Affordable Product Happiness is over, for sure

i am a Verizon Wireless customer.
it's been a storied experience, with highs and lows like any consumer experience that has lasted for 10+ years, including leaving briefly for Cingular Wireless just when they had acquired AT&T licensing rights.
truth be told, i switched to Cingular because of their advertising.
i LOVED the little Cingular guy.

for me, the most powerful branding as far as causing me to switch.
also, they had GREAT customer service and at the time Verizon did not.
at all.

but, then i needed a phone that could, you know, make calls.
continuously.
and not drop calls.

so i switched back to Verizon.

and this past summer i got the DROIDx.
it's been a good phone, but still no iPhone.
and now, Verizon finally has it!
to see all the pertinent info, click here.

so, now the iPhone will be able to be a phone!
and Verizon, being the most reliable carrier, is assured to take an unreachable lead in the wireless market consumer base.

but, there are a few things sure to piss a lot of people off about bringing the iPhone.
Verizon iPhone details.

all this to say, i'm glad there will be an iPhone on my network.
i LOVE macs.
totally drink the koolaid for the brand, like a lot of people.

this has always been much to the chagrin of my baby brother, a software engineer for JIVE.
we recently talked about it, and what he mostly hates is their ridiculous pricing and the general lack of ability for customization. you can, at the outset when purchasing FROM Apple, but never beyond that.

which brings me to the main point and thought of all of this.
Monopoly.
not the board game so much, as the economic principle.

Apple does what it wants, charges what it wants, provides what it wants, because it's the best and knows people will pay.
Verizon has done the same.

now they're together.

great.

the end of affordable product happiness has arrived.


that said, here is the new iPhone 4 ad, promoting it on both networks, as created by longtime AOR for Apple, TBWA\Chiat\Day.