First AT&T botches what is probably the most significant activation event in mobile phone history, and now they're including the complete data records - and I mean complete - in the first iPhone-related bills they're sending out to customers. Both David Pogue and John Gruber are reporting that their first post-iPhone bill from AT&T includes multiple pages (6 for Pogue, a whopping 45 for Gruber) of every chunk of data they downloaded for the account period. Now this isn't a rational listing like "nytimes.com, tuaw.com, goapeshirts.com," no no - every graphic downloaded from every page and the time and data of every message sent and received laid out in tree-obliterating detail that could only appeal to a rabid accountant.Considering that every iPhone data plan includes the term "unlimited," no one can really figure out why AT&T went to all the bizarre trouble of listing all this information out. Is it some sort of vague warning for how much we might have to pay should they decide to threaten us with billing by kilobyte or megabyte? Did some AT&T billing engineer think that, since we're downloading 'just the internet,' we'd like to see detailed records of every bit and piece of what we're downloading? Or does some accounting intern simply have a grudge against a tree farm somewhere?
Whatever the case, this latest AT&T blunder reminds me why Apple likes to keep things locked down and under control. No one's going to want to read this stuff, but at the very least: if they just had to make it available, they should have included an announcement with paper bills that this detailed data usage could be accessed online. After all, the vast majority of iPhone customers probably have at least heard of the internets, so they would arguably have little to no problem accessing this useless bundle of info via AT&T's online account access.
Ugh - you just can't find good help these days.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-27-2007 @ 4:12PM
Matt Young said...
I'm not sure about this- but I read on another blog that it is a government regulation that every bit of date be accounted for on a customer's invoice. Good reason to switch your bill to paperless at the first opportunity. It should be an option when you activate.
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7-27-2007 @ 4:14PM
procrastinatr said...
Are you worried that your visits to procrastinatr.com will show up on your phone bill?
*** WARNING *** This message will be deleted by David Chartier in 60 seconds because he has no sense of humor (even though he tells the rest of us to "get over it!").
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7-27-2007 @ 4:15PM
Martin said...
Overreact much? Jesus Christ.
"I didn't get a bill! Waaah!"
"I got too much bill! Waaah!"
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7-27-2007 @ 4:16PM
h8rain said...
Maybe they did it on purpose to make people want to go paperless (like the previous poster). Spend a little bit more now, but in the end come out ahead?
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7-27-2007 @ 4:20PM
Luna Lovegood said...
"First AT&T botches what is probably the most significant activation event in mobile phone history..."
Hyperbole FTW!
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7-27-2007 @ 4:21PM
David Valcin said...
Not news, so to speak, but I wanted to let you know that as an early iPhone adopter (I bought it that first weekend on Saturday, and spent most of Saturday and almost all of Sunday on the phone- and mainly on hold, 3 hours at one point- with AT&T trying to get the damn thing activated so that I could marvel at it's elegance) I was not to pleased when I received my first bill and saw that they had the audacity to include the aforementioned $36 activation fee. I called them and asked that they waive it, explained my "activation" experience and was pleasantly surprised when they quickly and with no protest removed it from my bill. Avoiding a class action suit, I guess?
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7-27-2007 @ 4:22PM
Andrew said...
"...no one can really figure out why AT&T went to all the bizarre trouble of listing all this information out."
This comment on Pogue's NYT post makes a lot of sense: the giant kilobyte-by-kilobyte listings are the result of government regulations that require providers to break down the bill into billed increments.
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7-27-2007 @ 4:22PM
GadgetGav said...
Zzzzzzzzzz
This was on Pogue's blog over a week ago. The fact is that it's nothing to do with the iPhone, but that makes for a good headline, right. It seems like this has been the norm for Cingular/AT&T data bills for a while, and probably most other carriers too. Some people say it's because of some regulation or other. It wouldn't surprise me... Maybe the regulations mandate it, maybe it's a CYA move by the carriers. What ever the reason, it's not to do with the iPhone.
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7-27-2007 @ 4:25PM
GadgetGav said...
Not to mention that there is a setting in the Profile management section of the Cingular/AT&T site that allows you to opt out of paper billing.
If people like Pogue are so worried about the number of trees sacrificed for their bills, JUST OPT OUT.
Think global, act local...
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7-27-2007 @ 4:29PM
GadgetGav said...
"After all, the vast majority of iPhone customers probably have at least heard of the internets, so they would arguably have little to no problem accessing this useless bundle of info via AT&T's online account access.
Ugh - you just can't find good help these days."
Nor good reporting on blogs it seems.
The "internets" thing is getting very old.
This is not an AT&T 'blunder'.
There is a paperless billing option.
Not a story. Move along people.
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7-27-2007 @ 4:30PM
The Usher said...
The real kicker of it is they're also supplying all that information to whoever wants it. Yay!
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7-27-2007 @ 4:31PM
David Valcin said...
iPhone activation fee waived by AT&T!!!!
Not news, so to speak, but I wanted to let you know that as an early iPhone adopter (I bought it that first weekend on Saturday, and spent most of Saturday and almost all of Sunday on the phone- and mainly on hold, 3 hours at one point- with AT&T trying to get the damn thing activated so that I could marvel at it's elegance) I was not to pleased when I received my first bill and saw that they had the audacity to include the aforementioned $36 activation fee. I called them and asked that they waive it, explained my "activation" experience and was pleasantly surprised when they quickly and with no protest removed it from my bill. Avoiding a class action suit, I guess?
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7-27-2007 @ 4:34PM
David Chartier said...
2: What exactly defines a sense of humor? Dropping something a year after it happened? Or getting over it like the rest of us since you're the only one that keeps wetting yourself over procrastinatr?
Get.the.fuck.over.it. Drop it. Now. It wasn't funny. Never was. It was terrible for all of us, especially those who got bit by it. The only thing that might be funny is the fact that you're the only one still crying about it.
This is bordering on harassment. I apologized. We all got over it.
Does leaving your comment allow me the privilege of having a sense of humor? If so, consider me laughing. Hysterically. Now please, start contributing something positive to the conversation or get over it and shut up. Take your pick.
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7-27-2007 @ 4:37PM
David Chartier said...
#5: It's been pretty widely accepted that 270,000 iPhones moved in two days, along with people waiting in lines and camping out the day before, earns the iPhone launch the title of most significant mobile phone release to date.
No one was waiting in line to buy RAZRs when those first landed, and they were only $300 a pop.
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7-27-2007 @ 4:41PM
Bryan T said...
....say I have this friend, who was on some sites he wasn't supposed to be.......
Yeah...
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7-27-2007 @ 4:55PM
Christopher L. Williams said...
"Avoiding a class action suit, I guess?"
Or good customer service. I too went through the whole activation debacle (43 hrs 15 mins), and never received anything other than abolutely curteous (if not apologetic) CSRs. I also don't quite get the 3 hrs on hold gig that I keep reading. I called AT&T no less than 15 times during my near 2 day wait, and never was on hold for more than 2 minutes (except for when I was being transferred from AT&T to Apple). Twice they picked up the line before I ever heard it ring on my end.
You will soon see that, although AT&T is a big corporation and some will get bad results, it is no worse than any other cell carrier. Most of the time their service is very good. I have NEVER had a problem with Cingular/ AT&T in the near 10 years that I have had their cell service, and I suspect that if most will lose their poor predispositions to what they think AT&T is like, they will find their service acceptable as well.
Note: I DO NOT WORK FOR AT&T.
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7-27-2007 @ 5:00PM
Michael said...
This is a FUD article. The bill only lists THAT you transferred data, and does not show you WHAT data was transferred. Yes, it's a pain because I wound up with 8 pages of '1kb' listings for every single time I checked my mail, but this is hardly a problem. Again, just opt for paperless if it keeps you up at night. Personally I like having a paper record that I can refer back to should something go awry.
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7-27-2007 @ 5:00PM
sterling said...
Online it just states "Internet/MEdia Net", not the actual URL you visited. I hope this is the case with the actual bill. Some people might need to submit their bill to their employer for reimbursement...
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7-27-2007 @ 5:05PM
wako said...
Wow, it shows EVERY data you used and tells you EVERY item that was downloaded? I guess there will be a lot of parents this week that will find out their kids are looking at porn ;)
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7-27-2007 @ 5:05PM
procrastinatr said...
Wow, somebody didn't take their happy pill this morning.
Mr. Chartier, this, as you say, is the "internets." As a journalist, you are going to have to learn to take criticism and humor (at your expense) a little more professionally and with a *lot* less reactivity. Isn't this a family site?
You originally posted procastinatr, not me. As a joke. A joke that turned out to be harmful to this community. While you did apologize for procrastinatr, you didn't seem to learn from it. Kernel Panic screen saver? Yuk yuk! Let's show our readers how to trick people into a hard power-off! (I'm waiting for the cracked LCD screen saver post...is it in the queue?).
Every single procrastinatr joke I've posted in your threads has been completely benign. No foul language, no personal attacks, just a slight tweaking of the nose. Your response has been completely over the top: you've deleted every single comment and banned the account. Now you've spewed forth with profanity. Why? Because some of us wanted a small giggle at your expense?
Procrastinatr wasn't a joke. Kernel panic screensaver wasn't a joke. They were irresponsible posts. Sorry if there are those of us that like to point these things out
If you put yourself out there as a humorist, be preparred to have people have some fun with you and because of you.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled thread.
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