Let me enlighten your ignorance. 1) Companies are taxed on their “fiscal” end of year profits. Stuff like this helps lower a companies tax rate and increase marketing and product awareness. 2) If you think you are wasting your money with sprint (which I doubt you have a Sprint phone), go somewhere else and pay more for the same or less service. 3) If you like Skype and other services that make you leave, how about you use a land line phone. 4)If you only need data BUY A CONNECTION CARD DUMBASS. That is available for all carriers but you’re gonna pay. The ONLY company with uld data for devices that is wireless without having to tether your phone is…. SPRINT/CLEARWIRE!

I used to work for Sprint and currently work for At&t and guess where my At&t earned money goes every month???

SPRINT ARE YOU READING THIS!! You’d better be, and you’d better get rid of all this extraneous crapware–immediately if not sooner!

Below is a commentary I wrote in the forum of the article about Android 2.1 … It covers the issue further. I was already mad enough when I wrote the article below. But since learning that Sprint wasted $720,000,000 on sports programming, and are forcing customers who don’t even like sports to subsidize it for those who do, I am now absolutely LIVID!! How DARE they??

(From my post on Android 2.1 update) Another thing, I noticed there are updates in 2.1 to some “crapware” that I don’t even want at all (and intensely resent being forced by Sprint to pay for) such as NFL and Nascar (and possibly Sprint Navigation). WTF is up with that? It’s rotten enough that they FORCE me to pay for it by building it into the OS and monthly charge, whether I want it or not, I can’t even UNINSTALL them to save memory space. I called Sprint advanced tech and they said these crapware apps were hardwired into the OS. They said I could get root and dig them out, but then they wouldn’t support anything. So I can’t get rid of them and besides now the 2.1 update will add more bytes into them which will take up EVEN MORE space. I wonder how much of my money they wasted developing these app updates that I hate and despise and am forced by Sprint to allow on my phone??

Don’t get me wrong, Sprint does a lot of things “more right” (if not perfectly) than Verizon and AT&T. And I’ve had Verizon b4–MISERABLE coverage and massive dropped calls compared to Sprint. BUUUUT when Sprint screws up they rarely admit it. As for these crapware apps of theirs, I wonder if anyone has told them about the Android market? I’ve never checked but I’d bet money that there are apps for NFL and Nascar and Navigation (etc) on the Market, and THAT’S where such stuff should be–NOT baked into the OS! I don’t even want text messaging included, if I want to text I can download an app for that.

ALL I want from you, Sprint, (ALL–MIND YOU) is voice and unlimited data! That’s it!! And here’s another newsflash for you Sprint (and other carriers) as soon as your 3g and 4g get upgraded everywhere and either Skype or some other service comes out with an app with unlimited minutes to replace your voice service, I am “so gone”. I will only need or want “data only” then. You can fight it all you want, but your voice business will be totally commoditized within 10 years of today and I can’t wait. Get it thru your thick proprietary heads, we ONLY need you for data. That’s it!! Data ONLY! Everything else is an application (EVERYTHING!!!) including voice! You can FIGHT your customers by bundling crapware together and delaying OS OTA updates and treating everything like its STILL your little “walled garden”, but you will only succeed in slightly slowing down the inevitable–and pissing us all off in the meantime! OOOOOR you can embrace the painful future and earn our good will, and future data business by not holding up the inevitable another microsecond longer than it has to take.

Now, can I get an “AMEN” on all that from the congregation!! Thank you.

Only offering it to specific carriers seems silly in my mind, but Verizon and Sprint are shelling out a lot of dough to pay for them. ($720 million is kind of a lot, I guess.) This probably allows them to hit all 3g devices on a carrier, including Blackberry. NFL Mobile and ESPN probably thought they’d get more from backing a specific carrier, rather than offering it to the entire Android market and getting money on a per-download basis. Kind of stinks for anyone that would like to have a choice of what to get, though.

I’ll take those, but don’t much care about the rest.