An Open Letter to Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility
[Submitted using the “Email me” link on the AT&T Wireless meet us page]
Why is AT&T so hostile towards Mac users?
I’ve been a customer of AT&T Wireless and Cingular since March of 2004 (I was also a customer for a year in the 90s, but the less said about that the better). I work as a technology consultant and am one of those people often referred to as a “technology influencer,” as I am a person who adopts new technology early and my decisions carry a lot of weight with those around me, both in professional environments and on the more casual personal level.
In my career I’ve used Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, and I’ve had wireless devices from Nokia, Motorola, Qualcomm, Palm, and now Apple. With AT&T I currently have an iPhone 3G and an original iPhone (which my girlfriend uses), plus an Option GT Max Express 3.6 HSDPA card. I use the Option card with a Macintosh, running Mac OS X 10.5.5. I am in all ways an expert user both of the equipment and of the network. The Option card “just works” under Mac OS X — it is recognized with a system driver, and the built-in networking features support it automatically. While traveling in the UK last year I was able to pop a SIM from a local provider into the Option card and configure the same networking support so that I could connect over there, and then reconfigure it for AT&T Wireless when I got back home.
Earlier this year AT&T announced that it was providing free Wi-Fi at AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots to customers who have data cards like mine, on the $59.99 Laptop Connect plan that I have. The catch, however, is that in order to use this feature I’d have to be running Windows and the notoriously buggy Connection Manager software in order to “manage” the connection to this simple sign-on system. Why?
Yesterday I found myself in a Starbucks while waiting for a client to become available, and despite the official availability of this Wi-Fi service, I was unable to use it. I called customer service, told my tale, and was transferred to tech support. I had to repeat my story to the tech support representative, who then forwarded me to data support. Data support was unable to help me and transferred me to AppleCare — who had no idea of what I was talking about, as AT&T Wi-Fi is not their service, and the built-in Wi-Fi adapter in my Mac was functioning properly.
This is utterly ridiculous. The AT&T Wi-Fi system is a simple system requring a username and password on a web page, and there is NO REASON AT ALL for this to require shoddy “Connection Manager” software (note: in my Windows days, this is precisely the sort of software I would not install if I had any choice in the matter, as experience taught me it seldom worked and generally just fouled Windows up worse than it already was). There is nothing in this login system that couldn’t also allow for users like me (on Macs or otherwise) who have the right type of account with AT&T Wireless to type in a login and password and connect, except for a clear business choice not to allow such connections. This decision is, frankly, hostile and self-defeating — users like me will be likely to recommend other providers when asked.
As these are simple devices on relatively simple networks, AT&T would be well-advised to revise its stance on support and to offer instructions so that expert users can connect any compatible device to any network for which they have the proper account. No “Connection Manager” software should be necessary, nor should a request for something outside its scope be met with such incompetence and confusion. I have an account that qualifies me for a service; it shouldn’t be hard (or in my case impossible) to use that service.
