomorrow and guess what… the iPhone is not included in my upgrade. I’d have to pony up with near 500 bucks to get one. This, my friends, is not going to happen.
I’d be saddled with them when I got the iPhone… this is not to be. The story is long and drawn out so I’ll give you the cliff notes version. Back in July (no seriously, this is the abbreviated story, I promise) I started having issues with my phone. Almost immediately after getting the thing the front screen cracked, but I dealt with it. When I started dropping calls unless I was on the Bluetooth ear piece, I got annoyed. I contacted AT&T and complained. They put an “upgrade notation” on my account, effectively letting me upgrade early. I asked if it applied to the iPhone and they said yes. Now as much as I travel, I never have much time at home to deal with going to the store and placing an order or picking it up for that matter. I called the store a couple of times and again, yes, the iPhone is included in my upgrade meaning I’d pay the $299.99 for the phone and not the $499.99 others pay to buy one without the contract. I was going to place my order tomorrow and guess what… the iPhone is not included in my upgrade. I’d have to pony up with near 500 bucks to get one. This, my friends, is not going to happen.I started doing the research and found that Verizon Wireless ranks second in both customer satisfaction and call quality nation wide according to J.D Power and Associates. They offer something comparable to the iPhone, the Blackberry Storm. After doing my research, it seems the storm has almost everything I want and none of the extra crap I don’t. There are
some drawbacks, but according to all the research I’ve done, I should be happy with it over all. The memory is expandable, the media formats it will play are diverse, the business applications far outweigh the competition, and if the battery looses the ability to charge, I get another battery. The iPhone has set memory, a limited number of media formats loadable only with proprietary software (and being a Linux guy now, free non-proprietary is gooooood), and if it stops charging, you have to send it in for service and be without a phone for up to a week. I’m all about convenience. From what I understand, the GPS is not as good as the iPhone, but I have a kick ass Tom Tom. There’s no wifi support on the Storm, but you don’t really need it on Verizon’s network. I think they’re pretty evenly matched so I’ll let you know if I’m happy in a few weeks. 
