Wireless Carriers: Disappointment in 2007

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Wireless Carriers made PC World's top 15 tech disappointments of 2007. Here is the excerpt:

#10. Is Anyone Listening?: Wireless Carriers

Today's cell phone hardware is wildly innovative--and we don't mean just the Apple iPhone. Other companies--LG, Samsung, HTC, and Nokia--have all come out with handsets that are really more like hip pocket computers.
But innovative wireless service providers? Few and far between. Voice call quality still sucks, high-speed data networks are still scarce, and the companies still want too big a chunk of our wallets ($2.50 for a 20-second ring tone--exsqueeze me?). Worse, the inability to easily switch U.S. carriers but keep your phone is grating.
"The wireless industry has been a huge disappointment," says Brad Grimes, a former PC World executive editor, now editor in chief for Hanley Wood's Digital Home. "Innovation in devices has been exciting, but the fact that most of them are tied to certain service providers is absurd. Hopefully recent steps toward opening wireless platforms will gain traction. I'd be surprised if the day doesn't come soon when we can buy any mobile device to work with any carrier, and when we're not locked into contracts and ridiculous early termination charges."
Maybe Verizon's move to open up its network will pay off next year. But for now, all of them disappoint.

PC World - The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007


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