BBC NEWS | Technology | Apple iPhone warning proves true

[Andrew Robinson]

The real problem here is that the mobile phone market is built on an insane
and obviously doomed pricing model.

When the iPhone launches here in the UK, it will have 'unlimited' data
transfer, but a cap of 200 text messages a month. Where's the logic in
that???

It's an unavoidable fact that VOIP will eventually turn mobile access into a
broadband-like commodity, the question is just when it will happen.

I see it like this: Apple gets a kickback from the phone companies which
includes a percentce of call revenue. Why? To bribe Apple not to install the
inevitable iVOIP app that will kill the phone companies stone dead, and to
give Apple has an incentive to stop anyone else porting Skype / unlocking
etc.

So, Apple didn't go out of their way to make v1.1.1 of the iPhone software
compatible with third party firmware alterations. Surprise surprise! If I'd
hacked the firmware in my MacPro, I'd hardly expect Leopard to work out of
the box with it, so why are people expecting iPhone to be different?

It's significant to note that the US iPhone has a 2 year fixed contract and
the European ones (released about 6 months later) have an 18 month contract.
I'm guessing Apple has iVOIP and cross network compatibility ready to turn
on  in 19 months, once they have the a big enough market share to be
unstoppable, and both sides know this.

I'll have an unlocked iPhone in 19 months, if not sooner. I'll put up with a
locked one for a bit to get there.
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