Phones

Everyone wants to own the distribution lines for music and entertainment. The phone companies are in a good position, except that consumers probably want a central store (as in a computer) for their music so they don't lose it all if they lose their cell phone.

The two sides also have very different perspectives on how digital music stores should work. Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular are expected to charge about $2 for wireless downloads when they introduce their services, or twice the 99 cents per song on iTunes. They figure they can charge a premium for the convenience of getting songs anytime, even though customers most likely won’t be able to listen to those songs anywhere but on their phones, at least initially. One knowledgeable source close to Apple says the operators are simply being unrealistic...

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