expertSEM

Google recently announced the release of another disruptive technology, Android, their mobile phone operating system which will revolutionize the way in which we relate to our mobile devices. I’m not just parroting the company line when I say this. Google’s technology is about the fundamental question of open access or centralized control. If Google wins in their fight against the descendants of Ma Bell, we the users will stand to gain in ways we can only imagine today.

Take your mobile phone out of your pocket, and push whatever button gets you to the menu screen. I’ll bet you anything that there are 4 – 6 icons which you will rarely use, if ever, some of which are incredibly obnoxious. On my phone, there is the shopping bag icon in case I feel the need to splurge on ringtones and accessories whenever I’m bored, a game icon with links to one level sample games (in case I want to buy those too), and a few other unused symbols. Those icons are the result of a programmer somewhere at AT & T or Verizon deciding which buttons, tools and links are right for you and I to have on our phones. I hate this. I want a button that brings up all my RSS feeds, pulls my unread emails, imports a zoomed-in interactive map of Denver, and pulls my Pandora.com streaming music. Some of these are available, but with different phones than I have, and different service providers, so I cannot get them all on my phone because the providers determine which ones I can have, and if I have to upgrade my service plan or switch providers to get them.

I am currently obliged to connect through a clunky phone browser called MyMediaNet. It doesn’t work well, and I usually have to go a few steps to get to my favorite search engine before I get anything like relevant results. I have done my best to customize it, but as you can see, my tabs must conform to somebody else’s idea of what categories are useful and relevant… Not to me guys.

Just like I enjoy writing custom RSVP replies on my Evites, I want to write my own categories.

The alternative to this arcane system is what Google is working on, an open source system where developers will be able to program whatever they want into their phone operating system. Google has already given us a great model for this with the way in which they released Google Maps and Google Earth. Here are samples of two of my favorite user created internet portmanteaux, Gmap Pedometer and HousingMaps:

Open access will destroy the old model by virtue of the fact that it will allow many more users to get what they want out of their technology. Because it is also open source, small software developers who don’t have the resources to craft a deal with a cellular provider will be able to develop their own software which benefits both themselves and the end user. A Local Advertising firm (shameless self promotion) will be able to offer a mapping tool on your phone that interfaces between mapping technologies and your GPS location to show businesses within a mile radius of you at any given time. A PPC Management firm could produce a phone based meta search technology based off your geography and user behavior. You get the idea, and if you don’t, just download Firefox, and compare the usefulness of this user generated browser against Microsoft’s Internet Exploder.

It should be obvious that flexibility breeds genius, and in standing in the way of flexibility (*ahem, Ma Bell) to promote their own interests, cellular providers have committed an act of hubris. If Google wins the upcoming auction for the 700 mHz bandwidth of broadcast spectrum, essentially the final barrier to open access cell service will be down. This won’t be overnight, but I would wager good money that within 3 years, we will be able to have a customized phone on any number of small cell service providers. It turns out that giving the customer a better product is a successful strategy, what a crazy idea!