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When do the patents expire?When do the patents expire?Posted Feb 25, 2009 13:53 UTC (Wed) by chsnyder (subscriber, #52714)In reply to: When do the patents expire? by eru Parent article: The trouble with OpenBTS
Indeed. One could do A LOT with wide-area 9600kbps wireless data coverage and/or free sms, now that we have tiny linux devices that can speak to those networks.
As with any other industry where service providers build a wall of IP around their offerings, the innovation that comes with casual use is stifled in favor of a few narrow channels of maximum profitability.
One needs only to look at Twitter to see that there is enormous value to society in free short mobile messaging services. Someone could have realized that back in the 90s, and probably did, but the phone company's business models prevented most people from thinking of sms that way. How can you imagine building a city- or region-wide sensor network on top of gsm services when each node would cost $30/mo plus 25 cents per message? You can't.
Change the cost per node to $20/year (or free!) and it becomes doable.
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