Vote with your wallet

I live in San Francisco. As you may know, AT&T cell phone service is absolutely awful in San Francisco (like many other major U.S. cities). As you may also know, the iPhone only works with AT&T and pretty much everyone in San Francisco seems to have an iPhone. This basically means that no one can make phone calls. It also means that everyone I know is constantly complaining about how horrible AT&T is.

I know people that hate McDonalds and Walmart. As you would expect, those people don't eat at McDonalds and they don't shop at Walmart. It seems obvious that you shouldn't give money to companies that you hate, and yet just about everyone I know is shelling out around $100 each month to AT&T for the privilege of having a 50/50 chance of being able to make a phone call that lasts more than 30 seconds.

This needs to end. If a company is giving you bad service, you need to stop giving them money. Otherwise nothing will ever change. Whenever I suggest this to people they point out that leaving AT&T would mean using something other than the iPhone. Well, what's so great about an iPhone that can't make calls? Maybe the iPhone would be the best phone on the market if it were available on Sprint, Verizon, or T-Mobile, but it's not. Instead the iPhone is just a source of frustration (in San Francisco anyway). Sure you can blame AT&T and give Apple a pass, but the iPhone is a package deal. Apple decided to buddy up with AT&T, and the quality of the network is a huge part of the user experience which Apple is primarily responsible for.

This isn't meant to be a rant about AT&T or Apple. This applies to consumerism in general. If you don't like a company, don't give them money. There's no other way to bring about change. If a company sucks at what they do and you're giving them money, then it's your fault that the company sucks. Vote with your wallet.

Note: I've heard the rumors too. The iPhone is expected to be released on the Verizon network in January. That's neat and all, but it doesn't really impact my overall point.