O/T
Good points, bgates and wodin.

Yes, EDGE vs HSDPA was likely Jobs' call (although AT&T didn't object). Still, had he made the deal with VZW, iPhone would certainly be running on EvDO.

The "thin" and battery-life arguments against 3G are bogus. There are thinner 3G devices than iPhone and the run-time issue is a non-starter. In particular, the sealed battery (as with iPods) flies in the face of Jobs' "ethical" assertions; it's simply a ploy to hasten obsolescence. (Mail-in replacements run about $87; when the battery dies, many won't bother.)

Fortunalely, no other vendor will attempt to mimick either of these insults.

On the other hand (and back on topic), Jobs and AT&T did at least one thing right. They got the product out on time.

--BAM