Cell Phone "Services"

Cell phone "services" are getting out of hand. You can download new ring tones, download games, send text messages, and take and send pictures. And these things aren't free. They can cost any where from 10 cents to a few dollars. It may not seem like a lot, but it can add up if its done in any regularity. And the point is not how much, but that it costs money at all. And most of what you download expires after a certain amount of time. It's just amazing how the cell phone companies get away with what they're doing. It just doesn't seem right, and I am officially offended.

Ah ring tones. Don't you just have to have them? Snipits of the most annoying pop songs, of varying quality. I'll tell you a short story. There was a software publisher that released a program that would convert your regular MP3's to something usable on a cell phone as a ring tone. But the cell phone companies didn't like the idea that people could get their ring tones for free, so they got the software taken off the market (I believe they sued the software publisher). So apparently we can't make our own ring tones, or at least the cell phone companies don't want us to.

And there are games. Cheezey remakes of both old and new games. All on a tiny screen with clumsy controls. There are also applications that fall under this category. Many cell phones use BREW, which is some software environment designed for cell phones. The great thing about BREW is that for anyone to write games/applications for it, they must pay an outrageous licensing fee. This does two things; it gives them supreme control on anything BREW, and essentially keeps any independent developers from using it. So, unless you are financially backed by some corporation, usually to promote their product, you are not going to be writing software for BREW. Even if you had the money to license BREW, you don't have a choice in how your software is distributed. Software is distributed through their subscription service, again giving them another level of control.

The point is that all things cell phones are very much closed to individual innovation. The cell phone companies are out there to make money, and they are strangling their technology. There are no freedoms involved. And I don't know about you, but I enjoy my freedoms with technology, and am offended when technology is stifled by corporate greed.