A little green and way to Literal @EnVii

By Carl | June 29, 2012 - 1:28 pm | Uncategorized

Our post about #DevCon5 got this response from @EnVii

@DevConFive since when is HTML considered a ‘programming’ language? hint: ‘M’ stands for ‘markup’

While the statement is true the reality is that Programming gets embedded into the markup and with the browser acting more like a client server model the programming calls are coming from the blend.

That is why Peter Lubbers now at Google who wrote the book Pro HTML5 Programming. It is also why Programming in HTML5 has over 45 M results.

But more importantly the reason its called #DevCon5 is that #HTML5 is the glue for the mix we are showcasing at the event. You should come and see the whole picture

Apple Tel

By Carl | June 27, 2012 - 8:11 am | PodCast

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Nothing frustrates me more than the Internet Toaster discussion. While it is true that the Internet has done some amazing technology changes for us, the reality is that outside plant still requires truck rolls and people.

So when someone says that Apple is going to buy a carrier, I have to question if they were in the same business as I was.

Now to their credit these Apple Tel advocates are looking at the financials and making the market cap analysis that does normal M&A.

However, if you look at the balance sheet you discover that the subsidies to the consumer which is killing the carriers would go away.

Additionally this would add to the regulatory nightmare that Apple would have to navigate. And finally and most importantly their sights are set on China and not on the US so why buy a carrier that only serves a smaller percentage of the market.

Still not convinced? Neither are some friends. So join us for the discussion. August 16th.

Going to the Bank or Taking a Bath?

By Carl | June 25, 2012 - 11:09 am | Carl Ford IMHO

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I am waiting for the plane and everywhere I turned I saw the iPhone. Everyone has one, kids, parents, and grandparents.

Apple has made the device franca. No wonder Microsoft is treading lightly as it figures out how to compete with the iPhone and iPad. Nokia and Surface are the brands of record and not Microsoft. Not wanting to over promise everyone is staging and trying to find their path. Microsoft takes the surface out of the box to gauge if they will have demand. RIM’s inventory problem which has led to its stock slide shows that marketing needs to step up and guide how the design to match the demand of the future.

The West Coast players of Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Google, Microsoft and Oracle all have the capital to buy a network. However, I still have a hard time believing that a device company should buy a telephone company. But let’s talk it through with our Stock Market friends on August 16th. You can join us for the DeviceTel conversation you can join us . However, calling Apple the device franca ignores an important aspect. No one is making phone calls on the device.

“What is everyone doing on the device?” Unfortunately Mary Meeker seems to be the only one with a clue given the recent Bureau of Labor and Statistics use of time analysis .

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, which needs to find a way to associate the Internet with its time use study, after sleep and work our next biggest chunk of time is spent watching TV. I am not sure if this survey has been changed since Lawrence Welk was first taken off the air (as opposed to being on PBS in rerun).
So let’s do our own study and let’s get a better picture of what we do .
And let’s look beyond the device and to the life style. I tweeted that I feel like we need to update Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance .

Perhaps you will join us tomorrow at IMTC’s 2025 .

From an operations standpoint we have SIPNOC going on this week. If the device folks want to be a telco should join us in Virginia.

Are We Setting Precedent or Just Looking over a Precipice

By Carl | June 18, 2012 - 1:33 pm | Opinion

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Greeks are having elections; PACs are gathering Millions and Apple had their Developer Conference. It’s easy to see why; I am not catching a lot of attention. According to the news we are on the precipice. My articles focus on the precedents.

In conversations this week, I have been told that my Regulatory 2.0 efforts at best can solve minor nits. Market trends point to consolidation and regardless of who wins the election telecom initiatives are mired in problematic policies. It does not take much analysis to see the analytics of the device and apps company are a much better picture than the Service Providers data equivalent of three tone slope.

I see the issues of Net Neutrality as being more of a last device rather than a last mile issue and I would love for you agree or disagree here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MHCFC6K.

However some policy changes give me hope.

Brough Turner and Tom Evslin both recognized that in the commissions super WiFi decision we were getting a new precedent on how spectrum would be allocated. I shared that point captured in Rich Steves’ article http://bit.ly/KALGtx opportunity.

Another precedent is WebRTC which is captured by our friend Alan Quayle in his article for No Jitter http://bit.ly/K9UOz2 . I tweeted the question, “Does WebRTC force the carriers to VoLTE? “

As over the top becomes the norm, I here that it’s all because of Apple’s influence.

I am always leery of giving Apple credit for insight into telecom
My friends continue to think that Apple will be a carrier, ignoring the fact that they just added Cricket to the list with ATT, Sprint and Verizon Wireless in the US alone.

Our friend’s logic is that they have all this cash that they need to find something to do with it, and from a market cap perspective companies like Clearwire are easy acquisitions. It’s easy to imagine a Brewster’s Millions remake where Tim Cook drains the coffers to make a worldwide network. As a result of this discussion, I am looking to develop a series of calls under the Regulatory 2.0 umbrella which I am borrowing form SNL and calling “Really DeviceTel?” The first one I am looking for my Wall Street Analyst friends to talk about the soundness of the financing this telco strategy. If you want to participate send a note to me cford@imhocorp.com .

Don’t misunderstand in terms of networks Apple has one. Like Amazon, Google and Microsoft the network supports the cloud not the call. In fact, I can make the case that these companies have created in their messenger services a better over the top service than the carriers can create. Even Blackberry Messenger could be part of this over the top RTC crowd.

So the story is about the Apps and the developers

Tim Cook, led the Apple WWDC faithful which inspired me to write my Mobility Tech article http://bit.ly/Mev2JP . Apple’s empire gets built one market at a time and now the sites are set on search. I tweeted “Can Apple Turn 400 Million People against Google”. I watched the faithful clapping appreciatively, I was thinking of the contrary side (It’s my job and my nature). Jeff Pulver started by providing bond analytics as an Add on to Lotus 123, his add on was embedded by Microsoft into Excel pushing him out of the market but standardizing his error codes. Watching Apple showing their embedding of Facebook, Maps and Yelp, I wonder what business plans were being destroyed in the smiling audience.

Everyone wants the developer and with HTML5 we can all be developers.

In trying to think about this, I was reminded of my old math book, which led to my M2M article http://bit.ly/NuAOhw and my Bob Newhart’s button down mind http://bit.ly/M1dnHg .

My path the next few weeks has me returning to Washington DC and then to Boca Raton. If you are in these areas let me know.

At one point I am going to be at two places at once. A new precedence for me based on the video world http://bit.ly/KPhi8o that is changing our future, (and a Firesign Theatre overtone). I am going to participate in IMTC’s 2025 http://2025.imtc.org/ and the SIP Forum’s SIP NOC http://bit.ly/LuldbV .

I will try to point out the precedents that will lead to the future and not cry that we are on a precipice.

Would you “like” it if I bothered Tweeting 2B or Not2B

By Carl | June 10, 2012 - 5:41 am | Uncategorized

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If someone is clever enough to make an application of following the Wall Street Journal 2B index of companies, I will work with them to promote it, but it will also add to the paradox.

The paradox is that about 2/3rds of the postings to Twitter are through the APIs. So in effect you have to ask the question is anyone really listening or is everyone just manipulatively “sharing and retweeting”.

Likewise, I have gotten to the point that most of my Facebook posts are done remotely.

After “liking” Google+ for a while I made the mistake of friending both a Gay Advocate who posts every opportunity I have to join a community I have little interest in seeing and an Evangelist who counter posts and wants me to understand the implications of straying from the true path. In other words I have been driven off my own page.

So where is community in all this? Is a community represented by the number of distractions they send? The whole world seems to have gone mad with distractions? No offense to the Queen’s Jubilee, but nothing corporate seems to have any traction in this world. On my radio, if I give them 22 minutes they give me the world, if I give them 44 minutes I wasted 22 waiting for something new, and that repetition is rampant on CNN, FOX, CNBC, etc.

Even the Wall Street Journal can’t seem to keep focused. No offense to Walt Mossberg , but when I get the WSJ I immediately go to Page 2 in the Marketplace section (hence the 2B reference) and look for the major players in our space. Instead, I get to read about a 6 person app company that wants to be viral. Bless them all, but I think this belongs somewhere else. This week’s WSJs had drivel in the way of carrier coverage. Even the Wednesday story about the carriers changing their billing models was more focused on the Apple, and gave Apple more credit than Skype for stealing away voice minutes. They also barely touched the news that Verizon had acquired Hughes Telematics http://bit.ly/LA27iX .

Forgive me for saying this but where is the corporate news today? If the big boys are Apple vs. Google have the carriers past in to Western Union or Rail Road oblivion http://bit.ly/MrpBrl ?

I chided a friend who was complaining at TIA’s event. CTIA’s shows are today’s Supercomm filled with a plethora of peripherals while trying to retain the core. Talking to a friend who recently left a small carrier we talked about the consolidation of the industry and how that makes it hard for the trade shows to show opportunity. Big Carriers need big deals and big partners. Keeping the trade show moving requires focus on the future. The Internet should represent unlimited opportunity not consolidation and that should be more so for the Mobile Internet?

We partner with TMC because we are more than a trade show. We are a lead generation and an SEO brand service that looks to gather everyone that progresses the Mobile Internet. We highlight the mobile Internet, not just apps du jour, but the drivers for that it HTML5, the enchantment of things in M2M, the impact of what can impact you locally with Super Wi-Fi, and a bunch of other aspect of connectivity in Mobility Tech. While everyone else thinks I run several shows, I am really focused on one thing the next phase of the Internet.
Including the visualization of the Internet http://bit.ly/Ld5FJq .

At Axeda’s 2012, Thanks to TMC I got to do my favorite part of the job, interview people http://bit.ly/MrqY9w for the M2M Evolution site which is seen by over 24,000 visitors monthly.

I don’t consider myself a reporter, but I am an engaging interviewer. And I am certainly focused on the Internet industries future. It’s easy to decide you want to get noticed, but in an age where everyone is making noise, perhaps a better choice is to give information that matters.

The reason that the news world has gotten strident and repetitive is because everyone is looking for something for nothing. Real costs are involved with carrying the news, and what was a license requirement, is now a teaser. We substitute People magazine for Life and Time puts on their cover something Playboy would be embarrassed to show.

I write these weekly epistles to keep the community engaged, not to stream another bright shiny object your way. Your time is valuable and we want you invest it with us.

I look forward to hearing from you.