Apple Unveils One-Button Cellular Provider

Apple CEO Steve Jobs once referred to cellphone companies as “orifices” that phone makers must go through to reach end users. And after reviewing the details of AT&T’s iPhone activation and price plans, Jobs’s choice of descriptives seems apt–as long as you consider the orifice to be that of a sock puppet. Because Apple appears to have bent AT&T to its will and claimed near-total control of the iPhone’s activation and service experience.

Service plans for the iPhone will hew to Apple’s standards, not AT&T’s. Though not labeled as such, they’ll be offered in Apple’s standard tiers of “good”, “better” and “best” and range in price from $59.99 to $99.99. And iPhone activation will be handled through its iTunes software. Nice to see Apple applying its simple-but-elegant design ethic to the wireless industry’s horrifically complex matrix of service plans and silly activation procedures. Almost makes you want to go out and buy a new phone, just for the purchase experience.