Exploring the impact of broadband and technology on our lives, our businesses, and our communities.
Microsoft to offer VoIP
Microsoft has announced that the company will start bundling a voice telephony application into mobile versions of Windows Mobile that runs on smartphones and PDAs. It is apparently bundled with mobile versions of Office, meaning the initial marketing is aimed at business users rather than casual consumers, who are not likely to spend the money for a copy of Office for their phone.
It is likely to have broad appeal to corporate IT staffs, who love making everyone use exactly the same set of software. But it also makes sense from a business perspective--if you want to save money on your phone bill, you can maximize savings by getting everyone to use the same VoIP software.
My guess is that Microsoft will do well with this. Think about having a buddy list right up on the Word or Excel toolbar, and being able to place a business call with a mouse click if you want to ask a question of a business associate. Or even set up a VoIP conference call while sharing a copy of the spreadsheet.
VoIP is going to change the way we do business as it becomes tightly integrated into other applications. Apple and AOL have been doing this for a while, but being late to the game sometimes allows you the opportunity to do things better.
It will be interesting to see how this actually works in practice. If Microsoft provides some interoperability with other VoIP protocols like SIP, it could be a big win for the firm.
Technology News:
Google meltdown begins
Google's share value has declined 23% of late, mostly fueled by investor worries that the company has really overreached on its plans for global domination. Google's plan to build its own, parallel Internet just smacks of a "Let's party like it's 1999," when numerous high flying firms burned through billions of investor money chasing the same pipe dream.
But there are other fires burning in Google's house. This CNet article has an edited transcript of a Congressional committee that quizzed Google, Cisco, Yahoo!, and Microsoft about getting buddy-buddy with the Chinese communist government. The congressmen asked some rather pointed questions about how these companies are helping the Chinese government round up protesters that violate rules against free speech, and the circumlocution is sad--these guys have helped the communists arrest people that just want freedom of speech, and dared to say so. We're not talking about child molesters or hackers.
But that's not Google's real problem. Take a look at this press release from the W ketchup company. The company has cancelled all advertising with Google because of Google's aid "to help the Communist regime in China suppress liberty and free expression in that country."
Canceling advertising? That hits Google right in the pocketbook. And it takes just two mouseclicks to cancel a Google ad campaign.
But as always, I think Google is in trouble because their core competency was search (notice I'm using past tense). That's what made them successful. And now their search engine stinks. They have taken their eye off the ball and are busy pursuing dozens of other initiatives, like wireless in San Francisco. How does that make their search engine better? It doesn't. It will take a while for most people to switch to other search engines, but as Google fiddles, other competitors are going to catch up.
Anybody remember Alta Vista? It once owned Internet search.
Technology News:
Broadband take rate has nothing to do with price
Here is yet another marketing study that thinks broadband take rates (how many people sign up for broadband service) are affected primarily by price of the service. The study, done by The Yankee Group, shows just how wrongheaded both the analysts and their customers (mostly telcos and cable companies) are.
I have been dealing with residential and consumer broadband deployment longer than anyone else in the world. That's not a boast, it's just a fact. We were deploying residential broadband in Blacksburg in 1994, long before any of these other firms were evenly dimly aware there was a market for broadband.
Here is some of the things we figured out:
- Price is a factor, but it is NOT the primary factor, contrary to what The Yankee Group claims. We had apartments in Blacksburg where the broadband connection was provided for free, but some people did not use it.
- When someone says, "Broadband is too expensive," what they are really saying is that they do not yet understand the utility (value) of it to them personally or professionally. Once they do, price is rarely an obstacle.
- Lowering the price of a broadband connection does not necessarily create a big increase in the take rate. If the incumbent telcos and cable companies believe The Yankee Group, they are going to be disappointed.
What does increase the take rate is education, training, and rich local content. Teaching people how to take advantage of broadband for their own purposes has good results. The problem is that education takes time and effort, and these companies are impatient. They are stuck in a Manufacturing Economy model of promoting consumption (of broadband) simply by advertising. That only works up to a point. They would be better off taking some of their ad dollars and promoting local short courses and seminars to help people learn the utility of broadband. And if some of those ad dollars went toward the support of community Web portals that provided local content that is meaningful to people, they would also see increased take rates.
The bar chart at the bottom of the article lists all the reasons why people supposedly won't buy broadband. I've heard all of them, for years. They are all true, literally, but you have to digger deeper than that to understand what is really going on.
One more thing. This study, like the Pew studies that also try to figure out why people don't move to a broadband connection, is missing a vital and important question:
If you have a broadband connection now, would you go back to dial up?
No one ever asks that question, but you need that data to get a complete picture of what is going on. Intuitively, we all know the answer. No one on broadband wants to go back. No one. Once people learn the utility and value of a broadband connection, price is rarely an issue (if local prices are reasonably affordable).
What does this mean for communities? It is good news, because it means that modest investments in training and a good community portal will expand the marketplace for broadband in the community, which attracts private investment (i.e. broadband providers). Yes, you need to invest in infrastructure, but that is the not the only thing you should be looking at. When Design Nine helps a community develop a telecommunications master plan, we look at much more than infrastructure, because the Field of Dreams model (if we build it, they will come) does not work. The whole dot-com broadband collapse was due to excessive reliance on the Field of Dreams. And it was just that--a field of dreams.
Technology and telecom master plans have to take a whole community view of broadband needs, including training, content development, and economic development. If you don't do that, you can end up wasting a lot of money.
Technology News:
Rocketboom blasts off
Rocketboom is creating a buzz online. It's a daily video Web log, or vlog, for short. Video blogs have been around for at least a year, but Rocketboom's minimalist approach, couple with an eBay auction for advertising, may just catch on as a model for both managing video content/commentary and for selling ads.
Unlike a lot of other video sites that are using a shotgun approach to video with lots of video clips, leaving it to the viewer to sort out what is worth watching, Rocketboom has a single video clip of about three minutes per day. It's mostly tech news, with a smattering of current events, loopy jokes, and a video newsperson named Amanda that relies on a steady stream of wildly exaggerated gestures as she moves from one topic to another.
It's cleverly done, and the exaggerated gesturing seems jarring at first, since we have all grown up on the talking head model of the news. But I think Rocketboom is on to something. Studies already show that when watching video on our computer, many of us quickly move on to other tasks. We may leave the video running, but in the background, often covered up, while we just listen to the audio portion.
What Rocketboom has done is taken fast cutting, inexpensive special effects, and the exaggerated mannerisms to keep our attention. And the whole "show" is short enough and entertaining enough to keep you watching all the way through. Some shows are a collection of short news items, but other segments are single story that looks at something in depth. Vist the archives and take at a look at two or three different shows to get a better feel for the variety--which is also likely to bring people back. Unpredictability is very effective for keeping people's attention.
Auctioning a week of ad space on eBay breaks out of the now boring (and largely ineffective, I think) approach of just sticking a string of Google ads up. Rocketboom provides a daily plug for their advertiser along with a link to the advertiser home page. And the auction allows Rocketboom to maximize revenue but also gives potential advertisers a chance to control prices.
Like so many other things that are emerging, you have to ask yourself, "Who predicted this one?" The answer is, "No one." But we've got both a new business and a new business model emerging. Google has competition now, and that's a good thing. And we will see many other ad models emerge as more and more businesses figure out that Google ads don't work very well.
Technology News:
Space Elevator tests get a lift
Liftport Group is testing a 1 mile high carbon fiber ribbon as part of its engineering efforts to design and build a 62,000 mile high space elevator that uses robotic lifters to ferry supplies and people up into Earth orbit. NASA has offered a cash prize for working prototypes that meet certain specifications.
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The end of the Internet?
I've borrowed the title of Jeff Chester's article in The Nation. Chester raises alarm bells about the plans of the incumbent broadband providers to create walled gardens that give them near monopoly control over what their subscribers can do and access via their broadband connections.
With the encouragement of network equipment giant Cisco, these companies are beginning to plan for massive snooping into every packet of data that flows in and out of our computers. Using Google as an example, these broadband providers want to build massive dossiers about what you watch, who you call, and what Web sites you visit, so that they can sell advertising space to companies eager to sell you something. The broadband providers are ready to jump to IP-based TV, but not the free-ranging, free for all of the Internet. Instead, you will be able to access only that programming your broadband provider will let cross their network, and it will be packaged much the way Google packages everything--with space for ads.
And if a business wants to use its broadband connection to videoconference with a distant client? Well, that may not work at all, or it will work only by paying special fees. Without the counterbalance of public infrastructure, open to any broadband service provider, this will come to pass in many communities.
Technology News:
Knowledge Democracy:
Vermont lowers barriers to broadband
Vermont legislators are debating legislation that would provide low interest loans to wireless providers that offer broadband in underserved areas of the state. And even better, the state lawmakers may waive onerous state-required impact reviews and red tape for new wireless towers if local communities have an approved review process in place.
This is exactly what government should be doing--making it easier and less expensive for the private sector to build out broadband infrastructure. The wireless tower changes recognize that broadband wireless towers are usually much lower and less obtrusive than cell towers, and don't require the same level of study and oversight.
Good for Vermont. Let's hope this bill breezes through the legislature and gets passed quickly.
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USDA's Dorr says quality of life a key factor for rural communities
Tom Dorr is one of the most knowledgeable people in the Federal government when it comes to rural issues. At a seminar in Iowa, Dorr discussed a key advantage that he thinks rural communities have when attracting entrepreneurs--quality of life (hat tip to EDPro).
Dorr is under secretary of rural development at the USDA, and he cited several factors that are becoming a major influence for relocating entrepreneurs, including peace and quiet, short commutes to work, good schools, and lower taxes. The "good schools" is an issue rural communities need to study carefully. As family needs drive business relocation, local schools need to have high graduation rates, low drop out rates, and good college prep and advanced placement classes.
Yes, that's right. Schools are an economic development issue. So does your ED strategy include goals and objectives for local schools? If not, why not?
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Georgia creates "Entrepreneur Friendly" communities
Georgia has created Entrepreneur Friendly communities (hat tip to the excellent EDPro blog).
It takes about a year for a rural community to qualify for the award, which is managed by the Georgia Dept. of Economic Development. In order to qualify, local leaders have to take leadership training, receive training on entrepreneurship needs, and work with local businesses (often a new concept for economic developers). Some communities are already reporting that they are seeing results.
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Maryland tech councils merge
Two statewide tech councils in Maryland have merged so that they can provide a clearer voice for technology businesses in the state.
Tech councils are an interesting response to the declining influence of Chambers of Commerce, which for the most part, have failed to re-think their mission and goals as the economy of local communities has changed. One problem with tech councils is that it further exacerbates the Chamber problem--forward thinking tech companies are more likely to belong to the local tech council than the local Chamber, but the two groups have overlapping goals. So the voice of both is somewhat diluted.
In some states, there are regional tech councils (e.g. Virginia), which has had mixed success. It's better from a local company perspective, perhaps, since a regional tech council is going to be more focused on local business needs. But if there are multiple councils, it is hard to get the entire tech center to speak with one voice. In Virginia, tech discussions at the state level are dominated by northern Virginia tech interests.
Maryland businesses are the right track by merging.
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