(Not So) Deep Thoughts
Christopher Carter
Its been a while since my last blog post - been busy - so instead of a deep, thought provoking, missive I thought I would share some snippets of topics that have been on my mind over the past few months. Cablevision. Really irritating the consumers in my hamlet. First they conspicuously drop a marketing piece in the monthly invoice stating they are shutting off the analog signal in my community, offering digital cable boxes for "free" for twelve months to everyone. After twelve months you pay $8 - $12 per month, per box. What's the average number of TVs per home these days? You do the math. The marketing piece also suggested calling Cablevision to reserve your digital cable boxes. This was simply a ruse so their CSRs could upsell you on Cablevision services you did not already have. Clever, and annoying. I wonder if this initiative has anything to do with the fact that Verizon's FiOS service has recently been given permission to provide service to my community to break up this Cablevision monopoly. Regardless, after twelve months Cablevision should see a nice spike in their revenue stream as a result of this move, so this revenue boost, and increase in cash flow, will only further line the Dolan's pockets.
Speaking of Mr. Dolan, he actually said something profound a month or so ago. No, not when he asked the convicted sexual harasser Isiah Thomas to court LeBron James for the Knicks. No, no, not when he asked the aforementioned Mr. Thomas to join the Knicks as an advisor, without first speaking with his GM of the Knicks. It was when Cablevision was in the midst of programming fee battle he actually said a la carte cable pricing may be needed to offset the high cost of programming fees being demanded by content programmers! Who needs 800 channels anyway, especially as Over The Top and Cable By-Pass strategies gain traction. Note to Mr. Dolan - kids coming out of college who can't find jobs can not afford $150 cable bills. This technically savvy audience, who grew up creating PowerPoint presentations for school before they could write in cursive, will migrate to alternative solutions, and fast.
MediaFlo a No Go. Qualcomm has decided to cease sales of its FloTV device and is looking to dispose of the assets of the business. Not a surprise to me (I've blogged about this before). Why launch a single function device in a market where single device functionality is expanding? Your mobile phone is really a mini-computer with a phone application. Plus video. Plus camera. Plus whatever other app one downloads. Made no sense, especially for a technology company that specializes in IP licensing and chip development and who has no Consumer Electronics experience. One company, and only one company, has crossed this divide, and its named after a fruit. Luckily the spectrum Qualcomm purchased is valued in excess of $2.0B, so Qualcomm should be able to recoup its investment in the business.
Earth to Apple. Build a damn broadband enabled TV already and stop futzing with a tiny $99 ITV box to stream video. Your current Macbooks cost the consumer as much as an HDTV with internet access to Netflix, Hulu and other services.
Tablets. Latest figure I read said 18, yes, 18 tablet devices will be available for your holiday shopping pleasure. And you were confused about which smartphone to buy? Seems like consolidation will occur around the OS more than the specific device itself. But in the meantime, you have some homework to do before shopping!
Two cool apps/products. Line2 from Toktumi (phonetically, "talk to me") offers the first VoIP service for the iPhone that bypasses the AT&T network, and your allotted monthly AT&T (soon to be Verizon) minutes, when placing the call. As long as you are in a WiFi hotspot your call goes over the internet and not AT&T's network. You can conference up to 20 people into the same call. Cost for unlimited phone and text is $10/mo. Droid version is coming soon.
EpicMIX. A new social media app from Vail Resorts. Download this app to your smartphone and you can track your ski experience at any Vail Resort property. This app is enabled by the RFID chip located in every Vail Resorts lift pass. The scanners at the mountain track your lift access, allowing your location to be identified in real time. You can also connect this with your Facebook account so you can track the location of friends who are also on the mountain to coordinate meeting locations for lunch or a little apres action. And parents, you can track your children's location on the mountain as well, assuming they "friend" you. This functionality can be disabled at any time and is not available for children under 14 without a parent's permission. Its similar to Garmin's Connect sharing service for their workout devices that allows you to post your running or cycling experiences online to share with friends. Can't wait to try this app!! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
And to all of the technology companies in the mobile phone space filing lawsuits against each other for alledged patent violations. Can't you just get along? You're acting like children in a sandbox. I know, I know, you own the patents and the value of the patents is to a) provide a competitive advantage and b) to be paid for your IP when used by others. When you dig into the details I imagine many of these patents are very close in use and functionality, so just pool the IP and battle in the markets, mano e mano, rather than spending millions of dollars of shareholder money battling in the courts that will ultimately, and usually, lead to a cross licensing agreement and payments flowing both ways.
That's it for now.