Google, Android, Verizon, the US wireless market, and Net Neutrality

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/google-raises-the-white-flag-on-transforming-the-us-wireless-industry/41996?tag=nl.e539

So the dream of having a European-style wireless market in the US was dealt a big blow by Google and it's new Nexus S phone.

This commenter sums it up best -

The only force that can transform consumer markets... is consumers. When consumers become educated and stop accepting crap from vendors for their money, things may change. Unfortunately the consumer has been conditioned to believe that they have no say and no power. This is made abundantly clear when you look at any number of vertical markets...software and airlines spring immediately to mind.

Consumers have been led to believe that they have no alternative but to accept whatever level of treatment the industry deems appropriate. They don't understand that "market-driven economy" doesn't mean "business-driven economy". Consumers are the market, business is the entity that serves the market.

Google, in developing Android, provided a tool for business to serve the market. It is ultimately up to the consumer to vote with their pocketbook which vendors are serving the consumer best.

I fear that this venture will further erode the possibility of Net Neutrality ever becoming a viable reality in the United States. Till people come to fully understand and realize the implications of what's going on and respond, I see the Internet going the way of network television - another controlled corporate product distribution system.