I’m sitting in on a panel right now discussing what “Open” means in the context of mobile.  We’ve got representatives from Frog Design (Mark Rolston), Verizon (Anthony Lewis), Kleiner Perkins (Matt Murphy), Nokia (David Rivas) and Google (Rich Miner).

Google's Version of Open Mobile

Listening to this “talking head” from Verizon is pretty amazing.  Typical for a big carrier, this guy says one thing and then the company behaves in a fashion totally contrary to their line.  For example, Verizon has service marked the term “Mobile Web 2.0″.  This demonstrates the amazing audacity that only a big company like Verizon exhibits.  In this case, Verizon is usurping a term that they didn’t even coin; what’s more their version of Mobile Web 2.0 bears about as much semblance to the real definition of Mobile Web 2.0 as double entry bookkeeping has to philosophy.

Here’s an example of how “Open” verizon is acting.  Saying they’ve “launched” “Mobile Web 2.0″ is a bit like saying that by putting a satellite in orbit Hughes created geosynchronus orbits.

By comparison, here’s Google’s version of open: Android.