It gets better than just this GV debate...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/18/fcc-to-propose-new-net-neutrality-rule-disallowing-data-discrimi/
Its good to see the FCC in action against this type of stuff.
This is just hype to promote the Android phones in the fall. No more, no less. I wouldn't be surprised of Google expected a rejection to exploit it like this.
does it matter?
Google's app still isn't in the app store.
Why should I care if it was rejected or not?
You make a good point. Except that you don't see me whining ad infinitum about something that is part-and-parcel of the Apple way of doing things to begin with, and which has been this way for years now.
There's a price to pay for the "Apple experience." Always has been. Total openness and transparency is not one of the ideals (and never was) that are high on Apple's list or priorities. It's a closed system. But one that manages to be far, far more attractive and usable than all the others out there.
Apple is no more closed/restricitve today than it was five years ago. In fact, it has opened up in some ways. There are just more products in the Apple lineup and more fingers in the Apple pie that need to be regulated, placated, controlled, catered to, reigned in, etc.
At the current rate, Apple could immediately cease OS development for a decade and still be ahead of Microsoft in the operating systems "race."
I am actually happy that the FCC is looking into things here. I may not use Google voice as a service, but I am not a fan of how the telecommunications industry wants to control the web browser and the internet. Is thats whats going on here? We don't yet know.
Switch to WinMo or Android or BB. They're just as good as the iPho . . . oh wait.
There's always a price to pay. Taken for all in all, in light of what you get with the iPhone + Apple ecosystem, it's a small price to pay.
And even after the GV "incident", there are no shortage of developers for the iPhone, and certainly no shortage of carriers falling all over each other to get it.
No need to inflate the issue beyond what it actually is.
Other GV apps were originally approved then were pulled.
Google Voice is already available on Android and Blackberry. It already works on At&t through the website. I pretty sure T-Mobile has the free unlimited to a group of people thing going...and its up and running on the G-1 and other android phones (app based) and web based for other mobiles. If this was truly a huge problem then they could just block the website like they did with 4chan, and we all know how that went.
This is something that those phone companies will have to deal with...and I am betting that the majority of iPhone users won't even use or download GV (at least until you can port over your mobile number).
That's one of my biggest suspicions in this case is that part of the decision making process of any app approval is that Apple worries about the hand of AT&T visible or not. I an very suspicious of the telecos because of their huge greedBecause of the decision not to sell the iPhone unlocked from the start, the carriers now seems to have great influence over everything, and that is why we've ended up here arguing about what we can or cannot do with our own phones.
I agree. It's sad that people do not see the forest for the trees (or however the phrase goes). I still have a hard time accepting that the telecos want companies to pay a toll to access the pipes that they have an essentially monopoly over and they have the gall to say that Net Neutrality is a solution in search of a problem. However thats a side issue that isn;t relivant to the matter at hand.The thing is many people in the US seem to see government regulation as an infringement on competition, whereas in reality hard consumer protection laws, anti-monopoly legislation, etc such as those preventing the sale of locked phones and the enforcement of real competition in the ISP sector, in reality leads to way more competition.
You only have to take a look at the mess that is the US ISP & Telco sector to see what happens when a handful of large companies are allowed to get into a virtual-monopoly position, with consumers often having little real competition, and how it ends up completely at odds with the interests of the users and indeed the public at large.
It is not about just GV. It is about the message that Apple sends the developers and consumers. That's why many of us are not very happy. We like the iphone and buy many apps, but that doesn't mean that I have to swallow everything Apples does without at least complaining. As I said, I like it, but as a paying costumer, I would like things to be better.
If you wanted to screw Apple and AT&T, then why did you buy their products? You do realize that you are giving them money right?Screw you ATT and Apple!
Also, iphone users: can't you use the web interface at google.com/voice?
Apple needs to stop this babysitting or allow apps from other stores on the iPhone. Seriously.
Have their cakes and eat it too ? This is more like Apple giving you a cake and then telling you you can't eat the frosting because it would ruining the experience.
That actually cuts to the root problem of all of this... the telcos, and the way the whole cellphone business is carried out in the US (and some other parts of the world). And the way when the iphone first came out Apple chose to continue with the locked-to-a-carrier model, instead of just selling it unlocked and carrier-free. And then they forced the same model on the rest of the world, or at least everywhere else that didn't have reasonably meaty consumer protection and anti-competition laws preventing the sale of locked phones.
Locking phones to carriers for the duration of contacts is one of the most uncompetitive things going on, and the sooner the whole carrier-locked-phones model is thrown into the trash, the better. Yes, you'll pay more for the device up front, but you'll save in the long run and have the freedom that comes of being able to use your device freely, changing providers at will.
Because of the decision not to sell the iPhone unlocked from the start, the carriers now seems to have great influence over everything, and that is why we've ended up here arguing about what we can or cannot do with our own phones.
The thing is many people in the US seem to see government regulation as an infringement on competition, whereas in reality hard consumer protection laws, anti-monopoly legislation, etc such as those preventing the sale of locked phones and the enforcement of real competition in the ISP sector, in reality leads to way more competition.
You only have to take a look at the mess that is the US ISP & Telco sector to see what happens when a handful of large companies are allowed to get into a virtual-monopoly position, with consumers often having little real competition, and how it ends up completely at odds with the interests of the users and indeed the public at large.
I guess I just find it a bit disappointing that apparently there are lots of people ready to vehemently defend the same model that ends up screwing them....
Fart apps and flashlights.![]()
You can blame the consumer. They're all flocking to the iPhone in droves. And there's a lot more to come. No real Android presence. No real WinMo presence. Pre is in the bag. RIM is in the bag. Symbian is bleeding. iPhone is the clear choice.
You can blame the consumer. They're all flocking to the iPhone in droves. And there's a lot more to come. No real Android presence. No real WinMo presence. Pre is in the bag. RIM is in the bag. Symbian is bleeding. iPhone is the clear choice.