According to this article, Verizon is getting a few new phones ready for the holiday shopping season. That got me thinking, would I ever buy someone a phone for Christmas? I think about it kind of like getting someone a dog as a pet, you just don't do that (for so many reasons). What if it is on a different network, would I be responsible for the monthly bill and the cost to terminate their existing phone contract early? What if they don't like the phone? What if it doesn't have the features and functionality they want? I think the biggest stumbling block is the service plan that comes with the phones here in the US. The mobile network companies find some way to tie us into a goofy, overpriced, underutilized plan when we get a phone. Then we pretty much have to hold onto it for two years before we are free to shop around again. Maybe the problem is that most of usually want the latest and greatest phones with as many features crammed into them as possible, and that's how they get us. From that perspective, something like the openMoko sounds pretty good. Too bad I had the iPhone for a while before trying the openMoko, because in comparison, the openMoko sucks.
Posted by troutm8 at October 3, 2007 09:38 AM