Solution to AT&T Greed, and other corporations as well.
AT&T is going to force customers who already pay for voice and data to pay to connect devices to their iPhones which they were able to do using free software. AT&T is not providing any new service, they are just double charging already paying customers. They can do that because there really isn’t any competition. Verizon similarly abuses customers. The solution is to provide real competition to the government empowered oligopolies.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/03/att-tethering/
Several of the comments mention there is a social benefit to using technology and the greed of these corporations is holding back society. Recently I’ve been talking with Frithjof Bergmann, the founder of New Work, New Culture, about ways to provide low cost communication. And I’ve been working on a project to revitalize Detroit by establishing self-sufficient communities. If communication is a community value then it makes sense to have a community owned telecom.
Imagine a cellular co-op where all the users are also owners. The co-op model could potentially operate at much lower costs than the for-corporate model. Additionally, a co-op telecom could be crowd funded for the start-up. It also would not need to be one monolithic organization. It could equally well work as a coalition of regional co-op service providers. Electricity and insurance in rural USA were originally operated as co-operatives and some still are operated that way. This is obviously a big project but it is clearly possible.
For some ideas about how a co-op corporation could operate
Mondragon
Overlooked Innovations: Musical Comb
Run your finger across the teeth of this comb and it plays a song. This is same concept as a music box. It’s hundreds of years old but never applied this way. It could have been made thousands of years ago.
http://asia.cnet.com/crave/comb-shaped-business-card-plays-the-rolling-stones-62110910.htm
Homemade Knitting Machine – Repurposed Tech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUXk-EHKD_c
Knitting machine made from an old printer could be also be totally mechanical using peddle power or a small wind mill. This is great small business opportunity.
You could sell the knitted items, sell the machines, or sell kits and training.
Predictive Innovation Training
Predictive Innovation: Core Skills Book
RoundSquareTriangle.com