 Ahhh. Breathe the fresh air of freedom. Bask in the invigorating glow of open choices, options and of course, source.
Why all the excitement? Haven't you heard? The open source and free software movement is coming to the mobile market.
Yep, finally the most locked down and proprietary of technology arenas will open up to user choice and customization. Just as users of the traditional Internet are free to run pretty much any operating system and choose any ISP, mobile phone users will be able to run open-source software and applications and easily move between providers.
Just look at all of the momentum. There's Google Android working on providing an open mobile platform and several smaller Linux-based platforms that are already powering some phone systems. And Nokia just announced that it will buy and open source Symbian, by far the largest cell phone platform today.
That's right! Soon all of us mobile users will be free, to do what we want, any old time.
Or not.
Because when I look at some of these developments, especially Nokia's announcement about open-sourcing Symbian, I don't see the same thing that I do when I look at something such as Linux on PCs.
That's because the mobile network providers, especially in the United States, are still calling all of the shots. Right now it doesn't matter if your phone is open or not; if Verizon or AT&T don't let it run on their network, then it won't run on their network.
I know the terms of the spectrum auction stipulate open access for the new spectrum, but there's plenty of wiggle room in that agreement for wily telecoms to slip through in order for them to continue their stranglehold over mobile Internet access.
And as far as that Nokia promise to open-source Symbian, that's another situation where I'll believe it when I see it.
In many of their public discussions with the open-source community, Nokia has sounded an awful lot like someone who wants to gain all of the benefits of open source without committing to any of the responsibilities. Sure, they love the idea of lots of open-source developers doing free work to improve and extend open-source software. But when it comes to things such as providing code back to the community, especially in areas such as Digital Rights Management and hardware locking, they sometimes seem to not be quite as enamored of open-source principles.
Now I don't want to sound too cynical. Like most regular users I'm really hoping for a day when I have as much freedom of choice and options in the mobile Internet space as in the PC-based Internet. After all, the mobile Internet is poised to become in some ways more important than PC-based access.
But the mobile network providers are currently free of the whole concept of network neutrality and they are quite happy to stay that way. Hopefully this situation will change, especially if improved and more open wireless standards become more common and effective.
But for now, don't get too excited about all of this talk of freedom and openness in mobile systems.
|
Comments (5)
While, an open network amongst providers is a nice to have, I don't believe it will have any large bearing on the upcoming mass adoption of mobile applications such as Android. The market growth will "drive" the competitive landscape to require open systems.
Posted by Travis Smith | June 25, 2008 8:07 AM
The vast majority of users don't care (or even know) if their mobile device runs an open operating system. They care about how much it costs, how good the service is, and what capabilities it has.
Competitive pressures will continue to drive down price, and drive up capabilities and service. Whether that happens on open systems or proprietary systems, who cares?
As much as Microsoft and Windows is maligned these days, their virtually monopoly on the desktop has proved a huge boon for developers and users over the last few decades. Sure, they needed some restraining, but what would have happened in software development if there had been two or three major players in operating systems all these years? We would have seen much less development, and at a much higher cost.
Posted by Ted | June 25, 2008 8:38 AM
Ted,
You can't have it both ways. If "competitive pressures will continue to drive down price," how does that happen in the environment of the Windows "virtually [sic] monopoly"? How would "competitive pressures" in the absence of that monopoly result in "much less development, and at a much higher cost"? Look what has happened to the market for server software, where there have been "two or three major players in operating systems." And now we are starting to see the same thing in office suites (e.g., OpenOffice, Google Apps).
Posted by Stratocaster | June 25, 2008 12:52 PM
To get back on the subject (we all know more competition and/or less regulation results into lower prices and more development/innovation).
I see a huge wave of change coming that is way past due.
If I finally have a handset through which I can make and receive virtually free calls through one of my VOIP providers whenever I am in a WIFI cloud, AT&AT, Verizon, T-Mobile etc better find a new business model because it will put them out of the current business.
They have pressured the cell phone makers for years to not include such a feature. As a matter of fact, Nokia was ready to launch such a phone over a decade ago. It simply vanished, and it does not take much guessing what prompted them to pull it...
Add a base station to this mix, that allows you to provide your POTS line (or any other a-b phone line for that matter) to TC/PIP and soon there is no need anymore for most people to have a cell provider, given that you already have WIFI at home, work, the coffee shop, your friends home, possibly the mall and soon in all of Philadelphia. In the future you can probably not use it in your car anymore (not even hands free). That leaves very few places where you would rely on a cell phone.
Are you continuing to pay $70 a month for those few times? A cheap pay-as-you-go provider is going to fit that need much better and at a much lower cost.
If the phone companies were not terrified by this, they would not have squelched it so hard for so long.
We were wondering for many years whether it will be the cell phone growing up or the PC shrinking down. I think it will be neither. Google's Android or another open source solution is finally the wave that can no longer be stopped. So lets embrace it and enjoy the (free) ride.
Posted by Thomas Hafen | June 26, 2008 12:35 PM
Let's admit it. Most Americans like free. Essentially phone companies give you the equipment free up front (or highly subsidized) in exchange for controlling your experience (imagine your ISP subsidizing your PC). Also, most Americans like things to work. Phone companies rightly assume that an open system is too complicated for most consumers, and they also know that if something goes wrong, consumers will call them for help. So, it is possibly right that advanced users will crave freedom in exchange for higher hardware costs and less reliable experiences in the short term. We all know that in the long term a lot of this will work itself out, but these are the considerations today.
Posted by parley | September 11, 2008 5:11 PM