[Wormnet] Mobile phone future: When will the phones be completely "open"?

[Johan Kullberg]

We had a discussion about mobile phones and where they're heading in the future 
recently. Today, one issue crossed my mind. For most phones today, it's 
possible to download and install games and other applications, but only those 
that are approved by the mobile phone company. The reason is that they don't 
want things like sex, gambling etc connected to their brand. 
Suppose that Microsoft would have had similar limitations, because they didn't 
want just anything to pop up under MS Windows, or that IBM wouldn't allow 
certain things to appear in a IBM computer screen?!? My question is - how soon 
do you think a mobile phone will be regarded just as a computer, able to run 
any kind of application without restrictions, developed by anyone?

//  Johan