Verizon says no to iPhone

According to USA Today:

Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. "We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn't reach a deal that was mutually beneficial."

Ten million iPhones by the end of '08?  That's $5 Billion in spending?  Since Americans usually get their phones for free or nearly free thanks to service subsidies, I bet that's as much or more than what Americans spend on all other phones combined.

The portable media player market that Apple successfully entered (some would say created) with iPod is completely different from the much more well-established phone market.  For one thing, with phones the device is worthless without an active subscription agreement with another separate, large company.  Apple's whole business model, which is based on complete control of the end-to-end experience, will have a hard time fitting.