Cell phones go both ways

An article in Wired says some cell phone makers see a big, big opportunity in cheap, simple cell phones that will sell for @$20.

The GSM Association, a trade group for mobile operators using GSM
technology, meanwhile, has also sparked a race to the bottom of the
price scale with its Emerging Market Handset Programme.
Acting on behalf of operators from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and
Turkey, the group has outlined specifications for a new ultra-low-cost
device that would help create a viable business serving people who may
only pay $5 a month.

The GSMA talks of "connecting the unconnected people" of the world,
noting that around 80 percent of the world’s population lives within
wireless coverage but only 25 percent use mobile services. These
feel-good words run parallel to the more hard-nosed reality that people
without phones are a ripe market.

Of course, the high end of phones with everything will still get plenty of development because they are real profit-makers. But, for my money, the device that will bring the best options for communicating with people and "continuous computing" will be the cell phone, the networks, and the services.