Why is corporate America so incompetent as a whole about the way it provides customers with services and products? Although many would argue that the corporate environment in the U.S. is the best in the world (look at the consumer economy!), it's because the majority of consumers are trained to accept inferior products and don't ever tell the companies that make them, "this isn't good enough."

If wireless companies were competent, they would not train customers like baby seals for those "free phones" and long-term contracts. They would provide a fair price for the product and provide a decent service level for the actual service. How about concentrating on existing customers instead of new ones? This is something of a pet peeve of mine, but in the short-term nuttiness on Wall Street, the only thing that matters is growth (profit being a far-behind second) -- and that comes from new customers, not old ones. Hogwash. But, that's the Street for you.

One last area that finds me in agreement with this author is the lack of standards in so many industries that virtually guarantees companies a lucrative environment of proprietary functions which lock the customer in. I realize that standards create a commodity environment more often than not, but it also forces innovation and ensures companies will do anything to make their own, unique product stand out from the crowd.

A confusing swirl of proprietary standards may be in the best interest of the companies, but it's certainly not for the end customer. Yet, every market from the digital audio player to the cellphone to the DVD market is rife with a dizzying and ridiculous array of non-compatible standards. Guess the customer is absolutely not first here, right?