[ NNSquad ] Five years after the iPhone, carriers are the biggest threat to innovation

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

Five years after the iPhone, carriers are the biggest threat to innovation

http://j.mp/Nb0JYB

    And indeed, things are different - they've gotten dramatically worse.
    Instead of seeing the benefits of free competition at the consumer
    level, the carriers are now exerting more control than ever before as
    demand for mobile devices skyrockets. Getting a device on a major
    carrier can take up to 15 months and cost millions of dollars;
    carriers are notorious for demanding custom devices in order to create
    customer lock-in. "Exclusivity is the bane of my existence," says one
    source at a major phone manufacturer. "But it's the only way business
    gets done."

 - - -

And of course, let's not forget patent insanity as well.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren 
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org 
Founder:
 - Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org 
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com 
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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