You think there’s nothing more to say about Verizon cell phones? Well, think again, because Apple’s in da house and its iPhone is changing the catalog in more ways than one!
No, this isn’t an advertisement – and it isn’t an advertorial, either – but one observer’s take on industry goings-on, an observer who isn’t even much of a cell phone consumer, really. I don’t own any Verizon cell phones myself, in other words. In fact, I don’t really own a mobile handset at all. No, not as such; only my live-in girlfriend’s. (Yes, that’s my only means of wireless communication!)
But I used to be really big on hi-tech, and it’s amusing for me to casually regard – and disregard – all the developments in cellular communications since the 1990s, when I personally first became aware of such devices. At the time, things were radically different – and the same as ever in other respects. How does it go, the old French saying? “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
So, changes: the catalog of Verizon cell phones is greater than ever, and individual makes and models offer all kinds of cool handy features like never before. But what’s remained the same are subscription plans that try to tie you down with all sorts of penalties for leaving early – and these plans want at least a year from you, if not more, still.
And here’s where Apple’s iPhone comes into the picture. It could be something of a catalyst, a game-changer. Once the exclusive province of AT&T, its debut over the Verizon infrastructure could really upset things.
In other words, more competition.
Which ought to lead to better terms and conditions.
Or so goes the theory. So far, nothing much has changed. Whether it’s from Verizon or AT&T, consumer can expect about the same policies as well as prices. For instance, with both companies the iPhone can only be had through an onerous year(s)-long contract.
So how’s that “changing the catalog in more ways than one?”
Well, again, there’s the theory, and then there’s practice. For the time being, even though product cycles are measured in months if not weeks in the industry, other factors have conspired to maintain the way carriers do business such that consumers aren’t seeing any differences. But that can still change, as well it should – and there are those who claim that it’s actually begun to already.