We're not quite sure what to make of Vodafone 360 - brave new world or more of the same?
So that's it then. Vodafone launches 360 and marks the official end of the operator portal after seven often dismal years.
It had been an ailing beast for some time, and then a bloke in a black turtleneck came along and stabbed it in the front, the back and right up the deck too.
Few will mourn the passing of Vodafone Live!, launched with such optimism in 2002. It was the living embodiment of the operators' hubristic desire to be a content player - a role it was never going to master.
How could it? A huge organisation that sends people bills and builds towers running a shop for music and games? It was like the gas board opening a supermarket.
Crappy UI, terrible rev shares, no long tail... you've heard it all before. Good riddance I say.
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But what has Vodafone replaced it with? In all honesty I'm not sure. I shouldn't really be admitting that as a so-called 'journalist', but in the absence of a press event this week, I've had to piece together from the press material what exactly 360 is.
Now, I know it syncs all contacts across phone book and multiple social networks into one application called Vodafone People. And I think it gives customers access to an app store. I've also surmised that it puts stuff on the cloud so that everything is backed up and duped on the PC.
There's probably loads more. But it's not exactly something you can sum up in a sentence like, say, "there's an app for that."
And if I'm unclear, what the hell will my missus think? And will she give up her iPhone to grab a piece of it? Unlikely. Mind you, it would be fun to see her rummaging in the back of the cloud for her address book.
So, obviously there are loads of issues around 360 such as how many phones it works with? And whether Voda seriously expects users to download a client for it? And what the rev shares are like?
But mostly, we just need to know what the frick it is.
Over the coming months, masses of advertising will show us whether Voda can simplify the offering and sell it persuasively.
Or whether it's Vizzavi all over again.
