FUD-ing indeed. I agree. That comment is almost something I'd expect more readily from Apple than Microsoft these days, given how Apple manages the iPhone/iTunes platform (disclosure, I have an iPhone and can't remember life as worth living before it).
What I find fascinating about the carriers clamouring to move to Android is that, yes, they're avoiding licensing fees and the cost of building their own solutions . . . but at the cost of basically eliminating all other mobile revenues other than bandwidth.
This revenue destruction will be at the hands of Google themselves and via the open nature of the Android marketplace. Google Voice kills SMS revenues today. It's free. I expect Voice to eventually include Skype-like functionality, but if it doesn't, Skype will do. It's as close to free as it needs to be. No cost for Skype to Skype calls, and 2 cents a minute to most of planet earth's landlines.
Throw in all of Google's other services that are enabled out of the box on Android (read: almost all of them) and the carrier is out of the services business altogether and is nothing but a pipe. Which is what they should be.
It's almost as if the carriers are collectively waving the white flag here (can't compete on applications and services), and since actually makes sense it leaves me wondering what the hell I'm missing?
What I find fascinating about the carriers clamouring to move to Android is that, yes, they're avoiding licensing fees and the cost of building their own solutions . . . but at the cost of basically eliminating all other mobile revenues other than bandwidth.
This revenue destruction will be at the hands of Google themselves and via the open nature of the Android marketplace. Google Voice kills SMS revenues today. It's free. I expect Voice to eventually include Skype-like functionality, but if it doesn't, Skype will do. It's as close to free as it needs to be. No cost for Skype to Skype calls, and 2 cents a minute to most of planet earth's landlines.
Throw in all of Google's other services that are enabled out of the box on Android (read: almost all of them) and the carrier is out of the services business altogether and is nothing but a pipe. Which is what they should be.
It's almost as if the carriers are collectively waving the white flag here (can't compete on applications and services), and since actually makes sense it leaves me wondering what the hell I'm missing?