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TechSpot RSSMobile Computing
Too many mobile operating systems, says Verizon
Most techies embrace the idea of choice in mobile phones and, for the most part, choice is what we have in both hardware and software. There is RIM with BlackBerry, Apple with the iPhone OS, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and more. Is too much choice a bad thing, however? Verizon believes so, and a recent statement by its CEO indicates that they want less operating systems for mobile phones. Without naming names, Lowell McAdam says that of the nine or so operating systems Verizon currently uses on mobile devices, they really only need three or four.
He went on to say that over the next few years, they hope to reduce that larger profile and slim down to just a small handful. If that is the case, what sort of metrics will define what operating systems they carry? And, perhaps more importantly, will other vendors follow suit? We can be sure that companies Apple, RIM, Microsoft and Google would never let themselves be pushed out of a market, so you can imagine it's the smaller players that will get shoved aside.
Many people don't care what OS they run on their phone and a large majority may not even know. What they do care about, however, is what programs run on their device and what functionality it offers. Could a reduction in the number of operating systems available actually increase the pool of software for them and make new functionality a priority?
He went on to say that over the next few years, they hope to reduce that larger profile and slim down to just a small handful. If that is the case, what sort of metrics will define what operating systems they carry? And, perhaps more importantly, will other vendors follow suit? We can be sure that companies Apple, RIM, Microsoft and Google would never let themselves be pushed out of a market, so you can imagine it's the smaller players that will get shoved aside.
Many people don't care what OS they run on their phone and a large majority may not even know. What they do care about, however, is what programs run on their device and what functionality it offers. Could a reduction in the number of operating systems available actually increase the pool of software for them and make new functionality a priority?
User Comments (8)
Post a comment| jink on April 2, 2009 10:31 PM | Palm?
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| DarkCobra on April 2, 2009 11:22 PM | Well I'm a Verizon guy myself and while I can see why it
would be easier for Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobil or any
other carrier to only want to carry/support a few operating
systems as opposed to a half dozen or so . . . in the end it
will be the marketplace itself that decides which systems
survive . . . not any CEO from any of the above carriers.
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| viperpfl on April 2, 2009 11:33 PM | Originally posted by DarkCobra: Well I'm a
Verizon guy myself and while I can see why it would be
easier for Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobil or any other
carrier to only want to carry/support a few operating
systems as opposed to a half dozen or so . . . in the end it
will be the marketplace itself that decides which systems
survive . . . not any CEO from any of the above
carriers. I wouldn't consider the marketplace
deciding since all the cellphone companies have the same
features and rules. The cell phone companies will be
deciding what the consumer should have and not what the
consumers want. It's been like this for years and nothing
has changed.
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| DarkCobra on April 3, 2009 2:37 AM | Originally posted by viperpfl: I wouldn't
consider the marketplace deciding since all the cellphone
companies have the same features and rules. The cell phone
companies will be deciding what the consumer should have and
not what the consumers want. It's been like this for years
and nothing has changed. ALL the cellphone companies
do NOT have the same features and rules. There are many
differences between them. Plans, pricing, phones,
termination rules, tethering rules, coverage footprint and
so much more varies. Verizon is based on a CDMA system.
AT&T is based on a GSM system. Some carriers have
roll-over minutes and some do not. Actually, the
differences are great the more you look at them. There
are some similarities but a lot of
differences.Consumers are indeed the usual deciders on what products survive in the market. If we don't buy a product in sufficient numbers it goes away.
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| PanicX on April 3, 2009 3:24 AM | I'm not surprised here. Verizon is known for their strict
requirements on what software their phones can run. Ever
try to put ringtones on a Verizon RAZR? Or enjoy their cut
down java version Brew? They limit most of the fun features
the phones use as selling points. Anyone remember the
horrible mess that was Wireless Sync? that one still makes
me cringe.
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| Julio on April 3, 2009 4:02 AM | This sounds to me like for carriers it's becoming more
difficult and costly to develop and cater for all mobile
operating systems, so they can include many so-called
features that give them advantage or leverage over their own
consumers to have them pay more (built-in ringtone portals
would just be an example). So it's just them complaining for increasing costs and complexity, definitely NOT with the consumer choice on mind.
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| DarkCobra on April 3, 2009 11:51 AM | Exactly . . . "Julio" has it right.
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| Badfinger on April 3, 2009 5:48 PM | Having to support all OS's, is a major chore, I hated having
to support the internal phone systems where I worked all of
a sudden, can't even imagine being expected to deal with all
the busybodies with their personal phones? I'm out of the loop on this one, I want to receive and make calls, and have phone number memory, that's it.
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