James. Don't get me wrong, as I completely agree with you on this one. I've never used a phone (even my smartphone) to play any type of media, and likely never will. Like you, I'd much rather save my battery life for actually making phone calls.

But it just irritates me to see companies that change major features of products AFTER you have purchased it.... I'm sure they're not going to do much to inform consumers that their MP3 playback will no longer work if they use V CAST Music. Considering that a very large percentage of teenagers (and those who like to feel young) have cell phones now and use them for camera/music/video/etc features, I just think this is a poor move.

As for the cellular company, it really depends on what you want and where you live. I always loved Verizon when I was in Alabama, and never had any problems.... other than the few times I had to call customer support, as THAT was a horrible experience. But when I moved out here to Arkansas, the drive between here and Alabama had extremely spotty Verizon coverage. And even in-town here the service is not very good. I switched to Cingular a few months ago and have full coverage anywhere in town, and coverage for probably 90% or more of the drive between here and Alabama. And their customer service was excellent the one time that I called it. For my needs/wants, Cingular is the company for me. Those with other needs/wants might prefer other carriers.

Honestly I only use my cell phone for one thing, talking. Until Cingular or T-Mobile actually get better quality of service, I'm staying on Verizon. I couldn't tell you if my new CMDA Razr even can play music. *shrug* People will put up with Verizon as long as the other GSM (and Sprint for that matter) fail to provide in 80% of the quality of service.

Heck even if I had that Motorola iTunes phone, I still would use my iPod instead. Run down my cell phone battery while traveling? Think not.