One of the big arguments surrounding mobile operators is whether they will simply become dump pipes. The points of view are pretty simple. The mobile operators say that they will be major media companies and control everything on one side, and everyone else says get out the way and do what you’re good at - delivering bits with remarkable reliability.

And here’s an example of why the operators are doomed.

My shiny, wonderful N95 8Gb has something called Vodafone Messenger on it. This appears to be a client for MSN Live Messenger. Having found it, I thought I’d give it a try.

It all starts with the usual S60 “Which of these ten obscure networking choices do you want to fail with?” question, to which I started with the usual Contract Internet. Typing in some details, and boom. No connection. Tried again with my office WiFi. No connection. Tried again with Contract WAP.

It connected. I am now asked, on a page headed Credit Notification, “Please select one of the following asset options:”.

A what option? Did nobody from marketing or with a microgram of marketing sense check these messages?

However it doesn’t really matter as there is precisely one option. It is still presented on a radio button, with causes the long text label to scroll. Apparently I will have one month free and then have to pay £3/month there after. Are they kidding? £3/month just to get on messenger occasionally? Why isn’t it bundled with my data plan?

And just to cap it all, the Back button on that page does nothing!

How many more obstacles can they put in the way of service adoption? Are they going to ask for a blood sample next?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.