OT: LinuxTag '09 in Berlin, Germany

[arne anka]

> A good move in this respect would be if the European Community would
> simply forbid the practice of subsidizing phones. Maybe we should start
> a petition for that ;)

i guess, with apple's and providers' restrictions on available apps for  
phones, thus limiting the freedom of choice for users, we're a step closer  
to that (could be compared to the browser wars).
but subsidizing devices and making the customers pay kind of rent, is a  
venerable business model.

the lever probably is the freedom of choice (see internet explorer), ie  
the openess in terms of software to be installed by the user, thus  
creating a free market for software and services and destroying the  
benefits of limitation.