EDGE did not operate at the speed of a 56K modem. Edge was 296 Kilobits per second. Not fast, but it was about six time faster than the 48bits per second typically achieved with a 56K modem. 95% of AT&T's network at that time was 2G EDGE so there was no point in selling phones that were any faster and in fact most phones were operating at 2G speeds in any case on all networks. Verizon started building out 3G and when AT&T's 3G reached 15% 3G saturation, Apple released the iPhone 3G which could finally take advantage of the faster data speeds. Until then, there really was not much point. There was nowhere near the number of customers who could use 3G speeds. 90% of the phones AT&T sold could not do 3G either. . . and neither could 90% of the phones that Verizon sold. 3G phones cost more and the carriers charged more to use the 3G signals for a while. Good thing that didn't last.
There was less than a 1% build out of 3G in 2005. In fact, when your phone was released in 2005, CDMA was only live in the San Francisco Bay area. . . whoopdeedoo.
Absolutely not true! Maybe you are confused about the actual release date of the PPC-6700. It did not come out until the end of 2005. We are in the Puget Sound region. I was an early adopter but did not get mine until I believe February or March 2006. We got impressive 3G performance through out our area from Olympia to Everett and in most places along the I-5 Corridor. 3G worked fine in the Portland- Vancouver area as well. And Sprint released the PPC-6700 not Verizon and initially Sprint had the more developed 3G network.
Although as I assume you are aware Sprint and Verizon had reciprocal agreements. My brother is an airline plot and had a Verizon PCMIA card for his laptop. The performance of his PCMIA card was nearly identical to that of my phone only he had to pay dearly for it every month. But he was able to use it at nearly every major airport in the country by the end of 2006
Years later when the iPhone was released my best friend on the fire department immediately purchased an one. It's internet performance could only be describes as pathetic in comparison to the PPC-6700. And its performance was much closer to that of a 56k modem than the theoretical performance you claim. But you do make me laugh with your nonsensical claims.
As for your comment about Steve Jobs changing the iPhone’s screen at the last minute. . . that occurred in NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2006, in the weeks before the announcement.
Just like your claim that the 16GB version of the original iPhone was available when it was first released at the end of June 2007 when it actually wasn't released until February of 2008... your timeline is contradicted by the historical record and even Steve Job's biographer. Quoting from the New York Times.
“I Want a Glass Screen’
In 2007, a little over a month before the iPhone was scheduled to appear in stores, Mr. Jobs beckoned a handful of lieutenants into an office. For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket.”
“In mid-2007, after a month of experimentation, Apple’s engineers finally perfected a method for cutting strengthened glass so it could be used in the iPhone’s screen. The first truckloads of cut glass arrived at Foxconn City in the dead of night, according to the former Apple executive. That’s when managers woke thousands of workers, who crawled into their uniforms — white and black shirts for men, red for women — and quickly lined up to assemble, by hand, the phones. “
I think it is possible that you are making some of these claims without malice... that you simply don't know much of anything about non-Apple products and their development and rely on equally ignorant people for your information about non-Apple products. At least I am hoping that is the explanation. I do not know a great deal about Apple products, but I do know a lot about the non-Apple products that I have years of experience with.
For instance, the GPS built into the PPC-6700 was usable only usable for Sprint navigation services that one had to pay extra for. There was a concerted effort in the modding community to unlock this feature which was never successful. I am not sure why, if you download the following pdf you will be able to see that it was an advertised feature... one which I actually did use on occasion, before purchasing a Bluetooth GPS device.
http://www.sprint.com/dealerrewards/PPC6700SP_flier.pdf
It is difficult to keep up with someone whose fertile imagination is willing to make up whatever “facts” he needs to support his arguments. I am sorry we went down this road together because although I have always considered you a great resource here on Apple products; I now realize that everything you claim must be double checked. And when you disagree with someone you almost immediately call them a liar and make sincere sounding claims that actually are just made up. It reminds one a great deal of political debate with the Clintons or the Obama administration. Fortunately no one is probably following this discussion, because as far as I am concerned you have done a great deal of harm to your credibility. I find that very sad and especially over a subject that is obscure to most people.