“Cool phone, huh?” he asked innocently. He clearly wasn’t prepared for our scathing response.
“Not really. It’s just like every other phone Verizon puts out.”
“Well, you can do [x] and [z] and [h] with this phone. You can’t do that with lesser models.”
“Yeah, but all the functionality is the same. It feels like [we] could find any phone with those features and it would be the same as any other through Verizon.”
Our buddy was left scratching his head. Never before had he heard someone complain like this about the software Verizon installs on all of its phones. So if we’re complaining about it, why does Verizon think it’s benefiting customers with this?
Easy to use, easy to buy
The foremost reason for Verizon’s insistence on installing the same software on any phone is that you can buy another phone and not spend a month learning how to use it. Technology confuses some people, sometimes to the point where they want to give up on a product. So Verizon thinks it’s doing its subscribers a favor by using this software; once they learn the system, they can use any phone purchased through Verizon.
On that level, it makes some degree of sense. If you make things easier for the masses, they will buy your product. The average cell phone user is intimidated by the phone, so why make it any harder on them? From Verizon’s vantage point, they’re doing their subscribers a favor.
From our vantage point, they’re just putting themselves in a position of greater control.
No third party apps
Yes, we’re a bit perturbed that Verizon flat out refuses to allow third party applications to be used on their handsets. It’s what’s best for the network, they say. Viruses can spread across the network, causing downtime for everyone. And ya know what? That’s a pretty legitimate stance. Of course, Verizon could just up security measures — which they should be doing anyway — but that would be on their dime. They have more important matters to attend to, like selling you plans with minutes you’ll never use.
One application we really like is the Opera Mini browser. Of course, since the application is obviously third party, Verizon has banned it, user convenience be damned. Why would they ban such an innovative, WAP-based browser? Because it offers services that Verizon offers — except you have to pay extra through Verizon.
If you’ve ever used a Verizon phone, you’ve noticed that their Mobile Web application is, well, lacking. You can browse news, sports scores, entertainment gossip, and a couple of other categories. Absent is a navigation bar where you can roam to your favorite mobile-based site (m.youtube.com, for example). Why doesn’t this feature exist?
Because Verizon has a heftier data plan — $45 per month — that allows you to do that. But if they just let anyone with the $5 per month Mobile Web deal surf the web, they’d probably lose a lot of $45-per-month subscribers.
If they allowed the use of Opera Mini, they’d basically be damning their super-expensive-not-really-worth-the-price Internet service. They’d also lose money on Multimedia Messages, since Opera has a built-in widget that allows you to upload your photos and share them, rather than sending them through Verizon — and paying their 25-cent fee.
The damning part for Verizon is that Opera has one of the better security systems of any web browser. There is no excuse for Verizon to exclude Opera because of security issues. It just points to Verizon’s excessively walled garden and their desire to excise any and all possible money from their subscribers.
A tale of two phones
Bill goes into a Verizon store and wants a new phone on a two-year contract (he’s already off to a poor start). He doesn’t care much about his phone, so he goes with the Nokia 6315i. It has all the bells and whistles he needs: Bluetooth, instant messaging, Mobile Web, and a multimedia player. The salesman quotes him a price of $80 with the two-year contract, plus a $50 mail-in rebate. So Bill is walking out with his new phone for $30.
Barry walks into the very same Verizon store, and deals with the same salesperson who helped Bill. He as well is looking for a two-year contract. However, Barry has a fancy taste for gadgets, so he wants something top-of-the-line. After looking through a few of the selections, Barry decides on the LG VX8700. It has its own set of bells and whistles: Bluetooth, Mobile Web, multimedia player, etc. The price is $230, but after a mail-in rebate, it’s down to $180. Barry leaves a satisfied customer.
A few weeks later, Bill and Barry get together for a few beers after work. Barry can’t stop talking about his phone and how cool it is. Bill, not a tech-savvy guy like his friend, doesn’t talk much about his own new purchase. After a few beers, Barry asks to see Bill’s phone so he can play with it. And, much to Barry’s detriment, it seems like the same exact phone. It cant’ be, thinks Barry. After all, he had paid $150 more for his phone than Bill, so there must be something that differentiates them.
Barry insists on calling his neutral buddy Joe (that would be us — yes, this is mostly a true story). Barry hands both phones to Joe, asking him to explore them both and decide if there’s any discernible difference. After about a half-hour, Joe decides that there’s not much of a difference between the phones — certainly not $150 worth of difference. Sure, Barry’s runs faster and it has a sleeker design. But other than that, there’s not much of a difference.
Objection: Isn’t that the same principle as a computer’s software?
We’ve argued this point ad nauseum with plenty of our friends, and nearly all of them have brought up a cogent point: isn’t this the same principle upon which computers are built? And, in fact, it is. When you buy a computer, you’re buying a box of circuits; from there, it’s powered by universal software. If you have a PC, it’s Windows or Linux. If you have a Mac, it’s OSx.
So how is it okay for computers to run this universal software, but not a cell phone, you ask?
First off, mobile phones already come with an operating system. Verizon just overrides that system with one of their own. Essentially, Verizon is taking a perfectly good (in some cases) operating system and saying “nah, we’ll just go with our own.” This limits consumer choice, since you don’t have a say in the matter.
Second, the hardware of a computer is much more important than the hardware of a cell phone. We’re not talking smartphones here — we’re talking basic flip phones and sliders that don’t necessarily use broadband access. As such, the difference in hardware between the 6315i and the VX8700 isn’t nearly as great as a computer made, say, last year and a computer made yesterday.
Additionally, much of the difference between computers is the quality of the manufacturer. However, that doesn’t really come into play here, since LG and Nokia are two of the more reputable handset makers.
Other grumbles and gripes
Beyond being a program that serves the interests of Verizon, we have a few gripes with the functionality of the software. This is based on our experiences with other phones, particularly the major ones: Nokia, Samsung, Motorola. We have yet to use an LG phone that was not on the Verizon network, thereby containing the Verizon software.
The alarm clock. One of our favorite features of Motorola phones is that when your alarm goes off, you just have to hit a button on the side of the phone and you’re snoozing for another nine minutes. It perfectly mimics traditional alarm clocks and their external snooze buttons. However, if you try to pull that with a Motorola phone on Verizon, you’re going to be late for a very important date. The button on the outside does nothing but silence the alarm, never to sound again. In order to snooze, you have to open your phone and hit the “Snooze” option, rather than “Ignore.” Even then, it only gives you five minutes of snooze time, which is pretty dumb in our opinion.
Secondary gripe: if you don’t want to wake up to the default voice mail tone, you have to change your alarm tone every single time you set it. There is no resetting the default. In our opinion, that’s a pretty major design flaw.
Text messaging. Seriously, we’ve never had to hit so many buttons just to select a recipient. And when you respond to a text message, you’re always questioned as to whether you want to send a text or a picture message. We can think of at least 80 better ways to set up a text messaging program — and none of them involve hitting 10 different keys to send a “wasssup” to our buddies.
Contacts list. Maybe it’s because we’re used to other phones, but we simply hate that the “down” arrow doesn’t bring up your contacts. Instead, it brings up a calendar. And don’t even think about hitting the “up” button; you’ll be sent directly to Mobile Web.
The solution: Uninstall it, dummy!
There is actually a side dedicated to hacking the Verizon software and using the Motorola software for the RAZR. It’s aptly titled Hack the Razr!. If you have one of these, we suggest you check out the side. A couple of warnings, though, and these apply for any Verizon phone you hack.
- If you have a problem with your phone and take it to Verizon, they either won’t help you, or they will simply reinstall their software and say that was the problem. Bummer.
- Certain functions, like transferring photos via USB cable rather than MMS message might be illegal. We’re not sure about this, but it’s something we’ve been warned about, so we’re passing it on.
- Be careful when using features like free WAP. Yes, it will allow you to use third-party applications like Opera Mini and check all the sites that your heart desires. However, we’re not certain as to the legality of accessing the Internet on your Verizon phone through a service not owned by them.