Dear Verizon,
I first joined your network out of a lack of choice. At the time I lived in a small, sparsely populated state, and your network was quite literally the only game in town. A couple years ago I started paying you even more money when I got my first smartphone, a Blackberry Storm. The Storm wasn't everything I'd hoped; with poor browsing and app support your data plan seemed like a silly expense, but I stuck with you through it. When the Droid X came out, I finally got a phone that actually made use of all that bandwidth I'd been paying for. I've watched with excitement as you rolled out your shiny new 4G network, and I'm excited about moving up to a 4G smartphone. Yet despite your huge lead with your network, I'm closer to leaving than ever before.
You see, your absence last night was noticed. Maybe it was understandable - I've heard there is some strain between you and the Nexus team over marketing, and this was after all an international event, so maybe an announcement would have been out of place. But I've also heard more ominous rumors. Leaks that you don't like parts of the Nexus. Perhaps how open or unbloated the OS is. Or that it gives consumers a choice between ecosystems you don't like (e.g. Google Wallet). So let me give you some friendly advice:
Don't meddle with this phone.
Really, just don't. Don't try to force them to lock it down so developers can't use it. Don't try to limit my choice as a consumer about who's market I buy my apps from, how I SMS, or what sort of digital wallet I use. This isn't an idle threat - I'm close enough to the end of my contract that the price isn't prohibitive to buy myself out of it. If you insist on deciding "for me" who's services I select, then I will simply select another carrier's services.
Don't get me wrong, I know you are insecure. Numerous times your CEO has talked about how you don't want to be just a "dumb pipe" company. Like any company you want to pad your margins by layering in other services you can charge for. And I fully encourage you to do so. But you need to do it by creating compelling services that I chose to use over what's available, not by locking out competing services. The former is pro-consumer, and shows you believe you can compete head-on in a healthy market of competition. The latter suggests you feel you cannot compete, but that you will leverage your position as the gate-holder to a network to force your customers to use your services.
The choice really is up to you. I want nothing more than an open Nexus phone on your 4G network. By retaining me you would have the chance to demonstrate that Verizon's service offerings are worth using and/or paying for. If you decide that I should only be allowed to access your services, then there will be zero chance I will ever use them, because I will be on another carrier.
So please, stop whatever "negotiations" are going on with this phone. Announce it and offer it in its original and intended state as soon as possible. And look at it as a chance to win people over, not as a way that you could lose people to other ecosystems. Because if you insist upon looking at it that way, you WILL lose people to other ecosystems.
Sincerely,
-Scott
I first joined your network out of a lack of choice. At the time I lived in a small, sparsely populated state, and your network was quite literally the only game in town. A couple years ago I started paying you even more money when I got my first smartphone, a Blackberry Storm. The Storm wasn't everything I'd hoped; with poor browsing and app support your data plan seemed like a silly expense, but I stuck with you through it. When the Droid X came out, I finally got a phone that actually made use of all that bandwidth I'd been paying for. I've watched with excitement as you rolled out your shiny new 4G network, and I'm excited about moving up to a 4G smartphone. Yet despite your huge lead with your network, I'm closer to leaving than ever before.
You see, your absence last night was noticed. Maybe it was understandable - I've heard there is some strain between you and the Nexus team over marketing, and this was after all an international event, so maybe an announcement would have been out of place. But I've also heard more ominous rumors. Leaks that you don't like parts of the Nexus. Perhaps how open or unbloated the OS is. Or that it gives consumers a choice between ecosystems you don't like (e.g. Google Wallet). So let me give you some friendly advice:
Don't meddle with this phone.
Really, just don't. Don't try to force them to lock it down so developers can't use it. Don't try to limit my choice as a consumer about who's market I buy my apps from, how I SMS, or what sort of digital wallet I use. This isn't an idle threat - I'm close enough to the end of my contract that the price isn't prohibitive to buy myself out of it. If you insist on deciding "for me" who's services I select, then I will simply select another carrier's services.
Don't get me wrong, I know you are insecure. Numerous times your CEO has talked about how you don't want to be just a "dumb pipe" company. Like any company you want to pad your margins by layering in other services you can charge for. And I fully encourage you to do so. But you need to do it by creating compelling services that I chose to use over what's available, not by locking out competing services. The former is pro-consumer, and shows you believe you can compete head-on in a healthy market of competition. The latter suggests you feel you cannot compete, but that you will leverage your position as the gate-holder to a network to force your customers to use your services.
The choice really is up to you. I want nothing more than an open Nexus phone on your 4G network. By retaining me you would have the chance to demonstrate that Verizon's service offerings are worth using and/or paying for. If you decide that I should only be allowed to access your services, then there will be zero chance I will ever use them, because I will be on another carrier.
So please, stop whatever "negotiations" are going on with this phone. Announce it and offer it in its original and intended state as soon as possible. And look at it as a chance to win people over, not as a way that you could lose people to other ecosystems. Because if you insist upon looking at it that way, you WILL lose people to other ecosystems.
Sincerely,
-Scott
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram