The hardware has caught up, it's the telecoms that have not.
That statement is absolutely true. We have the technology. What we do not have is the belief/permission of those holding various monopolies (or effective ones) that opening up their networks / copyrights / business models will really provide them with a greater economic gain.
As for this API, I think it's fantastic, but they should really take it a step further. If there's some sort of national or international consortium of retailers, they should create a free, unified API such that a good produced anywhere in the world will have an entry in the system. It'd even be cool if they added a rebate submission system into it as well, instead of having to mail in rebates for things.
absolutely right though, telecoms are going to push status quo for as long as they can because that's what is profitable for them right now. but the time will eventually come, and they will change (although i admit maybe not as quickly as i hope it will; i was the kid in school dreaming of FTTH in 2000).