Mossberg Keeps On Dreaming of a Phone Revolution

Mossy’s column today is a remix of his Wireless Telcos as Soviet ministries joke, told first in a June 2005 column. He complains about phone companies locking handsets to carriers, and making them lame little pocket convenience stores for ringtones, and so on (my words). The timepeg is Apple’s new promise of a software development kit for the iPhone, perhaps the device that could best benefit from such an open arrangement. Yes, I am glad he’s continuing the salvo against the phone companies. But there is a but.

I am glad he credits Apple with trying to do the right thing as far as the SDK and openness go. I just wish he was a little more skeptical of Apple, given that they now share revenues for monthly charges and I’d assume, ringtones and maybe future apps. My point is that I hope that Mossberg has a plan of action for journalists and consumers to fight this one and enacting some change, rather than just a theoretical bitch much like the 2005 column and the great craplet article from last year. Maybe journalists covering the topic should base their ratings on all phones in part by checking how tarted up a handset is by a carrier, and regular joes can buy unlocked handsets. But I’m unsure of what else can be done. So, Walt, lead the charge and we’ll follow. What can we do to fight the machine? [AllThingsD]