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Walt Mossberg: "Free My Phone"
mossblog.allthingsd.com — Mossberg cries out that we show have more openess and freedom in the cellphone arena like we do in computers. Check it out and join the fight!
Darqfaux- 1311 diggs
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- BarbaraKolbe, on 10/23/2007, -3/+26Can Walt in the Wall Street Journal get their attention? Here's hoping... dugg!
- DMCer, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1So, when iPhone releases the SDK in February, how will that compare with other phones in terms of openness?
- CraigJ, on 10/24/2007, -4/+50Verizon, AT&T, etc. are afraid of competition. If they could win new customers based on superior service they would, but they can't, so they lock you in and treat you like a criminal if you want to leave, and sue the successful competition (Vonage, for example) because that is apparently easies than innovation.
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -13/+4How are you being treated like a criminal if you want to leave? Pay your ETF and move on. Whats so hard about that? Dont want to sign a contract? Then dont sign one and go pre-paid. Of couse this requires you into researching and taking responsibility before and after you sign your contract. This obviously escapes you.
Oh wait... you want a subsidized phone AND not be locked into a contract. Your sense of entitlement amazes me.- dvdrtrgn, on 10/23/2007, -1/+6Your sense of amazement entitles me.
- kilofox, on 10/22/2007, -4/+0To what?
- CraigJ, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2No. I want to pick my phone, pay the manufacture for it and pick my carrier. I do not want nor need subsidized phones, non do I want a long term contract. Further, I want GOOD service from my carrier, for which I will gladly pay.
- dvdrtrgn, on 10/23/2007, -1/+6Your sense of amazement entitles me.
- prisoner24601, on 10/23/2007, -2/+11Look at AT&T's "double dipping" with the iPhone. People pay full price and yet are locked into a two-year contract anyway. That's absurd. Obviously the market has an inefficiency that needs to be resolved and Mossberg's comparison to ISP's having ZERO control over hardware is a perfectly rational example of the way things should be and only will be when we demand it.
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -6/+1Then dont buy locked phone! I have owned a SE K790 and now a Nokia N95-3... both UNLOCKED. UNLOCKED = ZERO control over hardware. I am currently with ATT and not under contract, I can take my phone to any GSM service provider. What is truly absurd is that someone knowing full well the conditions that comes with an iPhone would buy one when they dont want to sign a contract.
The market exists for cell phones that are not locked to the provider... all it takes is some wisdom, which evidently Walt is lacking in.
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -6/+1Then dont buy locked phone! I have owned a SE K790 and now a Nokia N95-3... both UNLOCKED. UNLOCKED = ZERO control over hardware. I am currently with ATT and not under contract, I can take my phone to any GSM service provider. What is truly absurd is that someone knowing full well the conditions that comes with an iPhone would buy one when they dont want to sign a contract.
- antdude, on 10/22/2007, -1/+3They must want money and power. :(
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -13/+4How are you being treated like a criminal if you want to leave? Pay your ETF and move on. Whats so hard about that? Dont want to sign a contract? Then dont sign one and go pre-paid. Of couse this requires you into researching and taking responsibility before and after you sign your contract. This obviously escapes you.
- silverghozt, on 10/23/2007, -5/+25Walt is EXACTLY right.
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -7/+2Notice Walt doesnt mention that computers are not subsidized like cell phones are. Thats a hugh difference. If Dell was also an ISP AND sold you a PC for $100 provided you stay their ISP customer would be more realistic comparison. Hes comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges.
- dvdrtrgn, on 10/22/2007, -1/+3Who do you work for? I'd say paying $1000 for a year of cell service (and getting soaked $200 for leaving) is more than subsidizing their fat asses.
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -5/+1If people thought that $1000 was too much for service then they wouldnt be buying it then would they. Ever heard of supply and demand? Hell lets just set price controls on everything.... I get 450 minutes, unlimited N/W, roll-over etc etc for $40. In the early 90's I payed that much for 100 minutes period. So whats you point? Grow up or get a better job.
- dvdrtrgn, on 10/23/2007, -1/+3No. Really, who do you work for?
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -5/+1If people thought that $1000 was too much for service then they wouldnt be buying it then would they. Ever heard of supply and demand? Hell lets just set price controls on everything.... I get 450 minutes, unlimited N/W, roll-over etc etc for $40. In the early 90's I payed that much for 100 minutes period. So whats you point? Grow up or get a better job.
- dvdrtrgn, on 10/22/2007, -1/+3Who do you work for? I'd say paying $1000 for a year of cell service (and getting soaked $200 for leaving) is more than subsidizing their fat asses.
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -7/+2Notice Walt doesnt mention that computers are not subsidized like cell phones are. Thats a hugh difference. If Dell was also an ISP AND sold you a PC for $100 provided you stay their ISP customer would be more realistic comparison. Hes comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges.
- tehjarvis, on 10/23/2007, -6/+31OpenMoko!
- NinjaBoy, on 10/23/2007, -1/+8I just wish it wasn't $300. Thats a months rent for me.
- MWeather, on 10/22/2007, -1/+6That's the developer version. The consumer version will presumably be cheaper.
On a side note, where do you live that you only pay $300 rent?- Ansible, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Actually, the next openmoko phone will be 450 I believe. It will also have wifi and wii-style accelerometers. I'm not sure if you'll still be able to buy the current cheaper model.
- MWeather, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Actually, it's $450 for the next-gen development model. Looks like no consumer model for the current phone. And for god sakes, don't call it wii-style accelerometers. Cellphones had accelerometers and motion control games before the Wii was ever announced.
- Ansible, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Actually, the next openmoko phone will be 450 I believe. It will also have wifi and wii-style accelerometers. I'm not sure if you'll still be able to buy the current cheaper model.
- thinksInCode, on 10/23/2007, -1/+6$300!? Where do you live? My monthly rent is $1305!! Gotta love Massachusetts...
- longbow486, on 10/22/2007, -1/+0damn man you must be living in the north shore or something, i got 800/m in S. worc county
- antdude, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Heh, in L.A., it is almost 1K.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Oh i'm really glad to hear the consumer version will be cheaper, i have a cingular go phone and OpenMoko seems like a great replacement for the stander cheap ass phone they give ya. Also I live in cuba, Missouri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba,_Missouri
- jftitan, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1I agree with you... $300 is alot, but you also have to remember. this phone is unlocked and can work on any GSM carrier. Plus this is not subsidized like your contracted phones.
$300 a month is normal in San Antonio TX, A single 600sqft studio apartment (sometimes including all bills paid) - hexydes, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1The problem is, $300 is only a lot for a phone when you're also paying for your cell phone service, which assumes that they are subsidizing the cost of a phone that you received from them.
I would GLADLY pay $300 for my phone, if my phone SERVICE was, say, $22.99 a month, instead of $69.99 a month. And THAT is the real issue at hand here. The phone companies don't mind giving you a subsidized device, because not only are they getting it for less than the handset maker advertises (remember, they buy them in lots of multiple, multiple thousands, if not millions like the Razr), they can pretend that they are subsidizing from that advertised price as well, and get even more money on a monthly basis from you.
There is no real difference between AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or any of the other US cell providers. They are all making a literal KILLING off of "subsidizing" your device, because as long as they do that, they can continue overpricing your monthly service, which is where they make all of their money anyway.
Good article Walt, here's to hoping you help wake up the rest of my fellow countrymen/women to this gigantic problem in the industry.- MWeather, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Simple solution: get basic voice service, and emulate a 56k modem.
- MWeather, on 10/22/2007, -1/+6That's the developer version. The consumer version will presumably be cheaper.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/23/2007, -1/+8I just wish it wasn't $300. Thats a months rent for me.
- briguymaine, on 10/23/2007, -8/+5I wonder if Walt's going to get a spanking from Apple for this?
- CraigJ, on 10/23/2007, -2/+6Why? He says not one bad thing about Apple in the article. The part about making a deal with the Devil is a dig on AT&T, not Apple.
- briguymaine, on 10/23/2007, -4/+3true, but he's not exactly kissing their butt for once either. He's had such a sweetheart deal with Apple over the years, I'm just surprised to see him putting a negative tone on anything by Apple or their partners.
- CraigJ, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I respectfully disagree. FTA:
To my knowledge, only one phone maker, Apple Inc., has been permitted to introduce a cellphone with the cooperation of a U.S. carrier without that carrier having any say in the hardware and software design of the product. And that one example, the iPhone, was a special case, because Apple is currently the hottest digital brand on earth, with its own multibillion-dollar online and physical retail network.
Even so, Apple had to make a deal with the devil to gain the freedom to offer an unimpaired product directly to users. It gave AT&T exclusive rights to be the iPhone’s U.S. network for an undisclosed period of years. It has locked and relocked the phone to make sure consumers can’t override that restriction. This arrangement reportedly brings Apple regular fees from AT&T, but penalizes people who live in areas with poor AT&T coverage.
Apple has also, so far, barred users from installing third-party programs on the iPhone, though the company announced last week it will open the phone to such programs early next year. (Web-based iPhone programs–those that run inside the Web browser–have been available from day one.)
These restrictions have rubbed some of the luster off the best-designed handheld computer ever made. - briguymaine, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I see your point, maybe this is Steve Jobs' equivalent to the open letter to the music industry from a few months back. Only he is having Walt do it this time.
- CraigJ, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I respectfully disagree. FTA:
- briguymaine, on 10/23/2007, -4/+3true, but he's not exactly kissing their butt for once either. He's had such a sweetheart deal with Apple over the years, I'm just surprised to see him putting a negative tone on anything by Apple or their partners.
- CraigJ, on 10/23/2007, -2/+6Why? He says not one bad thing about Apple in the article. The part about making a deal with the Devil is a dig on AT&T, not Apple.
- mandarin, on 10/23/2007, -1/+17Cell phone bills are just too much...I rarely use mine and I still pay more than 50$ a month.
- blakeage, on 10/22/2007, -1/+2Same here. I'm on the $39.99 + $5 for text message plan and pay ~$55/month. 400 anytime minutes, of which I use about 60 min/month.
Then there is the house phone. I live in the country and there is only one provider. Bellsouth. They charge $18 for 28.8 kb internet. Our total bill is around $75/month.- dreesemonkey, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1You are apparently my cellphone brother. I pay pretty much the exact same, and have about the same useage. I'd gladly give up free nights and weekends and mobile to mobile for $20 less a month. My rollover balance is constantly right around 4700 minutes because I use so little. I hate wireless companies :(
- pintomp3, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5why not go pre-paid?
- jessi74, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2Agreed; go pre-paid if they have coverage in your area. NET10 in particular has low prices (though middling customer service). 10 cents a minute, 5 cents a text. Must add $200 of minutes a year; unused minutes roll over.
Limited coverage and phone choices, as well as locked phones are the downsides (and you can't use unlocked phones with their SIMs. Sucks) - Macskeeball, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Definitely go prepaid. I too have very limited usage. I only got a cell phone because I started driving and needed one for emergencies. I went with Virgin Mobile for $5 a month (technically $15 every 90 days). Sure it's basic, but it does all I need and more.
- blakeage, on 10/22/2007, -1/+2Same here. I'm on the $39.99 + $5 for text message plan and pay ~$55/month. 400 anytime minutes, of which I use about 60 min/month.
- dm33, on 10/22/2007, -12/+2Dup: http://digg.com/apple/Free_my_phone
- unreal32, on 10/23/2007, -2/+15Dup: http://digg.com/Dup_Get_over_it_crybaby
- skatastrophy, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5Man... I clicked on that :(
- dm33, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1How do digg stories get dug up enough to start moving? Is it usually a circle of friends? Catchy title?
- unreal32, on 10/23/2007, -2/+15Dup: http://digg.com/Dup_Get_over_it_crybaby
- unreal32, on 10/23/2007, -17/+7Newsflash: Blowhard gasbag jumps on bandwagon 3 months too late.
- dvdrtrgn, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1You did?
- FoxMcCloud1, on 10/23/2007, -14/+1That old man should really stfu. The 700mHz auction in a year or 2 should open up a nice wireless network for voice and data for everyone and seems like it will be regulated to a certain degree to be cheap enough. Until then stop whining and pay your stupid cell bill, it's not bad service and have a few choices for plans.
- MWeather, on 10/23/2007, -0/+8I'll stop whining when the entire wireless spectrum is opened up, and that includes TV!
- scabbers, on 10/23/2007, -6/+10He called the iphone an "unimpaired product" lol.
- thinksInCode, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6Yeah, that cracked me up, too.
But it is unimpaired, in the sense that the carrier doesn't lock or disable some features. They do that with a lot of other phones. Still, I'm with you. The iPhone is a very impaired product, but that hopefully will change when the SDK is released in February.- superkendall, on 10/23/2007, -5/+2The iPhone is hardly impaired at all - impaired would mean applications it shipped with did not work very well, which is not at all the case.
Having third party applications expands the capabilities beyond an already unimpaired base.
- superkendall, on 10/23/2007, -5/+2The iPhone is hardly impaired at all - impaired would mean applications it shipped with did not work very well, which is not at all the case.
- Perc, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1It's "unimpaired" because it isn't available anywhere else... not counting the European carriers. An iPhone is an iPhone, it isn't available "unlocked" or "full featured" anywhere else.
For instance, it doesn't do instant messaging. Could that be anyones fault but AT&T?
- thinksInCode, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6Yeah, that cracked me up, too.
- byttle, on 10/23/2007, -1/+35Charging for texting is ridiculous...
- Maciula, on 10/23/2007, -1/+4Abso-*****'lutly! AT&T gives 200 msgs with iPhone plan, with my usage I'd be done in 8-10 days. I'm sticking to my unlimited data plan from T-mobile
- superkendall, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3That's only with the cheapest plan, other iPhone plans give you unlimited messaging. Since I only use about eight a month myself I like being able to pay less for limited text messaging support.
- jonshipman, on 10/23/2007, -0/+4but txts are like what? 5 bytes? The real issue is why are we paying $0.15 for every 5 bytes we send?
- neodorian, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1@johnshipman: because people will pay it.
- superkendall, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3That's only with the cheapest plan, other iPhone plans give you unlimited messaging. Since I only use about eight a month myself I like being able to pay less for limited text messaging support.
- EtherGnat, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3Verizon's text messaging rates are market up at least 7,314% over their data rates. Highway robbery, considering they're undoubtedly making a tidy profit on data rates. Also I believe in Europe only the sender is charged for a text message, which seems more fair.
http://digg.com/offbeat_news/Why_Are_Text_Messages ... - catylist, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2its bad when texting is more expensive than sending them an email
- cnot3, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3idk, it porbably costs them an awful lot to send a couple hundred bytes of data over their network... at least fifteen cents, if not twenty...
- frsrblch, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2And that's why I don't text. I can call somebody, and have it included in the basic rate plan, but God forbid if I should use a small fraction of that network usage to send a text.
- Gabberwok, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Is there any reason not just to send e-mail to SMS with the iPhone, since you already have an unlimited data plan? You need to know the provider, but it should be absolutely free for you. #@vtext.com, etc. etc.
- Maciula, on 10/23/2007, -1/+4Abso-*****'lutly! AT&T gives 200 msgs with iPhone plan, with my usage I'd be done in 8-10 days. I'm sticking to my unlimited data plan from T-mobile
- sephiroth99, on 10/23/2007, -1/+7from the article : "The Internet provider gets paid simply for its contribution to the mix: providing your Internet connection. But, for all practical purposes, it doesn’t control what is connected to the network, or carried over the network."
... yet- angedinoir, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Well, except for comcast, which blocks bit-torrent traffic and some political emails.
- asiarock, on 10/23/2007, -9/+4Nice to see Walt not kissing Apple's ass for a change.
- Interestingness, on 10/25/2007, -9/+1iPhone is still all the rage, a business tool, a razor, switchblade, tazer, can opener, if they could only lower the bills a bit... http://ThunkDifferent.com
- shashib, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2its time someone spoke about this. I went to the UK and India in Summer and I could choose any carrier and anytype of phone and the whole process was so seemless. Buying cellphones , cars and mattresses are the most confusing things.
- Narph, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2What's so confusing about buying a mattress?
- aduzik, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Often, too much choice is as bad as not enough choice. I've been baffled by the mattress purchasing decision, too.
- frsrblch, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Futon + foam = win
That should make your life about a third simpler.
- Narph, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2What's so confusing about buying a mattress?
- neoneddy, on 10/23/2007, -5/+2http://duggmirror.com
- coldcoffee, on 10/23/2007, -10/+3Hey Walt: Free my trouser snake.
- scyon, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Walt got it right for once, thank goodness.
- Micktion, on 10/23/2007, -0/+12I've done a bit of Smartphone/windows mobile development. Microsoft has made the Windows Mobile platform such that it is up to the operator (the phone manufactorer and/or the mobile service provider) as to how locked down the phone is. It can be completely open or it can be locked down such that no app can even be loaded on to the device without being digitally signed.
The development tools are all freely available from Microsoft at least in trial version. I believe the free version of Visual Studio .NET will also allow you to do dev work for mobile devices. Considering the potential openess of the OS, the availability of development tools and the ease of development it's probably the only mobile phone development platform at the moment that gives small players a real shot.
In one form or another it's had all the features of the IPhone for the last 4 years, although admittedly the slick interface of the IPhone is not much of a comparison to Windows Mobile to date. Although I do believe there are really great features in store down the track.
It's just unfortunate that the platform doesn't seem to have made much market penetration. I think one of the major reasons for that is Microsoft wanted to fashion the mobile OS to work similiar "like we do with (desktop) computers" and most of the players in the market have not gone for it precisely because they don't want a free for all mobile platform, they want it locked down and under their control.
So as not to get flamed I will admit the other reason for Windows Mobile's lack of success has been the quality of what has been shipped to market. Microsoft did not do what Apple did. They simply licensed source code for the OS to 3rd party players like IMate and HTC. Whether it be Microsofts code, or the 3rd party modifications the end result in many instances has been less than ideal. Although having said all that I have an IMate SPL now and it's pretty much perfect. - superkendall, on 10/23/2007, -0/+6I agree with what Walt says, but how do you untangle the mess?
Fixing the phone company was easy by comparison, because there you had one company (AT&T) that you could break into several. But here we have multiple independent companies, and you have multiple forms of networks as well.
Do you make the whole industry switch to GSM? Or CDMA? Neither seems very fair to half the companies that have paid a huge amount to develop whichever infrastructure you do not pick. Do you mandate all phones be able to support both networks? As a phone user, I find the prospect of mandated cruft in my handset dreadful.
It's one thing to complain about how things are, but where are the proposed solutions that would actually work?
The one course of action I can see helping is mandate CDMA operators include something like a SIM for all CDMA phones, and then to make it mandatory for providers and handset makers to allow a SIM from any company using the network the phone supports work with any phone that can use that network. That doesn't solve all the problems he listed but I think it gets you close enough by letting people really have an open market for phones not tied as strongly to carriers.- Ramble, on 10/23/2007, -1/+7Make them switch to GSM, you know, the standard the rest of the world uses.
- Gabberwok, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Yeah, I think even the CDMA companies know they need to switch to GSM in the near future. Since it's the international standard, CDMA doesn't have much of a future in the US (or anywhere else). If the providers start opening things up, that will cause even more of an incentive for companies to switch to GSM, because customers will want the freedom of choice and abandon CDMA companies as competition for GSM customers improves prices and services...
- Acqua206, on 10/23/2007, -0/+0I would mandate that we should all have a goddam universal charging standard, such as microusb :)
- webyatri, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I moved to pay as you go a year back and end up using up 100-150 minutes for 10-15 dollars every month. Earlier I would pay 35 dollars for the same usage. Of course the reception and coverage sucks. But that's what you get for being in the worst and costliest cell phone service region in the world i.e. USA.
I have used much,much better service with cheaper and latest cell phones for less than half of what I am paying per minute right now(10 c per minute).
US cell phone consumer is one of the worst off in the world. I bet you in a decade Africans roaming in the jungles will find our cell phone service primitive. - schmuckman99, on 10/23/2007, -7/+3Walt Mossberg is such a pompous ass. I can not stand him, nor can I stand how the retards of the computer industry actually listen to him.
unreal32 said it perfectly "Newsflash: Blowhard gasbag jumps on bandwagon 3 months too late."
If any of you watched his interview with Jobs and Gates then you will know what I mean. His co interviewer (who's name escapes me) was interrupted by that ass munch more than once. Then he cried about being called old...
I would be surprised if he could install an OS from scratch.- Gabberwok, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Whether you like him or not, his column has more of an effect on the share price of a tech company than probably anyone else in the industry.... The key thing about him is that, unlike you, important people will listen to him.
- schmuckman99, on 10/24/2007, -0/+0Passive aggressive much?
- Gabberwok, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Whether you like him or not, his column has more of an effect on the share price of a tech company than probably anyone else in the industry.... The key thing about him is that, unlike you, important people will listen to him.
- SirBotchness, on 10/23/2007, -0/+5This will change nothing, but its a good article.
- karipatila, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1The pricing I get for my cell phone calls are 16 cents (euros) per minute for calls, and 6 cents per text message. That's about 23 / 9 cents USD. If I'd use the phone a lot, I'd be able to switch to a cheaper plan if I wanted to.
I can use any provider I want and switch to the cheapest one whenever I feel like it, as often as I need to.
There will be a nationwide wireless network coverage soon, so I don't really need to use the data transfer, which would cost about 2 USD per Mb.
How does that compare to the cellular market in the US?- tempusrob, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1In the US there's a lot of "free" minutes being thrown around. Nights/weekends, selected groups of "friends," and in Verizon's case free Verizon-to-Verizon minutes. The only time you really get charged by the minute is when you go over your plan's allotted count. But if you do go over they kick your ass on overage charges. Text messages are usually $.10 to send and $.05 to receive. But there's usually a monthly package for that, too.
When you go with a provider you're stuck for 2 years unless you're OK with paying a $150-200 termination fee. And if you move to a new provider you have to buy a new phone 99% of the time.
And we barely have nationwide DSL, nevermind WiFi. :) - jessi74, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1I use NET10 prepaid cellular, and pay 10 cents a minute/5 cents a text. As far as I can tell, they lease their network coverage from Cingular, and coverage isn't bad (at least in my area). There are minimums that you have to add (currently, 2000 minutes per year/ $200), but minutes and time both roll over with each card purchase.
The phone selection is skimpy, but relatively reasonably priced considering they're not subsidized by a service plan. The phone and SIM are both locked though :(.
I think it's a pretty good deal. I haven't found anything cheaper for my low level of usage. - jonshipman, on 10/23/2007, -0/+3T-Mobile
39.99 USD for unlimited calling to any 5 numbers +300 anytime minutes
unlimited 9pm-6am
unlimited weekends
4.99 USD for 400 SMS/MMS a month
- tempusrob, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1In the US there's a lot of "free" minutes being thrown around. Nights/weekends, selected groups of "friends," and in Verizon's case free Verizon-to-Verizon minutes. The only time you really get charged by the minute is when you go over your plan's allotted count. But if you do go over they kick your ass on overage charges. Text messages are usually $.10 to send and $.05 to receive. But there's usually a monthly package for that, too.
- Grumps, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1Some country in Asia doesnt tie their phone with telco companies. You can always buy your phone anywhere and slot in your sims.
- tempusrob, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2That's most of the rest of the world, dude, not just "some country in Asia."
- Spoomeister, on 10/23/2007, -1/+5I have plenty of openness and freedom regarding cellphones.
1. I can buy one, or not. Believe it or not, people can - even in the 21st century! - get by without a cellphone.
2. I can find any combo of phone and plan that I like, in order to be able to make and receive calls whenever and wherever I like. A little comparison shopping lets me find that.
3. I can even get a pre-paid phone card for just the minutes I need.
Texting, video, apps, etc. are all still in the realm of nice to have, not vital. The approach to people who dislike iPhone+AT&T should not be, "buy an iPhone, then hack it". It should be, "don't buy an iPhone, write them to tell them why if it makes you feel better, and buy the phone you need, not the trendy eye-candy - excuse me, iCandy". People get so easily sucked up into marketing hype that they end up buying things they know they don't want, then turn around and complain that they want more. You bought what the company wanted to sell you, they made money, they're done. How does this "free my phone" nonsense work if Apple is getting their several hundred bucks anyway?- jonshipman, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1It's not an apple article. It's how if I wanted to buy an LG Chocolate I can't without paying T-mo $200 to cancel then signing up with Verizon. He's saying the carrier and the phone should be separate like ISPs and Computers.
- Spoomeister, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Still applies to any bundled combo of phone and service. Don't like it? Don't buy it.
- neodorian, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2In fairness, that $200 was theoretically kicked in as rebates when you signed your contract. They give the rebates knowing that they will make a certain profit from you over the course of 2 years or whatever. Since they won't make that profit without the 2 years of charges, they write the contract to make the rebates dependent on 2 years of service.
- angedinoir, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1"People get so easily sucked up into marketing hype"...
I think that about sums it up. We don't haggle prices, we look at the menu and get what we want that we can afford. - BHSPitMonkey, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1SDK's coming in February.
- jonshipman, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1It's not an apple article. It's how if I wanted to buy an LG Chocolate I can't without paying T-mo $200 to cancel then signing up with Verizon. He's saying the carrier and the phone should be separate like ISPs and Computers.
- Butros, on 10/23/2007, -2/+3So buy an unlocked phone and don't sign a contract you idiots
- kilofox, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2Exactly.... can you believe how stupid people are? The problem lies that people want a subsidized phone AND no contract. Folks.. it doesnt work that way.
- flaminio, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2 Meh.... If someone actually think consumers care, someone would offer it.
- webyatri, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1yeah me and dozens of people I know who have used cell phone overseas want "it". If someone actually thinks they can make money they will offer "it". "it" being freedom from contracts and competitive rates and better coverage and reception.
- angedinoir, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1People don't have the willpower to resist, they just want their phone.
- DanMowchan, on 10/22/2007, -1/+0Why would ATT do this? This just makes ATT lose money. Plus, some of the features on the iPhone are built specifically with ATT in mind.
- cwcentral, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1join the fight? huh? This has been well known for all techies for the last 4 yrs. I'm surprised it's taken Mossberg this long to figure it out. Of course, maybe the combination of a high priced iPhone, and that his AT&T and Verizon checks (even at the paper's sponsor level) have been less than recent years has cause him to realize that there's a monopoly going on.
- EgyptianVicker, on 10/23/2007, -2/+2Is it just me, or did anyone else add an "i" in front of phone?
- Enuratique, on 10/22/2007, -0/+0Regardless of your opinion of Walt, his point regarding the Carterfone regulations [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carterfone] is still valid. Just think of where we might be if the spectrum that supposedly belongs to each American were used in the interests of each American - openly. I know this may sound like a stretch, but the Internet may very well not have existed had these regulations been put in place. May Google be the lesser of two evils come this January.
- Modestexcuse, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1There is only one question all....HOW DO WE FIX IT?
- latrosicarius, on 10/22/2007, -0/+0QUOTE: "Oh, and the developers of such computers, software and services can offer you their products directly, without going through the Internet provider, without getting the provider’s approval, and without giving the provider a penny. The Internet provider gets paid simply for its contribution to the mix: providing your Internet connection. But, for all practical purposes, it doesn’t control what is connected to the network, or carried over the network."
And lets hope it stays that way. Keep government regulation on the internet. Don't let the top-tier ISPs lay claims to their own portions of the the infrastructure and charge more for accessing outside networks. They will claim it's a "Quality of Service" feature, where you get top priority on any transmission sent within their portion of the infrastructure, when in actuality, it will be just another bargaining chip for them to charge the consumers more for accessing outside networks at unthrottled speeds.
Don't let them do this because it's NOT "their" infrastructure. It's public infrastructure because it's all government subsidized. Bought with our tax dollars. How dare they lobby to eliminate net neutrality on something that's not theirs! - fearthee, on 10/23/2007, -1/+2Someone free us from Walt Mossberg.
- thesoze, on 10/23/2007, -1/+4Mossberg is a hack, an old one
- laaabaseball, on 10/24/2007, -0/+2Now he's copying Leo Laporte!
http://leoville.com/blog/2007/09/29/1037/
Same concept- kaytrio, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1You killed my cow!!!
- HairyPoter, on 10/23/2007, -2/+1Free My iPhone? Check these out...
http://www.printfection.com/addfone/UNLOCK-MY-IPHO ...
and
http://www.printfection.com/addfone/UNLOCK-MY-IPHO ... - BigBrother87, on 10/23/2007, -1/+1The problem is that carriers "have to" extensively test every phone on their network. That's the reason most of our phones are years behind anything overseas. Anywhere else in the world, you buy the phone you want, at full price, and pop in your SIM chip. You can do that here, but most people don't want to deal with possible bugs so they get whatever free phone the carrier is trying to get rid of. Or they don't want to sign a contract with one of the 3 carriers that support GSM. You can't have it easy and open at the same time.
- Acqua206, on 10/23/2007, -0/+0The worse thing that can happen here is that you have a girlfriend with T-mobiles favorite 5 and your on el cheapo plan and she doesn't seem to realize your cringing inside whenever the phone conversation goes over 5 minutes.
- BHSPitMonkey, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Maybe you just can't stand the girl?
- frsrblch, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1I went years without a cell phone, and now all I use it for is as a pager for Facebook. Good thing I'm locked into a 3 year contract I can't suspend or cancel.
The industry is so backwards. The only two things you have to base your decision on are prices and hearsay from people who have probably only used one carrier. And even the prices are skewed by connection charges and the like. - peestandingup, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Gotta love how Mossy really didnt point the finger at his beloved Apple product. Cause they sure aint helping things with their business practices. Thats about as locked in as a phone can get.
- BHSPitMonkey, on 10/23/2007, -0/+1Not really; With most phones that are locked down, you're SOL if you want to do anything about it. Yes, the iPhone ships with a pair of shackles, but it apparently takes little effort to have your way with it if you so choose.
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