Odds and Ends

As I mentioned earlier, I am still trying to get through the backlog in the RSS reader. Here’s a few older items worth writing about. I’ll come back and pick up the others later on.

• Tim Wu’s Paper on the Wirless Industry: This paper is a must read. It explains, in exquisite detail, why the US wireless market sucks and how we should fix it.
• Are US Consumers Not Smart Enough for Smartphones?: Darla Mack asks the question. A lot of it boils down to the reasons presented in the Tim Wu paper. However, as I’ve said before, Nokia needs to make a better go at it in the US market by offering more opportunities for direct selling (either thru flagship stores or other retail outlets).
• VoIP Hardware fails to deliver on the promise of VoIP: This is Aswath’s response to my rant on how, by and large, VoIP hardware sucks. He’s right. I’d even go so far as to say VoIP software also sucks to a certain degree. The one thing Skype does right that the other guys don’t do is firewall traversal, which even works through a web proxy environment.
• Covad Embraces Blogger Relations: Ken got to talk to Covad a while back. I am also in this program, but due to schedule conflicts, I was unable to meet with them until yesterday. I had talked with Simon McIver for over an hour yesterday and I got the sense that Covad really wants to understand their customers, their business, and their needs. Having a fantastic blogger relations program is one way to do that. I am looking forward to further conversations with them and getting an opportunity to get a “soup to nuts” experience with their products.
• Which Nokia is right for you?: That’s a good question. Right now I carry the Nokia E61. On the weekends, I am adding the Nokia N73 to the mix as well. If I had a Nokia E61i or a Nokia E90, I’d think I’d be doing good. Or maybe an N95. Decisions, decisions…