I could go on about that one, but basically the reason it even exists is

because the people who ran the telecoms companies didn't (and in many cases STILL don't) understand what the internet is.

They made a huge mistake and should have brought people in from Web, who had gone through the same growing pains before working out precisely what the internet is and how people use it / want to use it.

Unfortunately they just treated it like a phone service because that's what their employees knew. I was a part of a working group over here called Open Mobile Internet which was made up of all the providers and a couple of banks and content providers. Their stated goals were common billing, identity, etc (and more complex issues).

It drove me nuts, as I am from a web background. There they were discussing how to make an "open" mobile internet environment for THE NETHERLANDS ! And how they would control it as a working group !

I was just sitting there wondering if they had a f**king clue what the internet was.

Thankfully the iPhone came along as Apple had the clout to shove internet down our throats.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Mar 4, 13:01:06