Natasha Lomas: Why Startups Are Beating Carriers
Any startups out there seeking to build a business by
setting out to confuse as many users as possible with overly complex pricing
structures, while tricking those who can’t afford the full-fat service into
signing up for ridiculously over-priced rubbish and then making it really hard
for them to opt out? If so you’ll want to look to carriers for inspiration.
Startups aren’t immune to dubious and irresponsible
behaviour, of course — appropriating address book data without
asking properly first, for instance, or playing fast and loose with TOS and
scaring the bejesus out of users – but those
that act like douches have to worry that their douchey behviour will cause them
to (rightly) lose users. Carriers operate differently: their infrastructure has
created captive markets, making it tough for customers to switch to a better
alternative. Hence the shoddy behaviour. Read more on TECH CRUNCH
