If you believe Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg’s version of events, his company’s wireless division wasn’t even in the running for the iPhone years ago when Apple was first shopping the device around to carriers. Other reports tell a different story, but either way, the fact that Verizon had to wait nearly four years to offer its customers the iPhone had its advantages and disadvantages. On the down side, it really gave a customer boost to its biggest rival, AT&T. On the upside, though, the competition did motivate Verizon to invest in a strong competitor to Apple’s platform.