I suffered for years as a water-carrier for Windows and All Things Microsoft. I had a late-model Windows Mobile phone, the Sprint/HTC Mogul. Never again. In the final months of my contract, I grew to loathe the phone, refering to it as the “Wagon Queen Family Truckster” of cell phones. You know how when you meet someone and you’re really attracted to them, but they have some obvious personality flaws, tics, or other weirdness, but you tell yourself “it’s okay…I don’t care about that…it won’t matter,” but in time, you can’t think of anything else BUT the annoying flaws? THAT sums up my relationship with the Windows Mobile OS, and, by extension, the Sprint/HTC Mogul. From the 1/2 day battery life, crappy keyboard, and lame 1x service (in Amarillo…don’t believe that 4G BS they’re pushing on TV) to the idiosyncratic operating system (with an emphasis on the “IDIO” part, as in “IDIOT”) that only an uber-geek could love, I’m glad to be rid of that crapalicious excuse for a phone. Two tin cans and some string would have worked better on occasion.

What impresses me so much about the iPhone is that it’s so bloody intuitive, simple, and…fun. The interface doesn’t make you work to do something – it gets out of your way. That’s the way a tool should be…it’s raison d’etre is to make your life easier by working for you. Not in spite of you.

It’s also great to see that Apple’s marketing team doesn’t over-hype the phone. They don’t need to, but it’s nice to see them sell the reality and not the promise.

So count me as one satisfied customer, at least at this stage of the game. The price of admission is still high, but if you want a phone that just works – but does a LOT more than just let you make calls, check out the iPhone. And stay away from anything that says “Windows Mobile” on it. Remember – I did warn you…

Other inventions or innovations are a lot more obvious. You can instantly understand how they will change everything. Today, I learned about one such innovation, and lemme tell you, it’s Katie bar the door time in Telecommunications Land. I speak of the imminent release of Google Voice.

Google. The company that is “this decade’s Microsoft” much like “green” is the new “black” (or more aptly, the new “red” – but I digress). Google is a bloody force of nature in the tech world. Seemingly, there are no markets, no challenges, and certainly no technologies they cannot conquer. You thought their forays into telephony would be limited to the Android O/S and phones? Think again, bunkie. Google Voice is a game-changer in the same vein as Alexander Graham Bell eclipsed two tin cans and a piece of string.

What is Google Voice? It’s a complete re-think of how we use telecommunications, that’s what. And it’s gonna mark a tectonic shift in the markets for land lines, cell phone services, and will effectively free customers from the chains of telephony companies for all time. Sound like it’s too good to be true? Read on, McDuff, and cursed be he that puts you on “Hold”…

First of all, Google Voice will let you pick out a number that will become, forever and for always “your number.” All of your other phones – work, home, cell, you name it – will be able to answer that number – and you’ll have complete control over how it works.

Google Voice will replace your voicemail with a single message service that will allow you to do things you used to be able to do with a mechanical voice messaging machine (remember those?), i.e.: monitor your incoming calls as they come in, and decide if you want to take the call. Even better, your incoming voice message can be customized for each (and if you like, every) person in your contact list. Here’s a biggie: you can actually block specific callers, who’ll get the “We’re sorry…this number is no longer in service” message. (Tell me you haven’t wished for THAT feature once or twice.) And, of course, you’ll also be able to retrieve your messages from any of your phones – or even from the web. Oh, and get your voice messages transcribed automatically, to text. Did I mention that all this is FREE?

There’s more. Go here to see the feature list. I’ll wait.

You back? Good. Okay, now put on your marketing point-of-view goggles, and think about what this is gonna do to the telecommunications landscape. First of all, you’ll never again have to care about a land line or cell number portability. Wanna change carriers – go ahead. Your clients/friends/family will be calling your Google number. Tired of paying out the wazzoo for extras like caller ID, call forwarding, call blocking, et cetera? They’re free with Google Voice. Oh, and all calls within the U.S. are FREE, so forget about paying for long distance ever again. Paying extra fees for landline voicemail? Fergeddaboutit. Tired of telemarketers calling? Block ‘em. Wish you could transfer a call from your cell phone as it starts to run out of juice, to your land line? You got it.

See what I mean? The features they’ve packed into this service are huge. The idea that they’re gonna give them away for free is a game changer, period.

I’d hate to be some AT&T VP in charge of land line service right now. Between getting beaten up on price by Vonage and Via-Talk on one side, the Cable bundle deals on another and now Google on a third, it’s gotta be getting pretty hot in that particular seat.

Now stop and think: what’s Google’s typical “second act,” in every other market they’ve penetrated? That’s right. Mash-ups and third-party add-ons. Imagine a virtual call center made up of hundreds of Google Voice numbers. You see where I”m going with this…if phone equipment and software guys thought the commercial markets were safe, guess again. My guess is that it won’t take more than 18 months for Google to go after commercial voice traffic and call centers. When that happens, you’ll watch call center companies dropping like flies.

Where does this all lead? I dunno. But as far as I can see, it means power to the consumer, one more notch in Google’s belt, and a fervent hope that Google continues to be a corporation that wants to “do good,” and not morph into some kind of online Dr. Evil, bent on world domination. Of course, if you can dominate the world by giving everything away for free, who needs to be evil?