Andy Loughran wrote: > Well those were exactly my two thoughts: > > 1) Vodafone can brand it to a much higher level than ever before. > -'unlimited' customisation
Actually, many carriers are now moving into new countries, as there is more scope in places where people don't have many 'phones. That means they will have to start offering services and handsets in lots of different languages and scripts (not just English/ASCII), and then customise them to meet the needs of, say, rural farmers in Bangladesh, instead of the city traders and teenage SMS addicts they know and love. To research those markets, they will need really customisable devices, ones which allow you to install new fonts and localisations, or even design screen interfaces for the illiterate. So it makes sense for them to start with the most customisable machines they can, before decided on a final design to mass produce. I have a Ph.D. student who is going to be studying how rural farmers in Bangladesh make use of wireless communications to improve rural income and agricultural productivity. -- Dr. David R. Newman, Queen's University Belfast, School of Management and Economics, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland (UK) Tel. +44 28 9097 3643 FAX: +44 28 9097 5156 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.qub.ac.uk/mgt/ _______________________________________________ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community