Chief executive of Verizon Wireless Ivan Seidenberg mabe should consider taking some classes in public relations. It’s clear he’s no politician. In the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend Seidenberg is quoted as saying,
“Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?” he asked. “The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator, they want it to work in the basement.” Said Seidenberg.
Well Ivan, let me shed a little perspective your way. My name is Joshua Ziering, I’m 19 years old, and I have no idea where I will be in the next 10 minutes. I live a life of spontaneity. My cell phone is the on the short list of things I won’t leave the house without. I’d rank it somewhere just below deodorant. Deodorant Ivan. You’ve managed to create a product and a service that competes with not smelling. In my mind, that’s a slam dunk.
But why is it so important my cell phone link me to the outside world regardless of where I am? In 10 minutes, I could be in a basement party somewhere just South of Tempe. In an hour I could be in the middle of the desert in front of a roaring campfire. Safety reasons asides, why would I want a cellphone to work under these conditions? Girls Ivan, Girls. It’s trite, I’ll concede to that. However, your service has changed forever the way a guy like myself gets numbers. Rather than doing some sort of ‘quid pro quo’ exchange reminiscent of a horror movie; You simply get a girl to call you. This gives her your number, and when she calls you, you get her number. Then you don’t have to sit there like a dork typing in her name and here location, and her number. You just do it later. This way nobody casts shame on you for being really adept at typing on a phone.
So, Ivan, I hope that I’ve put a little bit of sense into your frustrated executive ranting. Because, you really have no real idea what was happening in that elevator before I asked that girl for her number. And that’s the whole theme here:
You never know.
Josh