>> "Cell phone and tablet operating systems that are completely open, easy to modify (and easy to distribute modifications), and easy to use from a consumer point of view would change my world. I'd use it in a heartbeat, and I dearly hope this is what Firefox OS will be."
This is something most people would be excited to use. Problem is, it isn't going to happen. I would love it to but look at what happened on the desktop. Mobile looks like it's going the same way. From a consumer stand point closed is usually better - there are fewer problems, better service and little setup. People want this even more on a phone than they did on a PC.
A cheap device with tremendous ease of use and explicit details about security and how to deal with it would appeal to a set of informed consumers, and appeal wildly to a broad set of developers and hackers. I don't see a failure to gain traction among the "average" consumer to be a real problem with execution.
This is something most people would be excited to use. Problem is, it isn't going to happen. I would love it to but look at what happened on the desktop. Mobile looks like it's going the same way. From a consumer stand point closed is usually better - there are fewer problems, better service and little setup. People want this even more on a phone than they did on a PC.