Backseat: Verizon iPhone feature list secondary to release date

Verizon junkies who’ve been waiting for the Verizon iPhone dating back to 2007 are about as interested in specific features as the guy who’s gone a week without water is interested in which flavor of beverage ultimately gets handed to him. In each case, the details of the desired arrival take a significant backseat to the timing of said arrival.” Give me water, or orange juice, or vodka,” says the man dying of thirst, “whatever you’ve got the most handy.” Similarly, the Verizon customer who is still waiting for any taste of the iPhone as the calendar turns over to 2011 isn’t typically interested in whether or not it comes with 4G networking, for instance. That would be nice, but really, none of the four iPhones to market have had 4G, and said Verizon customers would have gladly scooped up any of them if they’d been offered through their carrier of choice.

So what are Verizon customers looking for when it comes to the iPhone? A release date, of course. “We don’t care about specs, we won’t be picky about whether it’s black or white,” say desperate Verizon customers. “We don’t even care if it’s just a retread of the iPhone model that’s already been on the market since mid 2010. We’ll take what you’ve got.”

Of course that all changes once the Verizon iPhone actually has a release date. Once the primary needs are attended to, the secondary needs invariably come rushing back. And once Verizon’s customer base begins converting themselves into iPhone users next year, they’ll be able to then join existing iPhone users in being totally spoiled about what they have and in demanding Apple deliver ever more with the next iPhone model. Just as surely as the guy whose thirst has been cured suddenly remembers what his favorite beverage is shortly thereafter.