The world is flat

So i guess I sort of promised to stay away from blogging during my holiday. I had naively assumed that I could escape modern technology here in South Sinai, Egypt but not so. Free wi-fi in the hotel allows me to check my e-mails, do blogposts and talk to people for free using skype - all this from my windows based mobile phone.

One thing I am not going to use my phone for? Making phone calls. This is quite a paradox and I believe this is a significant observation. The over- regulated, mobile industry is becoming passe. Quickly. They are not so much a key factor in the flattening of the world (have me excused, I am 200 pages into Thomas Friedman's epic book on globalization 'the world is flat') as a hinder. It would cost me hundreds, probably thousands in roaming fees to receive and make phone calls, answer my e-mails and text messages and browsing the net using GPRS.

So just for the record, here's my prediction: mobile companies not able to transform their services to an open, cheap, deregulated and global platform will suffer a slow death.