Maria Snyder can't imagine life without her iPhone. Snyder works as a social networking consultant and uses the phone for Facebook, Twitter and other apps - while she's also talking on the phone. She can do both on her AT&T iPhone but Verizon's network only allows either voice or data at one time.
"The average Jane or Joe probably wouldn't think of things like that but after they've been with Verizon for a while and they know it's possible - they might think maybe it wasn't a good decision," said Snyder.
Millions of new Verizon iPhone users could mean a lot more business for app developer Eric Hinman and his Syracuse company AppFury. Hinman is thinking about making the switch but he's recommending that some buyers hold off on buying the iPhone Verizon rolls out next month on their 3G network
"You can anticipate a new iPhone coming out in June. They usually offer one every year and it's usually in the beginning of the summer. So I could definitely foresee that and I almost wonder if the new phone will run on their new network - the LTE or 4G network," said Hinman.
At The Tech Shop in Syracuse, Roderick Wortham and Larry Goodman know just what makes an iPhone tick. The two have plenty of experience repairing iPods, iPads and iPhone models. Wortham says the choice between Verizon and AT&T iPhones depends on the customer.
"If you're a techie and you want the gadget that does it all it can do - go with AT&T. If you're a mainstream consumer and you want reliability, you don't care about speed, you want a service to be there whenever you need it and all these tech things don't matter to you - go with Verizon."
The Verizon iPhone goes on sale on February 10th. Analysts expect Verizon to sell between 5 and 13 million iPhones in 2011.
Link to the CNET review of the Verizon iPhone
