I went with T-Mobile and an iPhone 6 Plus.
See my Back Story post if you are interested in the details of the transition.
My First Text, err iMessage
Within the first few minutes of owning the phone my wife texted me to say welcome to the App Side of the world. And, she also softly prodded me to remember my challenges with my Windows Phones over the years. For those that have been following along with the journey you know EXACTLY what she means.
It started off AWESOME!
Within the first few hours I also had:
My first voice mail – Thanks to my longtime windsurfing friend Joe Simmons for that call. Sorry, I couldn’t pick up. I was finalizing the payment on the new phone. Yes, I did call him back. He made the switch to Apple many years ago.
- My first phone call – from my fellow Microsoft Alum, Molly Von Mitschke Collande of the Microsoft Alumni Network. Surprise … we talked about partnering at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, aka The WPC.
- My first FaceTime – from SharePoint User Group leader and long time Microsoft friend, Owen Allen. He FaceTime’d me (If that’s the right verb) to see how the transition was going and to offer his time to go thru his apps to see how he’s using his iPhone.
I asked for and received a lot of feedback. I want to thank everyone for their insights. I also played with and tested a few different options – form factors, manufacturers, and carriers.
Ultimately … I went with T-Mobile and an iPhone 6 Plus.
The Why is Simple
Everyone in my family already had iPhones. Some might say … “So what? … that’s no reason to go with Apple” (and several said just that). However, it was easy to make the move so that we call can iMessage now, we call can FaceTime, and because T-Mobile has an unlimited plan we all can share and consume to our hearts content.
Bonus Points:
T-Mobile treats Canada and Mexico as equals and does NOT charge their customers for using their services across North America.
My trip to the #WPC16 in Toronto this July will be MUCH easier now.
Side Notes and a Caveat:
Business is easy … when you make it easy to do business with you.
- AT&T had the first right of refusal for my business. They chose NOT to make it easy to switch devices. As a result they lost me and my whole family as a customer. I doubt they’ll notice or care, but it’s an interesting data point in customer retention.
- Thanks to my longtime Microsoft friend and colleague Donna Conner for introducing me to Dave, Jon and Jessica at the T-Mobile store in Issaquah. They were professional and easy to work with in making the switch.
- Apple still knows how to create “delightful” product packaging. Just taking the iPhone out of the box is a smile inducing experience.
Back Story
Starting in 1999 when I joined Microsoft I had a T-Mobile Dash. It was a great device. Times have changed. The model has changed. Read the rest here …
A Few Firsts
I’ve had a few more firsts since opening up the box yesterday. Some are pretty obvious. Some caught me by surprise. Watch this space. I’ll share more as I learn more.
Thanks again to everyone for their advice and guidance before buying. I heard you and I heeded your suggestions. Especially those that advocated Android. I may still try Android in the not too distant future, but for now I’m happy by starting my journey to the App Side of Life with an iPhone 6 Plus.
Image Credit: My lovely bride (on her new iPhone 6)
Tweet him @jshuey or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+ He is active in the Microsoft Partner Community and is the co-founder and President of the IAMCP Seattle chapter.
He is a contributing author to Entrepreneur, Elite Daily, Yahoo, US News and to the Personal Branding Blog
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