AT&T: Working hard to ruin your iPhone experience

The iPhone- is there anything it can’t do? A whole hell of a lot, thanks to AT&T.

Swiftly following WWDC coverage, particularly surrounding the iPhone 3gS, came an outpouring of unfettered rage in the blogosphere. The iPhone seems poised to remain the most buzzed about, sought after phone on the market, even with the Palm Pre’s attempts to cut in on market share. But will AT&T ever stop holding the iPhone back?

First up in a laundry list of grievances is cost-related. AT&T noobs can buy in on a 3G at $99. 3GS phones will set new customers and upgrade eligible customers back $199-299. Already sprung for an iPhone? Expect to be rewarded for your loyalty with an additional $200 penalty to get your grubby mitts on the shiny new models. Did I mention they’re faster and have slightly improved battery life?

Next on the list comes tethering- using your iPhone as a modem. Expect to see this feature delayed indefinitely until AT&T decides just how much they can wring out of us for it before we decide driving around for an open-WiFi connection at 2:30am is worth the hassle.

Another sore spot- MMS messaging. iPhone users have been deprived the privilege- nay, right- to ping-pong drunken kegstand pics about the airwaves as iPhones don’t support the ultra-basic function of picture messaging. AT&T gave users a target date of “sometime in late summer” but no solid information on when this will be available.

In a statement, AT&T said:

Based on independent market research, twice as many smartphone users have chosen AT&T over any other U.S. carrier.

I’m no business advisor, but I think they might want to look into ways to keep that whole momentum thing going.