thanks for your kind comments. I am glad to be back (partially).

I agree with you that this is more than long distance wars, and could be a sign of the times for the cell phone service. I am heading over to read your post.

As to this post: Can it be that discounted cell phone hardware has really shifted the marketing focus of an industry this much? How has an industry that was once service focussed become gadget focussed?

I think this video tells a lot more than a mid 1990s long distance story. It tells the story of an undifferentiated market, of an oversaturated market, or a bland industry trying to gain attention through add-ons. And when the add-ons (such as cell phones) become the primary face of the company, the industry shifts from a service industry, to an add-on marketing engine. Cell service will never again be about the core of their offering – a pipeline. Until the US cell market opens up, and users learn to pay for their hardware, we will continue to be stuck with the ugly industry we have, an industry where devices, not service define a service company.

Just posted about this here: http://jburg.typepad.com/future/2008/01/telcos-used-to.html

http://mogulus.com/mndoci

http://flickr.com/photos/tags/seattlestartupweekend/

http://xidey.wordpress.com/