Spectrum of Greed

Great device - no freedom

The Palm Pre - Sprint phone is just one more in the “pick your network provider by picking your device” disaster that defines the US wireless marketplace.  Instead of being able to say, “I would like an iPhone, and I would like to use Verizon”, or “I would like a Palm Pre, and I would like to use AT&T”, we are left with having to prioritize.  Would we rather pick our network first, then decide which phone we must settle for, or the other way around?  For business and consumers, this is very frustrating.  For cellular business providers, it is a way of life.  But there is one market opening concession to consumers in the Pre that makes it VERY exciting.

There are tons of reviews on the Pre - it appears to be the darling of the Consumer Electronics Show 2009 after the first few days, however, no matter how cool the device, one must still walk away from it unless you are willing to switch your entire family or business over to Sprint, or happen to be on Sprint already.  What are the statistics on people that have only a single cell phone on their accounts these days?  That would be some great market data to examine.

Who is getting the worst end of the deal here?  Palm, who might gain double the customer base they would have access to if their phone wasn’t exclusive, or customers on other networks that can’t get off of their current contracts to switch to the Pre, or maybe even Sprint, if the initial hype turns out to be the best thing about the phone, and they don’t convert tons of customers over from other networks.  Verizon’s iPhone killer, the Storm, had lots of hype & marketing glitz out the wazoo, but sucked when it finally got into consumer hands.

The Pre packs a bonus for the consumer that has been very slow to arrive in the US - wifi on a cell phone in addition to the cell providers network.  AT&T opened the door in the US with the iPhone to allow users to have wifi on a phone as well as access to the cell providers network.  Now Sprint has followed suit with their flagship offering of the Palm Pre.  The only major carrier that is still restricting their users to only the cell network is __________.  (you can fill in the blank.)