Anyone who thinks this is about protecting the cell phone carriers needs to explain why Fring and Skype are still in the App store. They are more robust replacements for actual cellular service than GV is.
I disagree with the assertion that GV being bad for cell phone carriers means it is bad for Apple.
Apple doesn't sell cell phone plans, they sell the hardware. How is it going to hurt them if people buy the hardware and use GV? It won't. As long as people need and want the device that Apple is selling, no matter what the use, then Apple should be happy. All they are doing here is turning there backs on a user base.
The post at least claims that Apple gets an extra subsidy from cell carriers based on expected revenues from voice and sms plans. So it could hurt Apple as well.
You're right though that the Skype app is a bit of an anomaly in light of this GV rejection.
Ah, I missed the bit about the subsidy. This highlights the need to think hard about what revenue streams you should pursue as a company: you may find that certain interests are mutually elusive, and you will have a tough time avoiding the alienation of certain facets of your user base.
Skype is WiFi only...perhaps GV will ultimately appear as a similarly limited app (thus protecting the frequently mentioned voice and SMS revenue, at least temporarily).
I could be wrong about the SMS side of things but aren't there a number of web-based services for sending SMS messages that can be accessed on the iphone via safari?
Either way, it is clear that cellular companies need to rethink their business models and consider the fact that moving towards an Internet connectivity-based revenue stream as a primary on PDA devices is a smart move.
I disagree with the assertion that GV being bad for cell phone carriers means it is bad for Apple.
Apple doesn't sell cell phone plans, they sell the hardware. How is it going to hurt them if people buy the hardware and use GV? It won't. As long as people need and want the device that Apple is selling, no matter what the use, then Apple should be happy. All they are doing here is turning there backs on a user base.
Anyone who