So It Was The Carriers Who Stopped The iTunes Phone

from the let-them-live-with-it dept

While Motorola's Ed Zander made a gallant effort to cover for the wireless carriers by claiming the Motorola iTunes phone was really delayed due to Apple's marketing strategy, more and more evidence is appearing suggesting that (as most had assumed from the beginning) it's really the wireless carriers who are freaking out that (oh no!) content might somehow get on phones without them getting a cut. This is the classic walled garden mindset of the carriers, and it's exactly what's going to drag them down. While the carriers want to pretend they're music moguls and make sure their hand is one of many in the tiny pie, others are working on ways to route around the carriers. The more complicated the carriers make it, the more it's just going to push users to find other solutions, and then the carriers will be guaranteed not to get a cut at all. Their best bet is to embrace the offerings that are coming along as a way to sell more phones and more service. Stop worrying about getting their few pennies for each song. Even if they got it, it wouldn't last long. Once again, the carriers are showing that they've learned nothing from the internet.