cell phone standards - what about the carriers (Score 3, Insightful)

Yeah the hardware is the first step, but I think the problem (at least in the USA) is that there aren't very good standards across the carriers. Up until recently you couldn't SMS an ATT mobile user if you were on Sprint. This sucks. In Europe and Asia you can SMS anyone (ok almost ~ 90%)as long as they have a mobile number, regardless of the carrier.