First DRM - next SIM card?

So I hear Sheryl Crow on the radio:

"...It's not having what you want
It's wanting what you've got..."

And I go, damn straight - I am going to show my 8125 some love, the one feeling sorry for not being a iPhone.

So I go download that number and another dozen from iTunes.  To spoil my 8125, I pay a 11c premium each over Walmart.com where I usually download my music. (My daughter, not yet a sourcing cheapskate, religiously buys those many each month from iTunes for her iPod).

And it hits me. Some day I would love to buy calls and data minutes by the drink from an "iCalls". That serviced by Apple. Or WalMart. Or AT&T. Or Verizon.  Or Virgin. Or Skype. Or Whoever.

Using an iPhone or a  8125. Or a Nokia. Or a Motorola.

It's taken a few years, and resistance from the music industry, but iTunes is finally moving away from DRM. It may take a few years but I would like to see Apple similarly move away from the equivalent in the telecom market - the locked SIM card.

Because when we deregulated the telecom industry that is what we wanted - not a scenario where I pay $ 25 for a measly 1135 kb download to my 8125 while roaming on the AT&T network in Austria.

Now that would make me sing with Sheryl. she in Austin, me in Austria and not have a stress attack when we open our monthly mobile bills:

".... I'm gonna soak up the sun
Got my 45 8125 on
So I can rock on..."