300-page iPhone bill

A 300-page iPhone bill from AT&T Mobility mailed in a box [cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090500370.html | title = Sexy Portable Storage : The 300-Page iPhone Bill | quote = Justine Ezarik, a graphic designer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, posted a 1-minute video on her blog that shows her opening up a 300-page iPhone bill from AT&T--which was mailed in a box. | accessdate = 2007-10-02 | date = 2007-09-05 | author = Martin, James A. | work = Washington Post ] was the subject of a viral video by Justine Ezarik which quickly became an Internet meme in August 2007.cite web
url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136068/article.html
title= A 300-page iPhone Bill? : iPhone owners rail at AT&T for paper waste with overly detailed bills.
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Keizer, Gregg
date=2007-08-16
work=Computerworld
publisher= PC World Communications
quote=One blogger, in fact, is in the middle of her 15 minutes of fame after posting a video that shows her unwrapping a 300-page AT&T bill.] cite web
url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2007-08-14-iphone-bill_N.htm?imw=Y
title=How many trees did your iPhone bill kill?
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Graham, Jefferson
authorlink=
date=2007-08-15
work=USA Today
publisher=Gannett
pages=
language=
archiveurl=
archivedate=
quote=Justine Ezarik, a Pittsburgh graphic designer and active Internet blogger, got her first bill on Saturday. She says it was so huge — 300 pages — it was delivered in a box.] cite web |url=http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/14552595/detail.html |title=Pittsburgh Ranked Third 'Bloggiest' City |date=2007-11-09 |accessdate=2007-11-18 |work=WTAE-TV News|quote = Pittsburgh native Justine Ezarik's video blog about her 300-page iPhone bill became an Internet [h] it.] Stories of unexpected billing issues began to circulate in blogs and the technical press after the Apple iPhone's heavily advertised and anticipated release,cite web
url=http://www.coxwashington.com/hp/content/reporters/stories/2007/08/16/BC_IBILL16_COX.html
title=A 300-page iPhone bill? Too much information, users say
accessdate=2007-10-02
author=Ho, David
date=2007-08-16
work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution
publisher=Cox Newspapers
pages=p. C1
quote=Internet message boards and blogs are buzzing with talk of paper iPhone bills dozens and even hundreds of pages long.] but this video clip brought the voluminous bills to the attention of the mass media.Ten days later, after the video had been viewed more than 3 million times on the Internet,cite web
url=http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article2313662.ece
title=Dear iPhone owner: your 300-page bill
accessdate=2007-08-23
author= Richards, Jonathan
date=2007-08-23
format=
work=The Times
publisher=Times Newspapers Ltd.
quote=Mike Brophy, on his blog, General Theory of RIAtivity, showed a picture of a Maltese terrier sitting on his 127-page iPhone bill.] cite web
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/business/23bill.html?em&ex=1188014400&en=de1fe8dde56cab98&ei=5087%0A
title=AT&T’s Overstuffed iPhone Bills Annoy Customers
accessdate=2007-08-23
author=Hafner, Katie
date=2007-08-23
work=The New York Times
quote=Ms. Ezarik, 23, made a one-minute video that shows her flipping through the voluminous bill and posted it to YouTube and other video-sharing sites on Aug. 13. The video has since been viewed more than three million times,] and had received international news coverage, AT&T sent iPhone users a text message outlining changes in its billing practices.Two months later, the information technology magazine "Computerworld" included this event in its list of "Technology's 10 Most Mortifying Moments."cite web |url=http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9041858&pageNumber=2 |title=Technology's 10 Most Mortifying Moments : iPhone Bills Kill Trees|accessdate=2007-11-30 |date = 2007-10-17|author = Haskin, David |work=Computerworld|quote=The company's extraordinarily detailed billing process resulted in some users receiving bills this August that ran dozens or even hundreds of pages long, as captured in blogger Justine Ezarik's video of her unwrapping a 300-page phone bill. (It came in a box.)] cite web |url=http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/news/telecom-billing-practices-0815/ |title=Billing confusion a pain for wireless customers and customer service |format= |work= Telephony Online|first = Sarah |last = Reedy |publisher = Penton Media|date=2008-08-15|accessdate=2008-08-17|quote=When the first version of the iPhone came out, in what Computerworld magazine called one of “technology’s 10 most mortifying moments,” consumers with 300-page bills voiced their disdain in what became a viral video on the Internet.]

Background

The iPhone, Apple's initial entry into the mobile phone market, is a multi-function device.cite journal | author = Robinson, S. | year = 2007 | title = Apple iPhone: Catalyst for Capacitive Touchscreen-Only Phones to Balloon to 115 Million Units within Two Years | journal = Strategy Analytics] The appeal of its feature set to technophiles,cite journal | author = MacEdonia, M. | year = 2007 | title = iPhones Target the Tech Elite | journal = Computer | volume = 40 | issue = 6 | pages = 94–95 | issn = 0018-9162 | doi = 10.1109/MC.2007.212] [cite web | url = http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,133639/article.html | title = The iPhone: Lots to Love, but Flaws Too | accessdate = 2007-09-17 | date=2007-06-30 | author = PC World Editors| work = PC World|quote=Our conclusion: If you want to love this much-hyped gadget, you'll find plenty to go ga-ga over.] and the iPod's wide popularity, generated significant interest even before the iPhone was officially announced on January 9, 2007.cite web | url = http://www.news.com/Finally,+Apple+answers+call+for+iPhone/2100-1041_3-6148392.html | title = Finally, Apple answers call for iPhone | date = 2007-01-09 | accessdate = 2007-09-17 | author = Krazit, Tom |coauthors = Jennifer Guevin and Michelle Meyers | work = CNET News |quote=In one of the most anticipated gadget announcements in recent years, Apple Computer at Macworld on Tuesday introduced the "iPhone," a mobile device that CEO Steve Jobs promised will reinvent the phone.] Before the iPhone's debut in the United States market on June 29, over 11,000 related print articles had already been published.cite web | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html?ex=1190001600&en=42e2ea76b04c524e&ei=5070 | title = The iPhone Matches Most of Its Hype | accessdate = 2007-09-22 | date = 2007-06-27 | author = Pogue, David | work = The New York Times | quote= In the last six months, Apple’s iPhone has been the subject of 11,000 print articles, and it turns up about 69 million hits on Google. ]

Apple released the iPhone with a software "lock" so it could only be used on the AT&T Mobility network. After purchase, buyers activated their iPhone's AT&T service contract using the Apple iTunes web page, during which buyers had the ability to choose their billing preference; however, if no option was specified during activation, AT&T defaulted to detailed billing.cite web | url = http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/082307-the-300-page-iphone-bill-to.html?nwwpkg=iphone | title = The 300-page iPhone bill to disappear | accessdate = 2007-09-22 | date =2007-08-23 | author = Perenson, Melissa J.| work = PC World | publisher=Network World|quote='What we've had until yesterday was the detailed bill as the default option,' explains AT&T Wireless spokesman Mark Siegel.] Detailed billing itemized every data transfer, including background traffic for e-mail, text messaging, and Web browsing, even when the phone is off.cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/traveltips/12/19/cell.phones/ |title=Tips for using cell phones overseas |accessdate=2007-12-28 | date=2007-12-19 |first = Andrea | last = Bennett|work=Travel and Leisure | publisher = CNN|quote=...novel-length bills in the mail (customer Justine Ezarik posted a YouTube video of herself opening a 300-page bill that AT&T sent to her in a box). What's the problem? It turns out that the iPhone automatically checks e-mail and performs other Internet data updates, even when the phone function is off.] This generated a large number of entries on the detailed bills.

After a month's time, [cite web |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1118034&CatID=19 |title=Opinion : Phone service |accessdate=2007-09-04 |date=2007-08-27 |work= Daily News & Analysis, India |publisher= Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. |quote=The new iPhone has been staggering users, first with its gizmo-good-looks, then with its functionality and now, about a month after it was launched, with its bills.] as early adopters started receiving their first monthly bills, stories of unusually large and expensive iPhone bills began to circulate. The 300-page bill was exceptional, but other heavy users received 50- to 100-page bills.cite web |url=http://www.switched.com/2007/08/14/girl-gets-300-page-iphone-bill-delivered-in-a-box/ |title=Girl Videotapes 300-Page iPhone Bill — Switched: Gadgets, Tech, Digital Stuff for the Rest of Us |accessdate=2007-12-28 | date = 2007-08-14 | first=Terrence | last=O'Brien|work=Switched | publisher = AOL | quote = A 300-page bill is certainly uncommon, but 50-100 pages is fairly normal for heavy texters and mobile web users. ] One of the first to attract wider attention was from Ben Kuchera, gaming editor for the technology-related website "Ars Technica", who, in an August 11 blog posting, described his 34-sheet, doubled-sided bill and another 104 page bill sent to a colleague,cite web | url = http://www.freepress.net/news/25532 | title = Singing the iPhone Billing Blues | accessdate = 2007-09-20 |date=2007-08-17| work = TelecomWeb News |publisher=Free Press|quote=The first flock of iPhone fanatics have gotten their first bills this week — some of them 300 pages long and delivered in a box, others for $3,000 or more.] writing, “while many of us have had smart-phones for some time, we’ve never seen a bill like this.”cite web |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article2317395.ece |title=The iPhone bill that’s as thick as a novel |accessdate=2007-12-28| date = 2004-08-27 |first = Chris last = Ayres |work=The Times (London)| publisher = News International|quote = 'While many of us have had smart-phones for some time, we’ve never seen a bill like this,' wrote Ben Kuchera on the Ars Technica website yesterday. ] However, it was the release of Ezarik's video that acted as a catalyst to bring widespread media attention to this aspect of the iPhone story.

Video

Ezarik, a then 23-year-oldcite web
url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/tribpm/s_522522.html
title=The blog is on
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Lyons, Kim
date=2007-08-16
work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
publisher=Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
quote=Ezarik, 23, of Carnegie, made national news yesterday with a video of her flipping through her 300-page bill from AT&T -- mailed in a box -- for her new iPhone.]
Pittsburgh-area graphic designer, sketch comedian, and blogger, received her 300-page bill on Saturday August 11, 2007, [cite web
url=http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1344359.php/Thirty_thousand_text_messages_equal_a_forest_killing_300-page_phone_bill
title=Thirty thousand text messages equal a forest killing 300-page phone bill
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Ragan, Steve
date=2007-08-17
work=Monsters and Critics
publisher=WotR Ltd.
quote=The box arrived last Saturday and inside it contained her first bill after she purchased Apple’s iPhone.] and decided to use it as a prop for a self-produced video shot in a coffee shop. She posted the edited one-minute clip to several popular Internet video hosting services by the following Monday.In the first week, the video received over 500,000 total views on YouTube, 350,000 views on Revver, 500,000 views on Break.com and 1,100,000 views on Yahoo Video, as self-reported by the four popular internet video sites as of August 22. Total views were reported to exceed 8 million by the end of 2007, but Ezarik claimed she only earned US$2000 from the video, because only the views on Revver generate compensation for the creator. [cite web |url=http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/12/online_fame_easy_ads_harder_to.php |title=Online Fame Easy; Ads Harder to Get | date = 2007-12-08 | author = Whitney, Daisy| accessdate=2007-12-15 |work=TVWeek |quote=…8 million views across YouTube, MySpace, Yahoo and Revver. …only 300,000 views came via Revver, where she gets paid for her work. She pocketed a mere $2,000 from her biggest Web hit, she said.]

Portions of the video were also televised along with one-on-one interviews with Ezarik by several national and local news programs in the United States, including CNN, [cite web | url = http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/16/gb.01.html | title = CNN.com — Transcripts | accessdate = 2007-09-18 |date=2007-08-16| author = Glenn Beck| work = CNN]
Fox News Channel, [cite web | url = http://www.foxnews.com/video2/launchPage.html?081707/081707_studiob_iphone&iSurprise&Studio_B&Blogger%20shocked%20after%20receiving%20300-page%20iPhone%20bill&Technology&-1&iSurprise&Video%20Launch%20Page&News | title = Video: iSurprise : Blogger shocked after receiving 300-page iPhone bill| accessdate = 2007-09-13 | date = 2007-08-17 | work =Studio B| publisher= Fox News Channel | author = Shepard Smith]
WTAE-TV,and WPXI-TV. [cite web |url=http://www.wpxi.com/news/13899466/detail.html |title=Local iPhone Customer Gets 300-Page Phone Bill |accessdate=2007-09-04 |date=2007-08-15 |work=WPXI Pittsburgh |quote=Channel 11’s Andy Gastmeyer met with Ezarik...to discuss the bill.]
ABC News Now also included independent reporting by an ABC News Radio reporter in their video interview. [cite web | url = http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3492501 | title = Getting the iPhone Bill | accessdate = 2007-09-22 | work = ABC News Now: Money Matters | publisher=ABC News|quote=First billing cycle arrives looking more like a novel then a bill.] In print media, the video's story was featured nationally in "USA Today" with independent reporting from major daily papers in New York, Los Angeles, several other large cities in the U.S., and in the United Kingdom, even though the iPhone was not available outside the U.S. market at the time.

Ezarik's internet video commentary focused on the unnecessary waste of paper billing. In the video she highlights the physical size of the bill, not the amount due. "I have an iPhone and I had to switch to AT&T. So, that's wonderful. Well, I got my first AT&T bill, right here in a box," she says at the start of the video.cite web
url=http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/13898996/detail.html
title=Pittsburgh Blogger's 300-Page iPhone Bill Mailed In Box
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Stockey, Andrew
date=2007-08-15
format=
work=WTAE-TV News, Pittsburgh
publisher=The Pittsburgh Channel
quote="I have an iPhone and I had to switch to AT&T. So, that's wonderful. Well, I got my first AT&T bill, right here in a box," she says in the video.] The rest of the video, set to the distinctive music used in American iPhone television commercials, shows her opening the box and flipping through the pages in fast motion. The clip ends with the on-screen caption "Use e-billing. Save a forest."

Her other comments also followed along the same lines. In a blog posting, she wrote, "apparently, they give you a detailed transaction of every text message sent and received. Completely unnecessary."She told the "USA Today" reporter, "This is so silly, there's no reason they need to send you this much information." Ezarik is a heavy user who typically sends and receives tens of thousands of text messages a month, which generated an exceptionally long bill – 300 double-sided pages that had to be sent in a box with postage charges of US$7.cite web
url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3478095&page=1
title=Bulky iPhone Bills Can Top 300 Pages
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Phillips, Ashley
date=2007-08-14
work=
publisher=ABC News
quote=For a heavy user like Ezarik -- she typically sends 30,000 text messages a month -- an itemized bill was incredibly long and heavy. The postage on her bill was $7.] In media interviews, Ezarik was asked the amount due, and answered that her first bill was for US$275.

She had no complaints about the iPhone itself, saying, "I made the video only to point out the comical aspect of my phone bill being delivered in a box. As for the iPhone? I love it."cite news |title=300-page iPhone Bill |accessdate=2007-09-04 |author= Littlejohn, Georgina |date= 2007-08-25 |work= Hispanic Business News|publisher=ProQuest Information and Learning Company |quote=One million iPhone customers across the US have filed complaints with manufacturer Apple about the size of their phone bills.]

Reaction

Company

AT&T Mobility, the mobile phone service provider for the iPhone, said through spokesman Mark Siegel that the size of this bill was exceptional. "We're not sending lots of boxed bills to customers," he told the "USA Today" reporter. The billing is the same for all AT&T mobile users, but the popularity and functionality of the iPhone has given it new visibility. "It's no different than with any other bill for any other device or any other service that we offer", Siegel said.

Later, on August 18, AT&T issued a statement saying: "Our customers have the option of receiving a bill that is detail-free. Also, we have for years encouraged our customers to switch to online billing because it is convenient, secure and environmentally friendly." [cite web
url=http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa070817_lj_brady.43920fb0.html
title=Woman mocks 300-page bill-in-a-box
accessdate=2007-08-22
author=Brady, Jeff
date=2007-08-18
work=WFAA-TV news (Dallas/Fort Worth)
publisher=
pages=
language=
archiveurl=
archivedate=
quote= AT&T issued a statement today saying: 'Our customers have the option of receiving a bill that is detail-free. Also, we have for years encouraged our customers to switch to online billing because it is convenient, secure and environmentally friendly.' ] Then, on August 22, AT&T sent the following text message to iPhone users: "AT&T free msg: We are simplifying your paper bill, removing itemized detail. To view all detail go to att.com/mywireless. Still need full paper bill? call 611." [cite web
url=http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/08/22/att-says-no-more-300-page-iphone-bills
title=AT&T says "No more 300-page iPhone bills"
accessdate=2007-08-22
author=Cheng, Jacqui
date=2007-08-22
work=Ars Technica
quote=Surely due to the recent flurry over massively large iPhone bills, AT&T has begun sending text messages to its iPhone users assuring them that 50, or 75, or 300+ page iPhone bills will no longer be sent to their houses (unless they want them).] Ezarik was quoted as saying, "Looks like they may have got the message," in response to AT&T's action. Company spokeswoman Lauren Garner, however, said public reaction was not the reason for the company's switch from detailed to summary billing, saying, "this was something we planned all along." [cite web
url=http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/339802.html
title=Long iPhone bills go away
accessdate=2007-08-23
author= Swett, Clint
date=2007-08-23
work=The Sacramento Bee
quote=But company spokeswoman Lauren Garner said the outcry had no bearing on AT&T's decision to send billing summaries rather than the full bills.]

Industry

AT&T may not have anticipated the downstream effects of iPhone customers' high data usage.cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-iphone23aug23,1,3929825.story?ctrack=1&cset=true |title=AT & T to keep iPhone bills brief |accessdate=2007-09-04 |author=Quinn, Michelle |date= 2007-08-23|work=The Los Angeles Times |archivedate= |quote=But the company hadn't anticipated how much iPhone users would do with their new gadget, which combines a cellphone, Web-surfing device and iPod.] [cite web |url=http://www.idm.net.au/story.asp?id=8760 |title=No More 300 Page Bills for iPhone Customers |accessdate=2007-09-04 |author=McNevin, Greg |date= 2007-08-29|work=Image and Data Manager, Australia|publisher= Knapp Communications|quote=...the incident illustrates how the rollout of new technology can collide with old automated billing services if appropriate steps aren’t taken.] Adam Zawel, a spokesman at Boston-based InMobile.org, an online community for wireless executives, speculated that more than "business as usual" was involved with the large bills: "I suspect a messy combination of CRM strategy and billing system limitations," referring to customer relationship management, a comprehensive term covering the way an organization interacts with customers. He said the detailed billing is probably intended to prevent expensive calls to customer-care centers. [cite web
url=http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=7144
title=iPhone: The 800-Pound Gorilla Spawns a 300-Page Bill
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Thilmany, Jean
date=2007-08-17
work=Destination CRM
publisher=CRM Media
quote="Fear of customer-care calls is a huge driver of everything because they give someone like AT&T two whammies," Zawek says.] Instead, AT&T call centers were flooded with complaints about the size of the bills.cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=477451&in_page_id=1811 |title=300-page iPhone bill that's as thick as a novel |accessdate=2007-09-04 |date=2007-08-28 |work= The Daily Mail|publisher= Associated Newspapers Ltd. |quote=One million iPhone customers across the US have filed complaints with manufacturer Apple about the size of their phone bills.… AT&T Wireless, Apple's phone company partner, have been inundated with complaints from customers about the lengthy bills.]

Rob Enderle, a Silicon Valley tech analyst, told ABC News the voluminous bills are just another problem with the iPhone service, citing connection problems, customer support, coverage and "now bills that look like books." He said the large bills not only make no financial sense, they annoy customers as well. Internet reporter Dana Blankenhorn went further, stating that the size of the bill illustrated a problem with the telephone companies' "event based" or connection-oriented business model, and used it to argue for open spectrum in a radio frequency spectrum auction in the U.S. scheduled for 2008. He contrasted how in telephone billing every action is a separately billable event, while the Internet model is based on a flat fee for best effort delivery in connectionless mode transmission. [cite web
url=http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1332
title=The iPhone bill demonstrates need for open spectrum
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Blankenhorn, Dana
authorlink=
coauthors=
date=
format=
work=ZDNet
publisher=CNET Networks
pages=
language=
archiveurl=
archivedate=
quote=It’s the 300 page iPhone bill, in a box that cost $10 to ship, and nothing could better illustrate the need for open spectrum as we head into an election year.]

Environmental

Enderle also echoed Ezarik environmental activism, saying, "AT&T should get a new tagline — use AT&T, kill a tree."The "USA Today" story was also titled "How many trees did your iPhone bill kill?" According to blogger Muhammad Saleem, Apple’s aim to have 10 million iPhone users by the end of 2008 would require the logging of about 74,535 trees annually, assuming an average 100 page monthly bill. cite web | url = http://www.cio-today.com/news/AT-T-Decides-To-Kill-the-iPhone-Bill/story.xhtml?story_id=1200091KVVLC | title = AT&T Decides To Kill the iPhone Bill | accessdate = 2007-09-14 | date=2007-08-24 | author = Levine, Barry | work = CIO Today | quote = One blogger estimated that a 100-page bill, delivered monthly, would mean curtains for nearly 75,000 trees annually.] [cite web
url=http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Massive_ATT_iPhone_Bills_Considered_Useless_07820.html
title=Massive AT&T iPhone Bills Considered Useless
accessdate=2007-08-19
author= Brenn, Max
work= eFluxMedia
quote=For these huge amounts of paper to be printed many trees have to be sacrificed and, according to blogger Muhammad Saleem, Apple’s aim to have 10 million iPhone users by the end of 2008 would require the logging of about 74,535 trees annually.] [cite web
url=http://db.tidbits.com/article/9116
title=iPhone Billing and International Issues
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Brown, Jorg
date=2007-08-17
work=TidBITS
quote=This is an idiotic waste of paper (blogger Muhammad Saleem estimated it at nearly 75,000 trees per year)...] An editorial in "The Blade", an independent newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, called the detailed billing "absurd and environmentally wasteful" [cite web | url = http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070823/OPINION02/708230304 | title = A bill in a box is a waste | date=2007-08-23 | accessdate = 2007-09-14 | work = Toledo Blade | quote=IN THE cyberspace age, it is absurd and environmentally wasteful for telephone companies to give customers such detailed billing statements that they arrive in thickly packed envelopes or boxes.]

Apple Inc., the developer and retailer for the iPhone, has positioned itself as an environmentally responsible company since 1990, [cite web
url=http://www.apple.com/environment/
title=Apple — Environment
accessdate=2007-08-19
publisher= Apple, Inc.
quote=Apple recognizes its responsibility as a global citizen and is continually striving to reduce the environmental impact of the work we do and the products we create.] and former U.S. Vice President, now environmental activist, Al Gore sits on its board of directors.cite web | url = http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/23/technology/iphone_bill/index.htm | title = AT&T drops iPhone bills that ran hundreds of pages |date = 2007-08-23 | accessdate = 2007-09-22 | work = CNNMoney.com | quote = Brophy's blog post asked "Has anyone on the Apple Environmental Team seen an AT&T bill?" Former Vice President Al Gore, an environmental activist, sits on the Apple board.] The company has adopted the green computing model in its new products, in particular their new iMac, so Apple customers may have been surprised by AT&T's legacy business practices. [cite web
url=http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/17065
title=First iPhone Bills Arriving—and They're Pretty Heavy : Gina Hughes : Yahoo! Tech
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Hughes, Gina
date=2007-08-13
work=Yahoo! Tech
publisher=Yahoo!
quote=Apple has modified its products as it attempts to build greener computers, but I think they forgot to tell AT&T about their latest environmental efforts.] One million iPhone customers had reportedly complained to Apple about the size of the iPhone bills, although it should be noted that Apple had not yet shipped one million iPhones at the time. [cite press release
title =Apple Sets iPhone Price at $399 for this Holiday Season
publisher =Apple Inc.
date =2007-09-05
url =http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/09/05iphone.html
accessdate =2007-09-05 ] Customers who read the entire bill found the following statement at the very end: "The New AT&T is going green."cite web
url=http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2007/08/14/little-phone-big-bill?addComment=true
title=Daily Brief: Little Phone, Big Bill
accessdate=2007-08-19
author= Barnett, Megan
date=2007-08-14
work=Portfolio.com
publisher=Conde Nast
quote=At the end of the bill, if anyone actually reads that far, the phone company has an announcement to make. "The New AT&T is going green."]

ecurity

One security conscious commenter on the "Engadget" consumer electronics blog addressed the privacy implications of the oversize bills given the limitations of personal paper shredders, by speculating on whether it would be more practical to dispose of these large bills by burning them to protect personal information. [cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/24/wiphone124.xml |title=iPhone bill is as thick as a novel |accessdate=2007-09-07 |author= Smit, Martina |date=2007-08-24 |work=Daily Telegraph |quote=Another user remarks on the site engadget.com: 'I shred my bills when I am done with them. I am guessing a bonfire is more economical then buying an industrial sized shredder to deal with that pile of paper...'] An editor for the Libertarian monthly "Reason" also speculated about the usefulness of the detailed information to government investigators. [cite web | url = http://www.reason.com/blog/show/121978.html | title = Hit & Run > The Feeding of the 300 | accessdate = 2007-09-20 |date=2007-08-16 | author = Weigel, David | work = Reason Magazine| quote=I suppose if you're a federal investigator you're hoping some criminals bought into the iFad, because you can find anything about users' usage that you want.] The original Ars Technica blog posting, on the other hand, dismissed privacy concerns, showing that the detail pages do not contain sensitive information. [cite web | url = http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070811-iphone-bill-is-surprisingly-xbox-huge-lol.html | title = iPhone bill is surprisingly Xbox HUGE (lol) | accessdate = 2007-09-20 | 2007-08-11 | author = Kuchera, Ben| work = Ars Technica|quote=Okay, so maybe we should be happy that the pages upon pages of info in this bill aren't going to send privacy advocates into seizures...]

Other outsized iPhone bills

Press accounts of this story also included related details and comments:
*The founder of a Tampa, Florida think tank received a 42-page bill, and told a reporter, "it's ridiculous." [cite web
url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/16/Business/iPhone_bills_land_wit.shtml
title=Business: iPhone bills land with a thump
accessdate=2007-08-19
author=Bora, Madhusmita
date=2007-08-16
work=St. Petersburg Times
quote=AT&T took 42 pages to slap him with the $95 bill.]
*An Oak Harbor, Ohio, teacher called his 52-page bill, "the biggest phone bill I've ever gotten in my life."
*A partner of a Macintosh consulting firm, called his bill "60 pages of nothingness"
*A business consultant from Virginia received a 62-page bill, and asked a reporter, "Why would you send bills that large?" [cite web
url=http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/business.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-08-16-0106.html
title=AT&T users, may find a big bill in the mail
accessdate=2007-08-19
date=2007-08-16
author=Kelley, Jeffrey
work=Richmond Times-Dispatch
quote=Henrico County resident Steve Kimball, for instance, received a 62-page bill this week.]
*A software company owner near Seattle, Washington posted on his blog a picture of a Maltese terrier sitting on his 127-page bill spread out on the floor.cite web
url=http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article2313662.ece
title=Dear iPhone owner: your 300-page bill
accessdate=2007-08-23
author= Richards, Jonathan
date=2007-08-23
format=
work=The Times
publisher=Times Newspapers Ltd.
quote=Mike Brophy, on his blog, General Theory of RIAtivity, showed a picture of a Maltese terrier sitting on his 127-page iPhone bill.] and asked, "Has anyone on the Apple Environmental Team seen an AT&T bill?"
*"The Packet Rat" columnist wrote in "Government Computer News" that his wife received a 150-page boxed iPhone bill, and commented "OK, how many trees did they have to kill to send out the first month’s bills?". [cite web |url=http://www.gcn.com/print/26_22/44949-1.html |title=The Packet Rat : Commentary: The other shoe — measured by the ton — drops with the iPhone bill |accessdate=2007-09-04 |author=Fink, R. |date= 2007-08-27|work= Government Computer News|publisher= 105 Media, Inc.|archivedate= |quote='OK, how many trees did they have to kill to send out the first month’s bills?' the Rat half-growled, half-cackled as he contemplated the wood-pulp brick packed with 150 pages of hard copy.]

References

ee also

* History of the iPhone

External links

Video links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdULhkh6yeA "IPHONE BILL"] , Justine Ezarik's video, on YouTube
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h-jFzQFMLw Raw Interview Of Blogger Who Got 300-Page iPhone Bill] from WTAE-TV News, Pittsburgh
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YaR6vB5l6E Pittsburgh Blogger's 300-Page iPhone Bill Mailed In Box] news story from WTAE-TV News
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7rjcnKZijM iBill Madness - Story about Justine (CBS 2 News)] news coverage from WBBM-TV Chicago

Blogs

* [http://tastyblogsnack.com/2007/08/13/iphone-bill/ Justine Ezarik's blog] entry, with the original August 13, 2007 iPhone bill video posting.