My mobile phone is vastly improved over the first one I ever had. It can do things that make the original phone look like something out of an archeological dig.
So why is it that the services my phone company provide along with it are still so basic?
There's something I've wanted for _years_. When I go to bed I want to tell them that. And then, when someone calls for me they should be told "Andrew Ducker is asleep. Press 1 to leave a message, or if it's urgent then press 2 to wake him."
If my answerphone services were provided by a third party, and there was serious competition in this arena, then I'm sure that I'd already have this as an option. But because the services that are provided are all subservient to "you can have x minutes, y texts and z MB for n pounds per month" you don't see any innovation outside of the actual phones.