AT&T threatens Apple’s long-time control over products

One of the long-time advantages Apple has held over rival computer manufacturers is the perfect union of hardware and software.

Apple prides itself in being able to control the full user experience by designing its own products and creating operating systems that seamlessly integrate with them.

Computers purchased from Dell, for example, run an OS designed by an entirely different corporation, Microsoft. That means the hardware and software often don’t communicate together as they should, resulting in a junky user experience.

But in a world of fast-moving telecommunications, Apple’s new star device isn’t a desktop, laptop or iPod. It’s the iPhone.

When Steve Jobs conceives of a product, he keeps users, not customers, in mind from start to finish. Apple’s unity provides a perfect playground for Jobs to meticulously meddle in every decision, resulting in an easy-to-use experience for consumers.

The iPhone throws a ratchet in the utopia Jobs has created for himself and his successors. You see, Apple doesn’t own a cellular network, hence, the exclusive deal with AT&T.

When a second company enters the picture, Apple can negotiate all they want, but Jobs has little to no power when it comes to influencing the infrastructure of the company.

At Apple, Jobs’ business ethic of perfection has successfully been ingrained and instilled in the Cupertino company’s employees. No such luck at AT&T.

WWDC provided just enough evidence of Apple’s disappointment with the U.S. wireless carrier.

AT&T’s lack of preparation and cooperation for providing tethering support and MMS capability for the iPhone in the United States, at least for several weeks, shows an inability to meet deadline, and produce the results Apple was demanding of its carriers.

Thankfully, Apple’s partnership with AT&T provides the computer company with a scapegoat in this scenario. On the other hand, if AT&T had been well prepared, and Apple hadn’t delivered, quibbles on Twitter and in headlines would be directed in the opposite direction.

But negative press is negative press. And that’s the risk Apple, and any business for that matter, takes when it comes to a partnership.

When two companies collaborate to innovate, no one can control the full user-experience. In this case, AT&T is Apple’s weakest link, crippling a company that once prided itself in having it all together.