The Integrative Stream

iPhone fails the convergence test

The new Apple/Motorola “Rokr” phone came up in conversation at lunch today. The consensus statement was that the device said a lot more about the business models of Apple, Motorola and the various mobile carriers than it does about what consumers actually want. Mobile phone companies, in particular, have been particularly zealous in their search for revenue streams via ringtone sales and other presumably “value added” services. Verizon goes so far as to require use of their picture mail service at 20 cents a shot (last I checked) to get photos off your phone. That kind of wholesale customer abuse is a big part of what caused me to switch to TMobile, which has been kind enough to not disable the Bluetooth transmitter on my phone.

Anyway, as soon as I came home I saw this article from the UK’s Guardian newspaper that sums up the issues with the iPhone pretty well:

John Naughton: Why the iPhone won’t rock your world