Obviously, much has been written regarding the iPhone and, of course I want one. However, we here in Europe are not so lucky as to have any available yet and, even if we did, I’d probably wait for revision 2 or at least one with G3 because I’m just not the type of guy to buy new gadgets every year — I want a tiny bit of “future proofing” in it.

That being said, I think it is a very good thing for all U.S. mobile phone users that the iPhone came out. Everyone will be focused on its wonderful ease-of-use (according to reports and friends) and revolutionary interface. But to me, what is most amazing about the iPhone, is that it is really going to change the mobile phone industry in the States.

Euroland inhabits a far finer continent when it comes to mobile phone services. The ability to use any of one’s phone features irrespective of your carried, to switch one’s phone from provider to provider, swap out SIMS based on travel destinations, and the downright affordable nature of the service plans all combine to make a much better (if a bit confusing to a Yank like me) mobile phone usage scenario. Sure, all of the above are possible in the U.S., too, but not without jumping through major hoops and at great expense.

The reason for this is primarily that the carriers use every opportunity to charge you for services. For example, if the phone model you wanted came with GPS, Cingular would have wanted to sell you that service, so your phone would come with that feature disabled by the manufacturer — dictated by Cingular. “If you want to sell to my customers, you’re going to play by my rules!” Apple has flipped this exactly on its head.

Apple managed to maintain control over what the phone can do, and the relationship with the customers is primarily going to be focused on Apple. The activation process — done via iTunes at home instead of dealing with an in-store customer “no service” person — is a clear indicator of the future of iPhone functionality. Voicemail is set up via the phone’s user interface instead of some annoying “push 5 to listen, push 6 to re-record” voice menu system.

Once customers get a taste of something beyond the ghetto of the carriers, they will demand better.

Consider the AT&T buing experience:

Customers at AT&T Stores that did were told that they had to buy an accessory package, comprising a car charger and some other item, typically running $50 or more, and that they could return items for a full refund either the next day or within 14 days.

This was a punk move by AT&T, and I imagine it will involve CEO-to-CEO conversations between AT&T head Randall Stephenson and Steve Jobs. These were all company-owned stores, so there’s no one to blame but upper or middle management. I expect that the firm just engaged in commonplace upsell tactics with an exclusive phone. But they lost a lot of individual good will, and the stories that spread will keep people out of AT&T Stores in the future to avoid that kind of nonsense.

Compared with Apple store:

I was in the store within 20 minutes and out of the store 2 minutes later. Anyone arriving at 7:00 PM would have waited no more than five minutes. There was clearly a large supply on display, and store employees brought out large bins of iPhones from the back.

The above quotes from TidBITS are instructive.

On the converse, I think that when the iPhone launches in Europe, it will give Europe a much-needed injection of customer service skills — or at least allow European iPhone customers to bypass the smoky, ghetto mobile phone stores and take control of their own relationship with their mobile manufacturer.

Here in Vienna, there’s no Apple store. If you want to buy, service or even browse Apple products, you have to go to one of the handful of authorized Apple centers. These are a far cry from the experience of a real Apple store. In Vienna, the Apple dealers are somewhat shady, they are rude, they have attitude, remain unhelpful even after they have your money, and generally are in need of a huge kick in the ass. The prices are often absent from the displayed products, and whispered to you almost in a “let’s see how much he’d pay” sort of way.

Not so at Apple stores — at least the ones I’ve been to in North America. The whole vibe of an Apple store is to allow you to play with the products, get questions answered, and to have no pressure on decisions. Very few people are there to buy, and the staff knows that and respects it.

Apple retail will eventually open in Vienna (unless it is somehow against the law and they are forced to charge more because it would be unfair to the current Apple dealers who have worked so hard to maintain their shitty stores and paid all that rent-controlled rent — it could happen!). When it does, I predict doom for these current Apple resellers.