Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

…the need, for speed!” – Maverick and Goose, “Top Gun”

“No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” – H.L. Mencken

Having WAITED for an iPhone that 1) runs on Verizon (I used to provide support to a major predecessor of AT&T when I worked in high tech! 😉 ) and 2) will run on Verizon’s LTE network (why enter into a 2-year contract on hardware that will be obsolete in a month or so?), I found it quite amusing, indeed, to learn this evening that almost 47% of U.S. consumers surveyed by market analysis firm Piper Jaffray don’t feel that they need access to a 4G LTE netork, while another 26 percent said that they thought all 4G LTE networks were largely the same. (Don’t get me wrong about Verizon – I believe that ALL telecommunications companies are evil and, when you pick one, it is like the cowboy who wanders into a western bar, and the bartender demands, “Name your poison!” ) The purpose of the market survey was to find out whether Sprint’s smaller 4G LTE network coverage would negatively impact its ability to sell iPhones!

“The answer was a somewhat surprising ‘no,’ Piper Jaffray Senior Analyst Christopher Larsen wrote in a research note. “We think this shows that despite all the 4G advertising, consumers aren’t really focused on it. This is good for Sprint as the LTE coverage laggard of the three national iPhone carriers.”

Some 51% of the respondents indicated either that they did not know who has the best 4G network or that they believe all 4G networks are the same. 😉 Of those respondents who had an opinion, Verizon Wireless was thought by most to have the best 4G network, then AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Some 55 percent of respondents appear to be thinking about an iPhone purchase. Of these, 44 percent said that they would choose Verizon, 29 percent said AT&T, 14 percent said Sprint, and 13 percent said T-Mobile (which is not expected to have the new iPhone).

“Based on the survey results, we believe that Verizon will continue to win share, but we don’t think the lack of a substantial 4G LTE network will materially hurt Sprint when the iPhone 5 is launched,” Larsen wrote.

Earlier this month, Verizon LTE entered 34 new markets and is expanding 4G LTE coverage in 38 more markets, for a total of 371 markets. The expansion means that Verizon LTE will cover 75% of the U.S.

All of this got me thinking about the WISDOM of Apple not doing market surveys. I wonder how many people, never having seen or IMAGINED one, would feel that they NEED an iPad. When iPad first hit the market, even many tech pundits could not figure them out! No matter… the CUSTOMERS did!

It is a darn good thing that Alexander Graham Bell did not run a market survey before he wasted a lot of time inventing the telephone!

Most Americans (perhaps most PEOPLE anywhere!) suffer from an appalling lack of imagination!

It is fortunate that this lack does not impair the upward mobility of such people in most large corporations. 😉

-Bill at

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