To clarify my position from a recent post (which was technically a tweet, but shows as a post here), my reasons for thinking AT&T could do better is the lack of MMS and tethering for the iPhone when the 3.0 software is launched. As MMS goes, I’m not likely to send many of the things, but there are some who insist on sending me the horrendous beasts and it would be nice to have an elegant way of handling them. The current way with AT&T is to visit a site and enter two streams of characters into text boxes. Why this can’t be simplified into a single clickable link is beyond me. The lack of Copy & Paste up until now (or until the 17th to be more accurate) is a further source of frustration with this exercise.

What I am not upset about is the pricing. If you don’t qualify for an upgrade because you are still under contract, then tough luck. This is the way it has always been. Those who bought the first iPhone were given automatic upgrade qualifications because they purchased it outright without any carrier subsidy. Luckily, one of the lines on my account qualifies for the reduced pricing, so I will be jumping on board.

Some people are also upset that the difference between the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S isn’t all that great. At no point before WWDC, which is the Worldwide Developers Conference, were we told by Apple to expect a new iPhone. For some, the difference between the two phones isn’t a big enough jump for them to justify spending the $199 and certainly isn’t enough to justify the unsubsidized price. The current iPhone 3G will remain in one incarnation – the 8GB version for $99 on contract. This is still a fine phone, one which I use every day. With the 3.0 firmware update coming out later this month, it will be even better.

For some, AT&T is a deal breaker. For me, it’s almost a necessity. I travel back and forth to visit my parents in Ireland and to other European destinations on a somewhat regular basis. For this reason, I need a GSM provider. Once we all move over to LTE, life may be different. Until then I’ll be propping up the blue beach ball