A while ago I got off the phone with Verizon ordering my 2nd replacement HTC "Droid" Incredible. That would make it my third Incredible in about two weeks. Luckily, I have spare phones so I swapped back to my BlackBerry Storm2 9550. But the reasons why I fought hard to get another phone is evident with the switch back to my beloved Storm2. Trying to make phone calls, navigate from screen to screen, etc was delayed by the hour-glassing on the ancient operating system powering one of the latest RIM'S BlackBerries. My favorite and most reliable BlackBerry on the Verizon Wireless Network is the original BlackBerry 8830 World Phone. Works impressively fast and the battery last long. However, the increasing demands for instant response and the importance of carrying my business email box are limited with the minimal memory found on that reliable phone. Again, I am found having to settle with my BlackBerry Storm2.
Please do not misunderstand what I have to say about the Android and BlackBerry powered devices I am currently having difficulty with Verizon. Though I do not think major wireless service carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint have their hands clean in the device glitch fiasco, I blame the manufacturers more so than others.
In recent weeks, a lot of hoopla has been made over new major phones having problems right out of the box. The HTC Incredible available on Verizon has constant shortages of stock because people keep scoopingup what is available immediately. The next shipments are weeks out yet people wait for the phone. The same goes to say about the new Motorola Droid X also on Verizon. Sold out as of this writing on their website and their stores. All on backorder. One of the main reasons the phones are on backorder, in particular with the HTC Incredible, is the grounding issue with the touch screen developed by Samsung. All this rush to bring out phones puts strains on companies that develop them. Sometimes companies cut corners such as quality control. It happened with Ford in the early 90s when the Japanese car makers were out-selling them. America's best car produced at the time was the Ford Taurus: a staple of American engineering. Broken transmission, chipping paint, faulty steering, bad motor, etc. It was a disaster because Ford skipped the quality control to meet demands. That is exactly what is going on here with companies all over.
The most infamous case is the ongoing Antennae-Gate case with Apple and their new uber-phone: the iPhone 4Gs. Every Apple foe including Yours Truly took the opportunity to mock the Goliath of cell phone makers. Things turned bad when Apple took shots at competing phone manufacturers for glitches in other phones to draw attention away from their own glitches. This is called "hurting your ego." The Apple iPhone is easily the pinnacle of all smartphones. It's the demand for phones similar to the iPhone that have made other companies complacent of their ancient operating software revamp their systems entirely just to try to keep up.
But is it fair to the consumer?
Apple refused to acknowledge glitches on their new, highly anticipated smartphone. Then when they finally gave their mea culpa, they started attacking other makes and models like little school children. When you're the benchmark in the industry, you take the responsibility for your own mistakes! Let the others deal with their own issues.
Do not get hasty, Apple frienemies. I am not simple lashing out at Apple.
HTC under the pressure of Verizon too released the uber-Android: The Incredible. The "incredible" parts of the phone were soon overshadowed by the incredible lack of attention to the faulty grounding issues with the screens by Samsung!
RIM's popular BlackBerry line is not without it not without its faults either. RIM was and in some respects still in releasing phones with software problems. The first Tour 9630 was a disaster! A year before that was their Storm 9530! The latter was marred by one of the worst operating system produced by RIM and coupled with the innovated by curious click-touchscreen. The Tour released summer of 09 had hardware and software issues. RIM knew this. Instead of providing an incentive for their loyal customers, they develop another Tour, pulled the release date to do some last minute tweaks, relabel it a "Bold," and then release it. RIM effectively avoided countless complaints and lawsuits to defend themselves from their hardware errors. The issues will continue this winter with the rumored release of two "freshened" up phones from their lineup: The Storm2 9550 and the Bold 9700 so as to make them capable to handling their next generation operating system.
Top of the line smartphones start at $450 each. Discounts are applied only if you sign a contract with a carrier. At the rate RIM and Android-powered devices are coming out, contracts become a hindrance. Your latest and greatest Android phone is overshadowed by the next one. Take the Nexus One built by HTC and sold exclusively online by Google. (By the way, that one had screen glitches too!) Last week Google sold out its last batch of Nexus Ones. It was the greatest phone to come out powered by Android. Soon it was overshadowed by its own sister phone: the HTC Incredible. Then, a month later, the HTC EVO 4G for Sprint debuted. A month after that, the Motorola Droid X debuted. And next month we have the Motorola Droid 2! And if that's not enough, the Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Galaxy Q, Dell Streak, etc. My goodness! It's so hard to keep up with them, and they are all similar phones by different manufacturers.
RIM on the other hand is saturating every level in the smartphone genre from the base model to the top of the line. But even the top of the line phones are getting upstaged by their own "next gen" phones. Still no word on the Storm3 . . . In the meanwhile, their new phones are still buggy, slow to boot, and limited in memory.
Apple got it right the first time though I still take issue with not being able to expand the memory. . . They built one phone and released at most one major operating system update a year. If rumors hold true, the next operating system updates will be CHARGED though . . .
Each company is guilty of their flaws. Each company needs to own up to them. Each company needs to compensate the consumer for damages too. Instead, the cell phone manufacturers threaten the consumers for WANTING their phone but not actually wanting to use it on a specific network. Case in point, on Monday the Library of Congress ruled that "jailbreaking" a phone is not a copyright infringement on Apple's iPhone. In fact, the iPhone should be allowed to use apps not directly developed or authorized by Apple. Critics contend that Apple's exclusivity rights create a monopoly which is illegal in the United States. As of Monday July 26, 2010, all jailbreaking or unlocking of any cell phone is made legal.
Apple is not happy. But consider this a victory for the consumer. The consumer is constantly threatened with lawsuits if they jailbreak their phone. Though no one has ever been used, their warranties are voided. Phone companies along with their carriers will continue to find ways to control the consumer like the tyrants they are.
Let us hope and pray for a better future when all this abuse from glitchy phones to high-priced service plans will cease! Until then, let the consumer rejoice over giving the giants a bloody nose! We can unlock without fears of lawsuits!
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