Ad Nauseam

How, you may ask, could cellphone be even more annoying? How about if you had to watch a commercial before you could make a call? Here is the very definition of hell:

Google Inc. has developed a prototype cell phone that could reach markets within a year, and plans to offer consumers free subscriptions by bundling advertisements with its search engine, e-mail and Web browser software applications, according to a story published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

Google is showing the prototype to cell phone manufacturers and network operators as it continues to hone the technical specifications that will allow the phone to offer a better mobile Web browsing experience than current products, the Journal said.
...
The move would echo another recent product launched by a phone industry outsider, Apple Inc.'s iPhone. But Google's product would draw its revenue from a sharply different source, relying on commercial advertising dollars instead of the sticker price of at least $499 for an iPhone and $60 per month for the AT&T Inc. service plan.

Negotiating the fairest way to split those advertising revenues with service providers could be a big hurdle for Google, one analyst said. Another problem is the potential that consumers could be scared off by the prospect of listening to advertisements before being able to make phone calls, said Jeff Kagan, a wireless and telecommunications industry analyst in Atlanta.

Look, I admit that I'm a cheap bastard, but I will gladly pay for things I like and use--and be happier for it than having to deal with annoying ads every time I want to do something.

It's funny: Google is taking over the world by making everything free but ad-supported. What happens if everyone expects everything to be free and ad-supported? Who will then want to buy the things the ads are promoting? And then why will any advertiser want to support ad-supported technologies? Norman, coordinate!