411 Fail

I am sometimes utterly amazed at the inability of behemoth tech companies to get with the times. A recent conversation I had with a 411 operator:

Irina: Hi, I am looking for a hair salon in San Francisco. It is on Bush and Kearny and its name starts with an “F.” I do not remember the full name.
Operator: I’m sorry. I need at least the first four letters of the name.
Irina: Try “Fes.”
Operator: I’m sorry. I’m not finding anything.
Irina: Um, okay. Could you check on Google, because I checked half an hour ago and it found it without a problem.
Operator: I’m sorry, ma’am. I do not have access to Google. I only have access to my database.
Irina: Okay. Thanks.

For nothing.

AT&T, I hate you.

Google, I love you.

User experience is everything in a competitive market. Unfortunately, AT&T is a monopoly. They do not have any incentive to improve their notoriously bad customer experience. In addition, they have a monopoly on the iPhone. I really hope Apple strikes a deal Verizon soon. It will benefit their market share!