I guess it offends me because it's one more step away from "openness"...which they claim to be trying to achieve.
There are a number of solutions to do this for free already. This is like VZ Navigator on a smartphone that already has GPS and Google Maps -- a useless feature with equal or better free alternatives...except for Verizon crippling the phone, locking down features, and using their own proprietary stuff that you have to pay more for.
Sure, this will work on not-so-smart phones, but the price point for most of those phones isn't far enough below a low end PDA phone to warrant $10/mo -- at least, so it seems to me without actually doing all the math.
And I disagree about losing Blackberry customers to this. For sheer device functionality, I can't picture anyone who has used a Blackberry being willing to go back a Razr or something. The interfaces just don't cut it.
Plus businesses, who have built IT and security infrastructures around RIM's offerings, most definitely won't give them up for this.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
D @ Jun 10th 2008 5:21PM
I guess it offends me because it's one more step away from "openness"...which they claim to be trying to achieve.
There are a number of solutions to do this for free already. This is like VZ Navigator on a smartphone that already has GPS and Google Maps -- a useless feature with equal or better free alternatives...except for Verizon crippling the phone, locking down features, and using their own proprietary stuff that you have to pay more for.
Sure, this will work on not-so-smart phones, but the price point for most of those phones isn't far enough below a low end PDA phone to warrant $10/mo -- at least, so it seems to me without actually doing all the math.
And I disagree about losing Blackberry customers to this. For sheer device functionality, I can't picture anyone who has used a Blackberry being willing to go back a Razr or something. The interfaces just don't cut it.
Plus businesses, who have built IT and security infrastructures around RIM's offerings, most definitely won't give them up for this.