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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (51653)	3/4/2008 6:12:07 PM
From: neolib	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543124

You are confusing things. The issue is compatibility. The same problem exists in computers regarding operating systems. Contrast that with the number of auto companies. Why does 6B only support one really viable PC operating system company (and a ton of wannabees) but there are lots of viable car companies? Very simple: I can drive a Toyota just as well as I can drive a Ford. I pay zero attention to the manufacturer of a rental car. They all work just fine on the same roads. If Ford had patents on the US road system, and only Ford cars worked on certain or most roads, or if Toyotas had rear wheel steering, or some other such factor which required significant rewiring of my neurons to effectively use one, then, gee, I would care. CDMA and GSM require different infrastructure. That is like cars requiring different roads. Of course that leads to problems. But fundamentally, the standard of living of 300M does not depend on whether the underlying technology of their phones is GSM or CDMA. Either will work, and either can be as cheap as the other from the consumers view. Your concern should instead be about proprietary systems impact on economies. Edit: Another such example is HD vs. Blueray. It is not the underlying technology, it is customer issues with compatibility that presents the problem. Obscure the technology from the customer, and why should they care?