First iTunes, next iCalls?

I wrote First DRM - next SIM card in July.

"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."

It may be unraveling much quicker than that.

Fortune reports that  "a whopping 250,000 -- nearly 20% -- of the iPhones purchased so far haven't been activated for AT&T accounts."

Now a German court has issued a preliminary injunction against T-Mobile  preventing it from linking sales of  iPhone to a two-year T-Mobile contract.

Steve, listen to the market. It may be ready for what I described as the "iCalls" model - I think you are familiar with the basic model...

"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."