I am a dog person. I like dogs because they actually tend to fare better when given commands and they’re slightly much less manipulative than felines.

In my life right now I have a very odd relationship with my two PDAs. On the one hand, I have my dog. We’ll call him BlackBerry. On the other is my cat. Let’s call her iPhone. Sound ridiculous? Hardly.

Characteristics of my dog, BlackBerry

• Reliable (thank you, Verizon).
• Loud enough to tell me that something is happening, sometimes obnoxiously so to the chagrin of officemates.
• Can keep up with my hectic schedule and willing to go where I go (again, thank you, Verizon).
• Gives off the impression that it wants to be touched and managed.

Characteristics of my cat, iPhone

• Reliable when it wants to be…
• Can not stand to be touched when it’s not in the mood.
• Never available when someone calls it; not even the owner.
• Gives off the sleek impression of something sexy that wants to be touched only to leave user frustrated.
• Can’t handle the data I try to give it, then whines when it’s not being managed well.

With the launch of the iPhone 2.0 / 3G today, I hold hope that the iPhone, which is downright fun to have, becomes more reliable and able to handle the workload. It’s not the iPhone’s fault, mind you; they’re just made that way and they’ve been partnered up with a dog of a network. (Trouble from the get-go).

AT&T needs to understand that the 3G service will only go so far to tackle the true shortcomings of any device on their network. More bars in more places? Not anywhere I’ve been in the past 3 months. Most reliable network? That goes, hands down, to Verizon.

If I were able to whisper in the ear of one Mr. Jobs, my broken record approach would be to force AT&T to look into the coverage grid as a follow-up to their recently touted 3G upgrades.

Enhanced data speed is great (and sexy), but I just missed a call from my client.

C’mon, BlackBerry, let’s get to work.

iPhone? We can play later. If you’re in the mood.