Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

Let's face it. There is just no "must have" phone. In North America you get a choice of exactly what the few providers offer, on their terms. They change models, features, and price points on an almost daily basis. And the actual manufacturers of the phones seem to have very little control.

But imagine for a second that a new cell phone company decidesto turn that model inside out. To offer a cool phone that everyone wants - like an Apple iPhone. Michael Gartenberg says he is already getting calls about the iPhone, even though it hasn't even been announced yet.

With a couple of exceptions like the Motorola RAZR or PEBL, no phone has captured the consumer mindset. However, Apple can extend the success and ubiquity of the iPod to the iPhone given their ability to create products that consumers love. And it has been suggested that Apple will sell an unlocked phone, allowing customers to go to whatever provider then want to. That would take a lot of control out of the hands of the telecom providers, which they would probably hate.

We stopped letting the phone company dictate what phones we could have in our homes decades ago. Why do we still let that model exist with cell phones?