I've finally been getting around to reading some back issues of Wired Magazine this weekend, which is always a worthwhile thing to do. (My regular magazine reading consists of: Wired, Technology Review, Popular Science, Fast Company, MacAddict — Dennis, you should subscribe to this, it will take your MacBook usage and enjoyment to new heights — and any of the free, locally ad-supported, parent-focused pubs available at the grocery store and My Gym. Put that in your demographic pipe and smoke it.) There, I may have found an answer to Dennis' recent lament, "I doubt that anyone has more trouble with or dislikes cell phone service more than I do." It's the MVNO, "mobile virtual network operator." What I do know thanks to Wired — Sky Dayton Gets Mobile — is that MVNOs, which piggy back on the carriers' spectrum and resell wireless services under their own name, will be a breath of fresh air to those frustrated by the products, features, and plans available from the big boys in the world of cellular services. What I don't know (and I'd love it if someone could enlighten me) is whether MVNOs, in addition to satisfying our longing for variety and flexibility, can do anything to offer improved reliability and/or speed; since their service backbone is the infrastructure of the existing cellular networks, they may just be putting lipstick on a pig.

The Wired article is several months old now (January oops, March; reading January now), and though it got me thorougly jazzed to own a Helio phone named after Y.T. from Snow Crash, it looks like only Hiro ultimately got the nod, and then with a spelling change (*sigh*). Ah well, it still is a terribly attractive notion to hitch one's cellular service wagon to a company that thinks of itself as "a gang of miltant consumers who barricade themselves inside a carrier's headquarters and refuse to leave until they get what they want." Though Helio is clearly targeting someone younger than me with more free time (or maybe a different way of looking at it is they're going after those inclined to post to Slashdot and Digg rather than just follow along), I find the whole notion refreshing, and look forward to more — whether from Helio or another MVNO.

Great marketing partnership for MySpace by the way. Though I'd probably never create a MySpace page on my own, if my phone were well integrated with it I just might. Also: when was the last time you encountered a cellular service provider with a blog?

More:

• Engadget, Helio Launches
• Engadget, Interview with Sky Dayton
• Gizmodo, Helio Here
• Helio, In The News