This reminds me of an old joke that makes me laugh even harder now that it's coming to fruition.
It went something like this:
"Did you hear? Microsoft was trying to work out a deal with Ford to create a car that ran on Microsoft Windows 95. The deal fell through though... turns out market research showed customers weren't interested in a car that crashed as soon as you started it up."
The fact is, with the way the major carriers are at this point it would be IMPOSSIBLE to integrate all the networks so that so long as there is a tower in range of your phone, your phone will work despite what carrier owns the tower or what carrier provides your service....
Because when it comes down to it all the major carriers use completely different signal types:
*I could have these two switched but I don't feel that double checking this detail is necessary to make my point as the general idea remains the same.
When it comes down to it you cannot unify the cell phone networks the way the landline networks have been unified.... The landline networks all use essentially the same protocol for communication. POTS (plain old telephone service)
And THEY'RE not even actually integrated! If the lines going to my house were put in by Verizon originally and I want AT&T to be my local and long distance provider, Verizon still comes in and runs the line from the pole to the network interface jack. The only difference is AT&T pays them to do it! Then an AT&T guy comes in (and if you live in the sticks it's a subcontractor not even a real AT&T guy) and does my inside wiring and then syncs me to the VERIZON network. However, the verizon account attached to my home phone line is billed to AT&T instead of me and then AT&T bills me in turn.
Isn't legislation great?! People demand to be able to choose whatever service they damn well please. this makes sense and is fair. but rather than investigating feasibility, the lawmakers said "YES! THIS IS IMPORTANT! SO IT IS WRITTEN SO IT SHALL BE DONE!" and POOF! they all integrate with a snap of some congressman's fingers! Right?! Wrong... instead all the phone companies had to come up with a scheme to give people a choice using hardware that wasn't really designed for this.... and so you wind up with a kluged* together billing and passing system. And the only reason it works is because the technology is all the same and so when your bill comes from AT&T you don't know that Verizon still owns the wire and AT&T is just acting as a middle man now and offering you their (very similar) plans. *Kluge: To force something to work by cobbling it together poorly... think of forcing the square peg into the round hole. That's kluging.
So let's get back to cell phones... without the same hardware you can't even begin to try to kluge it the same way. In my honest opinion, Skype has opened a can of worms that if the FCC sides with them, we'll feel the pain from for years to come as the cell phone companies scramble to comply with an outrageous demand.
If they didn't allow you to activate a handset that you say is 100% compatible, then I can almost certainly guess what the problem was. A few years back the FCC passed a law requiring all cell phones being activated to be cell 911-compliant. Basically these newer phones contained the ability to automatically connect you to the correct 911 call center when you dial 911 to make sure the emergency services get to you in time. (without this you may as well be calling Delouth Minnesota's call center from New York City).
They allowed phones that were ALREADY active without this ability to remain active, as it was deemed unfair to customers to make them go out and buy a new handset against their will all of a sudden. So as long as grandma keeps paying her bill she can keep that brick that sits disused in her drawer active. However, if she deactivates it and then decides she wants it again after all, she will now have to go buy a new phone (or get a free one with a 2 year contract).
In reality, your handset is probably 90% compatible with the other 10% being the 911 accessibility that is mandated by law to activate a handset.
If you're going to use a parody of the Mentat Mantra from dune, at least do it right:
It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion It is by the beans of Java that my thoughts acquire speed The hands acquire shakes The shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.
Slashdot Mirror
This reminds me of an old joke that makes me laugh even harder now that it's coming to fruition. It went something like this: "Did you hear? Microsoft was trying to work out a deal with Ford to create a car that ran on Microsoft Windows 95. The deal fell through though... turns out market research showed customers weren't interested in a car that crashed as soon as you started it up."
The fact is, with the way the major carriers are at this point it would be IMPOSSIBLE to integrate all the networks so that so long as there is a tower in range of your phone, your phone will work despite what carrier owns the tower or what carrier provides your service....
Because when it comes down to it all the major carriers use completely different signal types:
Sprint: CDMA*
Nextel: iDen
Verizon: TDMA/EvDO*
Cingular/AT&T Wireless: GSM
*I could have these two switched but I don't feel that double checking this detail is necessary to make my point as the general idea remains the same.
When it comes down to it you cannot unify the cell phone networks the way the landline networks have been unified....
The landline networks all use essentially the same protocol for communication. POTS (plain old telephone service)
And THEY'RE not even actually integrated! If the lines going to my house were put in by Verizon originally and I want AT&T to be my local and long distance provider, Verizon still comes in and runs the line from the pole to the network interface jack. The only difference is AT&T pays them to do it! Then an AT&T guy comes in (and if you live in the sticks it's a subcontractor not even a real AT&T guy) and does my inside wiring and then syncs me to the VERIZON network. However, the verizon account attached to my home phone line is billed to AT&T instead of me and then AT&T bills me in turn.
Isn't legislation great?! People demand to be able to choose whatever service they damn well please. this makes sense and is fair. but rather than investigating feasibility, the lawmakers said "YES! THIS IS IMPORTANT! SO IT IS WRITTEN SO IT SHALL BE DONE!" and POOF! they all integrate with a snap of some congressman's fingers! Right?! Wrong... instead all the phone companies had to come up with a scheme to give people a choice using hardware that wasn't really designed for this.... and so you wind up with a kluged* together billing and passing system. And the only reason it works is because the technology is all the same and so when your bill comes from AT&T you don't know that Verizon still owns the wire and AT&T is just acting as a middle man now and offering you their (very similar) plans.
*Kluge: To force something to work by cobbling it together poorly... think of forcing the square peg into the round hole. That's kluging.
So let's get back to cell phones... without the same hardware you can't even begin to try to kluge it the same way. In my honest opinion, Skype has opened a can of worms that if the FCC sides with them, we'll feel the pain from for years to come as the cell phone companies scramble to comply with an outrageous demand.
If they didn't allow you to activate a handset that you say is 100% compatible, then I can almost certainly guess what the problem was. A few years back the FCC passed a law requiring all cell phones being activated to be cell 911-compliant. Basically these newer phones contained the ability to automatically connect you to the correct 911 call center when you dial 911 to make sure the emergency services get to you in time. (without this you may as well be calling Delouth Minnesota's call center from New York City). They allowed phones that were ALREADY active without this ability to remain active, as it was deemed unfair to customers to make them go out and buy a new handset against their will all of a sudden. So as long as grandma keeps paying her bill she can keep that brick that sits disused in her drawer active. However, if she deactivates it and then decides she wants it again after all, she will now have to go buy a new phone (or get a free one with a 2 year contract). In reality, your handset is probably 90% compatible with the other 10% being the 911 accessibility that is mandated by law to activate a handset.
If you're going to use a parody of the Mentat Mantra from dune, at least do it right:
It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion
It is by the beans of Java that my thoughts acquire speed
The hands acquire shakes
The shakes become a warning.
It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion.