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May 25, 2008
Crossing the chasm with Android: Can we view disruptive initiatives like Android in the context of the existing value chain?
Note: This is a long post – but it needs to be since I am trying to set the context for the discussion. Hopefully you will like it.
The headings are
a) Synopsis
b) Background
c) What is inside a mobile phone?
d) Comparisons to the early PC value chain
e) Existing strategies of handset vendors
f) Android
g) Crossing the chasm
h) Conclusions
SYNOPSIS
Recently, two developments have focused the spotlight on Android. Firstly, Verizon’s adoption of LIMO foundation Linux in preference to Android and secondly a report says that Linux will capture 20 percent of the high end mobile market by 2013 (mainly due to Android).
Both these developments view Android in context of the current ecosystem.
Techcrunch does a good comparison within the existing framework and that’s good
However, disruptive services like Android (and the iPhone) cannot be viewed only in context of the existing framework. They are game changers and can best be analysed in context of the crossing the chasm viewpoint from Geoffrey Moore.
Here is a synopsis:
Just like in the PC industry, both hardware and software components of mobile devices are being standardized. The device (both hardware and software) becomes malleable i.e. conceptually a kind of ‘putty’/ clay. Once that happens (and as we see below – it is already happening), the value chain changes completely. Android is likely to contribute significantly to this trend – and consequently the primary beneficiaries of Android will not the existing players but a new set of as yet undefined customers OR players in the existing value chain – for example SIM card vendors - who may avail opportunities to develop new capabilities and acquire new customers aka crossing the chasm
BACKGROUND
When the iPhone was launched, I posted a long article which was called The iPhone is extraordinary not because of its UI but because it’s the tail wagging the dog .
In a nutshell, the success (or otherwise) of the iPhone has to be viewed in terms of whether it can change the existing industry value chain.
To the surprise of most people, including me, the iPhone HAS indeed succeeded in changing the existing industry value chain by providing a product/service that people want. While the long term prospects for the iPhone are unclear, the fact remains that the iPhone has succeeded in changing sacrosanct industry practices (for instance in changing the billing relationship )
So .. what about Android?
Is Android just a Linux consortium?
Linux consortia have been around a plenty and prominent ones include LIMO, LIPS and others. In fact, many companies, will hedge their bets by joining as many such consortia as possible mainly for defensive and strategic reasons. So, if Android is viewed as ‘yet another Linux consortium’ – it is not a big deal in itself.
Is Android about free/cost savings?
Again .. thats only part of the story ..
Historically, the deployment of Linux on the Mobile device has been motivated by the need to save cost but Android is more than cost savings.
However, speaking of cost savings ..
Linux on mobile devices is an expensive proposition when viewed on a ‘like for like’ basis with operating systems like Symbian. The value proposition of Linux on Mobile devices is not based on reducing the cost of the Operating system per se – but rather in reducing the cost of the whole BOM (Bill of materials) for a mobile device including its IPR costs. This means the ability for OEMs/ device manufacturers to ‘mix and match’ software elements of the Operating system with the goal of reducing the combined cost of software and hardware is a greater driving factor for Linux on Mobile devices than the cost of Linux itself. (Note: We will use the term OEM – Original equipment manufacturers - to refer to device manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson etc) .
And Android of course, is more than Linux on mobile devices.
Android has some elements of cost reduction (in that the stack is provided for OEMs to take up and productise into new mobile devices). But it is more about new services (wherein lies the differentiation as we will see below).
Currently, applications and services are not differentiators for mobile devices (which is a far cry from what industry consultants will want us to believe! ). Inspite of all the industry efforts, the only two common elements across most handsets worldwide are: voice and SMS. Most people still buy devices on looks - as Nokia found out much to their surprise when they got caught in the clamshell vs. candybar wars
Consequently, despite all the talk – prior to the iPhone – the Mobile Web and other services were not differentiating factors for the public.
We show below how this status quo is changing and is creating opportunities for new players (not just Android). We explore the following areas with this background
a) Changes in the device value chain leading to opportunities for new players
b) The importance of services and applications in future
c) Long tail applications and developer support
d) Personalization and customization of handsets beyond ringtones and other cosmetics
e) Crossing the chasm – new entrants may try to go for a segment not currently served by the industry players.
WHAT IS INSIDE A MOBILE PHONE?
Daft as this question sounds, we need to first understand what is a phone/mobile device.
The Mobile Handset Industry in Transition by Jamie L. Anderson & Martin E. Jonsson has a very good explanation and I have used it in this section.
Essentially, a phone comprises of three components (Integrated circuits).
The Radio Frequency Circuit (RF): sends and receives voice or data signals to the mobile phone.
The Mixed Signal Circuit: converts the signals from digital to analog and vice versa
The Baseband Circuit (BB): The BB is the phone processor where both the application software and the communication software is managed.
Unlike the application software, the communication software needs to operate in real time. In entry level phones, the Real Time Critical Operating System (RTOS), manages both the functions. In smartphones, there are two operating systems – one for the communications and the other for the applications. Microsoft and Symbian are examples of application operating. Android addresses the smartphone market.
COMPARISONS TO THE EARLY PC VALUE CHAIN
In hardware terms, the handset industry today can be compared to PC industry in the 1980. At that time, the PC manufacturers were vertically integrated. As the industry evolved, the vertical integration model was broken.
For instance, if we compare the handset industry to the early PC industry
a) Hardware innovations in themselves do not provide differentiation. Hardware quickly becomes commoditised.
b) Barriers to entry are reduced. The software and the hardware each become increasingly modularized. This leads to new entrants who can enter the marketplace – just like in the PC industry with lower barriers to entry.
c) Systems integration becomes a core competency and supply chain efficiency will decide the winners and the losers
d) As variable costs rather than fixed costs become more relevant, economies of scale may not be the dominant factor i.e. it may be possible for new players to enter the market who can be profitable even if they sell a smaller number of handsets.
e) ‘Softer’ components like brand, customer service, customization, applications and services are likely to be a more important source of differentiation as hardware differentiators are harmonized.
f) First mover advantage is likely to be short lived in this world. If one vendor introduces an X Megapixel camera, others will follow suit. This is again reminiscent of the PC industry with almost every manufacturer talking about faster processing speed, greater memory etc. customers will quickly learn this.
To some extent, we are already seeing the first manifestations of this trend. For instance:
a) OEMs are tending to outsource components of the phone to specialized companies called ODMs (Original design manufacturers).
b) For phones, the user interface component and the operating system components are decoupling (for example UIQ and S60 with Symbian). The implication here being – the core OS is bog standard. Differentiation comes from within the user interface which needs to be separate from the OS
c) Both software and hardware is becoming modularized. This explains the rise of Linux in the first place as we discussed above since its modularized architecture lends itself to the ‘mix and match’ in comparison to the more monolithic operating systems. It also explains why device manufacturers like Nokia are working with Linux but are not a member of any Linux consortia i.e. they see the value of Linux in itself
d) Since IPR is a variable cost, the significance of IPR is also relevant in the Linux context and especially the Android context Open source vs. Open Standards – complementing or competing?
EXISTING STRATEGIES OF HANDSET VENDORS
The strategies of existing handset manufacturers are dictated by the existing industry structure. In Breaking up the handset value chain Jamie Anderson and Martin Zander describe the industry structure in terms of three paradigms which we will also use here.
1. The semiconductor paradigm :
Is the domain of the semiconductor companies such as Texas instruments, Infineon etc. Here, cost reduction is the key driving factor. Hence, economies of scale, Moore’s law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law (Gordon not Geoffrey!) and economies of scale are important. Other than cost reduction, there is little scope for differentiation in this paradigm.
2. The telecom paradigm
The telecom paradigm is the domain of the OEMs like Nokia, Sony Ericsson etc. The buyers in sector are the Telecoms operators and there is a constant tradeoff between new requirements vs. the cost of production. Here, the volumes matter but the features matter as well!
3. The computing paradigm
The features in the computing paradigm are driven by the PC industry and by convergence with the PC/Web. Here, the application, operating system and other services are the main drivers.
Knowing the above, here is the existing scenario in the handset value chain
Firstly, the OEMs ..
a) Nokia is the undisputed market leader – with excellent supply chain capabilities and great execution which lead it to dominate both the low end and the high end segments(smartphones)
b) Handset growth continues in Asia and Asia will be a key market anyway. Nokia dominates this market through a combination of factors
c) Nokia continues to excel on the computing paradigm – for instance its emphasis on Mobile Ajax, Mobile Widgets, acquisition of Navteq and its belief that it is an Internet company
d) While Nokia focuses on scale and convergence, Sony Ericsson focuses on handsets that do ‘one thing well’. They also have considerable success with this strategy.
e) Samsung and LG have a broad strategy. Considering Nokia’s historical weakness in the USA and the willingness of Samsung and LG to customize handsets according to the Operator’s wishes – they do well in America.
f) Motorola .. Did many things wrong post RAZR. But from our standpoint, Motorola was focused on technology and not enough on the features, services and aesthetics of a device. As Dean Bubley says in his usual skeptical viewpoint :) - and I paraphrase .. If it were possible for Motorola to port Fortran on phones .. they would try! Which kind of sums up Motorola’s strategy.
Next, the other players and related developments
a) The semiconductor vendors continue to suffer from the same trends that affect them with cost being their primary differentiation. The chipset vendors need at least 2.5B$ of sales to cover their R and D expenses. (Arete consulting). It is already in consolidation mode with existing players like TI, freescale, Infinion etc being affected.
b) ODMs may move up the value chain. In a first of its kind , Taiwanese ODM BenQ mobile moved up the value chain by acquiring the assets of Siemens but ultimately itself went into administration.
c) Qualcomm focused on the chipset for CDMA giving up their handset ambitions
d) Reflecting the significance attached to the modular nature of Linux as discussed above, we see the emergence of a whole raft of Linux integration vendors such as Windriver.
e) ODMs like HTC continue to focus on technical excellence and are focused on devices like the HTC touch, Android and Windows
f) MSM – Mobile software management is a key development and one to watch. MSM relates to deep customization of handset software at all stages of the lifecycle (not just post production). Technologies like FOTA (firmware over the air update) are a part of MSM. Andreas has a good post about this What if handset features could shape and evolve with the user? the user side of mobile software management
And then the iPhone came along and shook up the ecosystem. The billing relationship was changed and the handsets were no longer subsidised. The customers still continued to buy the iPhone. For the first time, the Mobile Web became a differentiating factor. Develops were important. Developers had a chance to make money. Advanced features of devices like search were used for the first time.
ANDROID
It is in this backdrop that Android makes an entrance .. and I hope you have been following this article so far .. It was necessary to set all this context before we discuss Android.
So, knowing the above, what can we say about Android
a) Firstly, Android is a computer and not a phone . It has no IMS stack and hence leaves the network layer applications for the Operator. (No SIP/IMS stack for Android )
b) As hardware and software become commoditised, the Android offers a cheaper ‘software toolkit’ for to build devices.
c) Increasingly differentiation will be based on brand and softer elements like customer service. Android works well with this trend
d) The software layer has been well thought out in a holistic manner – especially its integration with the Web. For instance, photos can be accessed from online services (and not just from the phone’s memory). XMPP protocol can be used to send data to other Android applications(handset capability exchange)
e) As services become important, so do developers!
CROSSING THE CHASM
When we think of all the above factors, the only certain thing is: there is considerable flux in the handset value chain and that the past will be substantially different from the future. Hence, a new entrant will probably choose a battlefield where it can serve a segment of the market which may be underserved today. This is the philosophy behind Geoffrey Moore’s seminal book Crossing the chasm which says ..
A company should focus on a single market, a beachhead, win domination over a small specific market and use it as a springboard to adjacent extended markets to win. .
The ‘springboard’ is a market segment that is ignored or underserved by the existing players
Consequently, the question should be:
Who benefits from the introduction of an entire open source software stack?
There are many possibilities of new entrants to the device value chain given the existing flux in the value chain. For instance:
• Chipset vendors who may aspire to become OEMs
• ODMs who may venture into OEM territory;
• Operators who may want to assemble their own devices
• SIM card vendors who may want to build their own device,
• Brands who have been burnt by the MVNO trend – but will see the possibility to create new devices
• Wimax vendors looking for wimax devices and so on ..
These new categories will become the ‘beachhead’ from which Android may start. Thus, Android attempts to solve a problem which can be best understood when viewed across the value chain within a historical context especially keeping the trend of commoditization in view. A whole bunch of new manufacturers start up in the mobile phone business – mainly because they can!! A ‘long tail’ of handset manufacturers if you will!
CONCLUSIONS
To recap again ..
Just like the PC industry, both hardware and software components of mobile devices are being standardized. The device (both hardware and software) becomes malleable i.e. conceptually a kind of ‘putty’/ clay. Once that happens (and as we see below – it is already happening), the value chain changes completely. Android is likely to contribute significantly to this trend – and consequently the primary beneficiaries of Android will not the existing players but a new set of as yet undefined customers OR players in the existing value chain – for example SIM card vendors - who may avail opportunities to develop new capabilities and acquire new customers aka crossing the chasm
The timing for both iPhone and Android is good - there is considerable disillusionment in the industry at the moment and the customers’s appetite has been whetted by the success of the iPhone – opening opportunities for new players.
As usual, comments welcome and thanks for reading this to the end!
CHANGES
Changed to : Who benefits from the introduction of an entire open source software stack? - Thanks Andreas / Visionmobile
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great video from Mark Pesce about twitter ..
well worth watching! great video from Mark Pesce about twitter ..
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May 24, 2008
Inspiring: Barack Obama's use of the Internet for campaigning ..
I have been tracking this space since my work at the European Union(Web 2.0, Mobile Web 2.0, Social Web and beyond - My talk at the European parliament ..) - so this is indeed inspiring to see Barack Obama use the Internet to gain grassroots support
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OMTP handset security documents released ..
OMTP has released its new handset security documents. This should be interesting and is well covered in the media including ZD net, Washington post etc
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May 23, 2008
Enterprise 2.0 and product design ..
I have been blogging about the Enterprise 2.0 conference before .. and one missing element in my view is an emphasis on product design.
I have been reading Wharton professor Karl T. Ulrich 's excellent book Product Design and Development and applying these ideas to Enterprise 2.0.
I am curious to see if anyone else has read this book?
In a nutshell, my thinking is: I am trying to understand the basic concepts of product design and then applying the ideas of Enterprise 2.0(Collaboration etc) to these stages
Any comments welcome
Shall blog more on this over time
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May 22, 2008
Power tweeting: 101 everyday uses for twitter ..
Jeff Sonstein sent me this nice link Power tweeting: 101 everyday uses for twitter .. great stuff!
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May 20, 2008
Rearden commerce goes mobile ..
At our forumoxford event - I mentioned that this was a no brainer - i.e. Rearden commerce should be mobile at least for blackberry. and now they are .. I am tracking this space with interest ..
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Carnival of the mobilists No 124 at symbiano-tek blog ..
Carnival of the mobilists No 124 at symbiano-tek blog .. All the way from Egypt .. from Tarek Ghazali's blog .. on his birthday .. All of 19 years old! Wish him many happy returns!
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May 18, 2008
Now twittering in earnest ..
I used to have a twitter account but never used it. I am now trying to twitter in earnest. My twitter account is AjitJaokar and you can follow me
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May 17, 2008
Elephants mate with elephants: The perils of Telecoms/mobile playing second fiddle to the entertainment industry
Elephants mate with elephants ..
I have a friend who often uses the phrase ‘Elephants mate with Elephants’. By that, he means – there is a nexus between the Entertainment industry and the Telecoms Operators (both being ‘big’ i.e. ‘elephants’). The entertainment industry needs channels (aka passive consumers) to sell their content. The Telecoms industry thinks it has these consumers through its portals.
Thus, presumably this was to be a marriage made in heaven ..
However, reality does not reflect this thinking. Today, both the entertainment industry and the Operator portals are both being affected by forces beyond their control.
Ironically, the Telecoms industry is stronger and does not need to play second fiddle to the Entertainment industry. Telecoms and mobility have always been about ‘connecting people’ and there is far greater revenue in connecting people/communications for the telecoms industry - than in becoming conduits for the entertainment industry. (And I am extending the definition of connecting people to also include connecting people to artists)
The telecoms industry has two choices. Either it becomes a conduit for the entertainment industry - which is itself in the throes of a massive transformation and is clutching at straws in attempting to squeeze revenue from 12 year olds (as in the RIAA suing 12 year olds ) OR it embraces its rightful place in ‘connecting people’ - including artists; a task which it has done globally through voice and SMS.
This mindset has a deep impact on the structure of the industry and one which the ‘Old guard’ in both media and telecoms refuse to accept in an ostrich like view of the world.
The problems and opportunities of disintermediation
Before we address the Mobile entertainment industry, let us understand the issues of content disintermediation. Disintermediation is affecting content distributors. However, disintermediation benefits both the customer and the content creator (artist). The Mobile operator portal is a type of distributor – and Operator portals are feeling the impact of disintermediation in a big way. A new category of player has entered the content value chain. We will call them ‘Web aggregators’ and they include Google, Yahoo and others. In the Web 2.0 world, Web aggregators now include the social networks like MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and others. A secondary impact of Web aggregators is the rise of social networks and the emergence of user generated content as a driving force (which reduces the importance of traditional content in real terms) .
Web aggregators(whether traditional Web players like Google or social networks), are directly facing the customer. The entertainment industry thus faces the problem of disintermediation because it no longer faces the customer.
The value chain of the entertainment industry can now be depicted as above (we have put the advertiser at the far left of the diagram to depict the flow of money).
However, disintermediation is an opportunity to the content creator (artist). In doing so, the motivations of the content creators are not the same as the content distributors. In fact, the content creators are on the same side as the customers – with the distributors left disintermediated.
New media is talking about old media
If we further explore the idea of disintermediation of the content distributors (and the alignment of interests between customers and content creators), then we realise that ‘New media is talking about old media’.
Consider this excellent Joss Stone video
As at May 17 2008, it had 884,325 views and 1743 ratings
This is in the interest of Joss Stone (but not necessarily in the interest of the distributors since YouTube is free).
However, no matter how you look at it .. You cannot ignore the Web aggregators. With 50 million MySpace unique visitors, MySpace is comparable to the number of American households that tune to Super bowl. With 100 million YouTube videos every day, YouTube is comparable to Top 15 primetime shows in England (100 million viewers) or Top 4 American shows(source: Navigating the media divide: IBM institute for business value )
Artists have always pursued audiences .. That has never changed. So, we should not be surprised when what started with a few isolated artists like Prince giving their latest album for free in a Sunday newspaper, and with Radiohead allowing their album to be downloaded for free - other artists like Nine inch nails are now doing the same thing - potentially creating a wave of established artists taking this route.
Still not convinced?
Consider another of my favourite artists - Johnny Cash. Enter ‘Johnny Cash’ in youTube and you get a screen as below with Cash ringtones for sale.
Hence, YouTube competes directly with ringtones and other mobile portals. As far as I know, no Operator or mobile portal has YouTube’s figures. Hence, this impacts traditional business models
Winning the battle and losing the war
The impact has been truly dramatic.
In suing 12 year olds and shutting down Napster, the music industry has won the battle but lost the war.
In the Jan 12, 2008 issue of the Economist, I read this interesting story.
The music company invited some kids for a ‘focus group’ (a term going the way of the dinosaur in my view!) . After the meeting, as a token of their appreciation, they offered the kids a free CD. And none of them took the CD! (i.e. they were all used to digital downloads).
This is a case of completely missing the customer’s requirements in an example of the music industry’s Kodak moment(In the sense of Analogue companies struggling to transition to Digital)
Business models in the new world for content?
So, which business models will work in this world of content disintermediation? One of the answers is ‘mobile’ – but not in the way we traditionally think.
The same issue of the Economist (Jan 8, 2008) says that the music industry is facing a triple whammy. Firstly, CDs are selling less – so retailers like Wal-Mart are giving them less shelf space. Secondly, in an effort to cut costs, music labels are spending less on promoting artists and finally, music labels are not investing in the sectors of the music industry growing fastest for instance concerts and tours.
Contrast this with an interesting blog from David Cushman where he says that Robbie Williams had made five times as much money from his deal with T-mobile Sony Ericsson in one year than he had from his record label. He made most of all from touring
>>>
Robbie Williams manager Tim Clark says
"We have to find ways of valuing music because if artists aren't paid something there will be no music, I don't just mean the huge megastars, but also people like King Crimson, who I worked with years ago, and who are still touring and making a living. We all have artists like this who have played a part in our lives and they are the bedrock of music."
"The record companies world is changing. I don't care if they can get the digital revolution or not, I work for artists. I have to find the best way possible to get the music from the artist to the fan."
Interesting also that Sony Ericsson spent six times as much promoting Robbie's latest album in Australia than EMI did.
<<<
So, this points to an interesting trend – the managers for the artists(and consequently the artists themselves) are becoming more significant and are likely to do deals with the newer players(both Web and Mobile)
The music industry should have invested in new channels when it had the money. Now, it is too late. Increasingly, we are going to see established artists follow divergent paths from the music distributors - and 'connecting people' will extend to 'connecting people to artists' We are going to see new models like Advertisement supported music, subsidised services(people do not pay directly for the music), new initiatives like Nokia’s Comes with music which allows customers to download all the music they want and to keep it even when their yearly subs end or they change handsets
And nor is it confined only to established artists as Madonna found out to her surprise when an obscure techno band toppled her in the UK charts.
To conclude
a) Contrary to the Elephants analogy, there are more synergies between Telecoms/mobile as a connection mechanism (both people to people and people directly to artists) than in blindly adopting the arcane business practises of the entertainment industry
b) The entertainment industry is hobbled by outdated business models. These business models will not survive disintermediation
c) The interests of the artists and customers on one side are diverging from those of the music distributors on the other side.
d) Artists and customers benefit from the rise of Web aggregators
e) Extending the analogy of Johnny Cash ringtones, we cannot address Web and mobile in isolation. That’s why I believe initiatives like Mobile Youth are doomed to fail since they ignore the fundamental realities that the youth have a choice (often driven by the Web)
f) Far from mating .. Elephants are facing extinction. The dinosaurs are already dead :)
Many of these ideas are explored in my forthcoming book Open Mobile Ecosystems co-authored with Mauro Del Rio and Anna Gatti
As usual all comments welcome
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May 16, 2008
Enterprise mashups: Mashups that may cross the firewall ..
Following on from my previous post about Enterprise 2.0 conference ( What can you learn from about Enterprise 2.0 from the CIA?) - I have two motivations for this. Firstly, Enterprise 2.0 as a topic is of interest to me and secondly, I am modeling my own business (futuretext) along the lines of Enterprise 2.0.
More on that soon ...
Dion Hinchcliffe (also a speaker at the Enterprise 2.0 conference) has an excellent blog about mashups as the next software development model.
Where he says ..
Since the mashup story is primarily being driven by spontaneous activity at the edge of the Internet, an accurate and updated picture of what's actually happening with them is harder to make out than if it was being driven by a centralized industry effort. And as it turns out, this makes what's happening richer and more exciting than it would be otherwise while at the same providing significant challenges for those that want to take these compelling ideas and apply them deliberately to solve business problems.
I was thinking about ‘which spontaneous activity at the edge of the Internet’ can transcend to the Enterprise? Here is one .. And it remains my favourite mashup of all time .
Aircraft Tracking in Second Life - A mashup of a ‘real life’ feed from Los Angeles airport with second life created by a UK based company called Daden(who do some cool work in the virtual worlds space.
The visualisation takes fboweb.com's near-live data of aircraft locations around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and displays the aircraft as small models in Second Life over a map of southern California. Each aircraft shows its flight number and its location, altitude and direction mirrors that of its real world counterpart. The display updates every minute and the aircraft are moved to their new locations. An avatar can walk across the map, examining each aircraft and can touch an aircraft in order to reveal its flight path data.
You can see the YouTube video here ..
So, this is a really cool innovation/mashup that could probably not be conceived within an enterprise but may well be accepted across the firewall!
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May 15, 2008
What can you learn from the CIA about Enterprise 2.0?
I am going to be doing a series of posts about Enterprise 2.0 especially as the Enterprise 2.0 conference is next month in Boston. I would have loved to attend this event – however between the web technology conference in Hong Kong where I am giving the keynote and Supernova 2008(where I am also speaking) – attending Enterprise 2.0 in Boston will not be possible.
However, since I have been interested in Enterprise 2.0, and it looks like a great conference and many friends like Dion Hinchcliffe and others are speaking there .. I will do a series of blogs on this topic leading up to this conference. These may include interviews of speakers and other insights
There is a very interesting session by Don Burke and Sean Dennehy from the CIA about Intellipedia.
What can the CIA teach you about Enterprise 2.0?
Apparently, quite a lot as it transpires. (For the record – I have always been supportive of security and defence personnel since I believe that they are doing a great job under very difficult circumstances)
Here is an example from the same two speakers when they spoke at Harvard
>>>
Burke explains that the Intellipedia encompasses three core principles to help organizations overcome hurdles to adopting the new technology and its culture. The first is to work topically rather than organizationally. Information does not have to bear the seal of the organization. Instead, the community is better served with the Intellipedia aggregating information on a topic. This permits all appropriate members of the community to work topically, which also helps eliminate territoriality with regard to authorship. Debate can focus on the topic instead of on its source organization.
The second core principle involves the audience. Dennehy allows that Intellipedia users are encouraged to work to the broadest audience possible, which again runs counter to the prevailing culture of specialization amid need-to-know. He notes that many students who have participated in a sabbatical program want to interact with military and diplomatic colleagues who often have Secret, rather than Top Secret, network access. With Intellipedia residing on those two networks along with the sensitive-but-unclassified network, this interaction is enabled through the secret Internet protocol router network (SIPRNET).
Burke adds that one hurdle to this principle is that the audience is changing. Formerly, the audience would be defined by the network level to which the broadest audience has single-click access. The solution is to encourage users to work as broadly as they can where they can access easily without needing to switch between systems.
The third key principle is to replace existing processes. Burke relates that many prospective users believe that they are too busy to learn a new tool or to deposit information in more than one place. What they perceive as additional tasks dissuades them from adopting the Intellipedia. The third principle aims to convince these users to replace their current processes with the new ones that represent a more efficient and effective way of doing business instead of adding more duties.
<<<
This session will be very interesting. And it is nice to see organizations like the CIA engage with people and conferences.
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May 14, 2008
Mobile Web 2.0 Worth Over $22 Billion by 2013?
Juniper research claims that by 2013 Mobile Web 2.0 will be worth $22 billion dollars. Having co-authored the book Mobile Web 2.0 alongwith Tony Fish .. I should be happy .. But I am not.
There appear to be two obvious flaws in this line of thinking ..
Firstly, the report seems to be throwing in the kitchen sink when it says that 'Leveraging ‘Location, IM, Social Web & Search’ 2008-2013'. Consequently, it does not have much meaning if we start to combine all these aspects along with the creation and the social aspects of Mobile phones(which I think are the key factors). The report also seems to add the advertising and the Mobile Web market to it as well - which are two distinct aspects in themselves.
Secondly, the report does not seem to cover open devices vs. closed devices. In my view, that factor will play a key part in the deployment of Mobile Web 2.0 whichever way you look at it
In many ways, considering the hype labels attached to Web 2.0 and also Mobile Web 2.0 – a black hat thinking is necessary
Almost every forecast for the mobile data industry has been proven wrong - and I suspect this is too optimistic as well as all encompassing
And finally, many of the interpretations of Mobile Web 2.0, Mobile 2.0 etc are already in the public domain(if you cover this blog, Dan Appelquist's talks, blog and Rudy De Waele's blog - you should get most viewpoints.
And its all in the public domain!
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A sad day for Jaipur - India
From the BBC
From the BBC
>>>>
Pattern to India bombs say papers
Newspaper headlines on the blasts in Jaipur on May 14 2008
The blasts made front page headlines
Tuesday's series of blasts in the western Indian city of Jaipur have dominated the front pages of India's newspapers. The papers say the explosions appear to be the result of a planned operation and followed a pattern of recent similar attacks.
"And Now, It's Jaipur" says The Times Of India.
The newspaper says the explosions were the "21st terror attack" outside Indian-administered Kashmir in the past three years.
It says Tuesday evening's blast bore "close resemblance" to similar explosions in a temple in the holy city of Varanasi, the train bombings in the western city of Mumbai and the suburbs of Malegaon in western India over the past two years.
The paper quotes unnamed sources saying the blasts "pointed to a sophisticated operation that only foreign-trained groups are capable of executing".
The newspaper also says that the blasts, which happened in "affluent and predominantly Hindu areas" were aimed at "fuelling" tension between communities.
"Death and fear in Jaipur" says The Indian Express
The paper says the blasts came on the 10th anniversary of India's nuclear tests that were held in the Rajasthan state.
'Main target'
"[Hindu] temples seemed to be the main target," the paper says.
The newspaper says there was no alert by security agencies on a possible terrorist attack in Rajasthan and the strikes took the state and federal governments "by surprise".
The paper says that "internal security agencies have picked up no cross-border communication or intercept in Kashmir and the linkage to terrorists operating in the [Kashmir] valley is being ruled out at present".
"Terror Strikes Pink City", is the headline in the Hindustan Times
A man injured in the blasts in Jaipur on May 14 2008
Doctors traced relatives of dead patients from their mobile phones
The paper quotes eyewitnesses saying that the old city of Jaipur was targeted because they were inhabited by Hindus and Muslims.
"Since both communities were targeted, it is clearly an attack on India," they told the newspaper.
It also quotes a senior police officer in Indian-administered Kashmir as saying: "The roots of all these acts of terror are in Pakistan."
"Pink City Turns Red" says The Pioneer.
The paper says that although the police "suspected the hand" of a Bangladesh-based group behind the attack, "it is yet to find any link between the blasts and this outfit".
The Hindu reports that the doctors at one of the hospitals in Jaipur where the dead and the injured were taken after the blast used the mobile phones of the dead to convey the news to their relatives.
"Of the 20 bodies brought to the hospital, the mobiles on the three started ringing... The doctors, who had declared them dead, had to pass on the news to their relatives on the mobiles of the victims."
"Bloodbath In Pink City" is the headline in the Mail Today.
The paper reports that many Jaipur-bound foreign tourists had cancelled their travel plans after the explosions.
Tuesday's blasts, the paper says, "may not be the best advertisement" for a state which attracted 1.4 million foreigners last year.
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Keynote at Asia Pacific web technology conference ..
I am speaking as a keynote speaker for the Asia pacific web technology conference organised by the government of Hong Kong. If you are in Hong Kong during that week, we can meet
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What is Asia Pacific Web Technology Conference?
Asia Pacific Web Technology Conference is a conference for latest web technologies, funded by the Government of HKSAR and supported by IT professional bodies in Hong Kong. It aims to connect international industrial leaders and technology experts for fostering the web technology development in the region. Asia Pacific Web Technology Conference features international successful and innovative leaders and companies to present emerging Internet technologies, development strategies and frameworks as well as business models with the focus on the development of Web 2.0 applications.
Asia Pacific Web Technology Conference will attract the participation of international technology leaders and experts, government representatives and professional bodies of Hong Kong, China and the globe.
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May 13, 2008
Verizon wireless being sued: The legal minefield of mobile social networks
From RCR wireless ..
A very significant post. from RCR wireless Emphasis mine.
Thanks to Kim Dushinski for pointing this to me
By Colin Gibbs
You may not have noticed last week’s news that Verizon Wireless is being sued by the parents of a 14-year-old girl who claims she was sexually assaulted by a man she met through a mobile social-networking service. But the case is likely a little taste of what’s to come for operators over the next few years.
In case you missed it, RCR Wireless News beltway reporter Jeff Silva broke the story that the girl — who is described as “developmentally delayed” — claims to have met the 31-year-old man through Upoc Networks, a startup that operates a mobile social-networking service available through Verizon’s “Get It Now” storefront (and elsewhere). The man allegedly sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions two years ago, according to the lawsuit, which also claims the carrier is liable because it failed to warn the family that the phone was capable of accessing the Internet and downloading social applications. (Verizon has declined to comment on the case.)
The news isn’t surprising, of course, given the flurry of litigious activity surrounding online communities. MySpace has become embroiled in several similar legal tussles, and has hired a company run by a former New York cop to weed out sexual predators who create online profiles in the hopes of luring under-age members. Facebook has come under scrutiny, too: The Connecticut attorney general last year began investigating the social-networking flavor of the month to determine whether convicted sex offenders had built profiles on what has become the next big thing in community sites. And chest-thumping politicians have joined the fray, introducing legislation to ban convicted predators from the white-hot Internet destinations.
But the latest legal action appears to mark the first time wireless players have been dragged into the courtroom over a social-networking service. And it may be the first in a long line of courtroom battles for carriers as they scramble to tap into the exploding social-networking scene. While Internet service providers have avoided the legal flak, network operators have two obvious weaknesses in these early days of the mobile Internet: As the Upoc case underscores, they’re still largely seen as phone companies, leaving them vulnerable consumers’ claims that they were shocked — shocked! — to learn that cellphones can access the Internet. More importantly, consumers see network operators as endorsers of the offerings that appear on the deck — or, more likely, view on-deck services as the carrier’s own.
Most, if not all, of the recent sex-predator suits brought against the MySpaces and Facebooks of the world have failed to hold any sway with the courts — and for good reason. An assistant professor at Santa Clara University School of Law called the sex-crime lawsuits “obvious losers,” opining that blaming MySpace for actions that take place away from the site presents “a major causation problem.”
Indeed, mobile service providers may have plenty of legal cover in these early days of mobile social communities. But as social-networking services begin to gain mass-market traction in wireless — and as GPS functionality allows members to pinpoint the location of others — we can expect more lawsuits that target carriers as well as those who operate the virtual communities.
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My favourite ad: The best example of engagement marketing?
Alan Moore talks about Engagement marketing - a term he created and refers to it as
Engagement marketing, sometimes called "participation marketing," is a marketing strategy that invites and encourages consumers to participate in the evolution of a brand. Rather than looking at consumers as passive receivers of messages, engagement marketers believe that consumers should be actively involved in the production and co-creation of marketing programs.
While this ad does not invite consumers to actively participate(and has been around for a while) .. It remains one of my most engaging advertisements and one I have watched probably maximum number of times - besides being one of the best songs from a recent artist
What is your example of an ad that has engaged you most and why? Hopefully it may even ask you to participate in some way(perhaps even as a comment on YouTube)
In fact, this blog itself may well be an example of engagement marketing in action i.e. I have engaged with the brand by actively blogging about it
The singer is Jose Gonzalez and you need to go to the very last frame to see who this ad is about. You can also read more about Jose Gonzalez HERE
Every time I visit this stretch of San Francisco, I have the image of the bouncing balls i.e. the ad transcends to a physical place by superimposing in your mind. And I suspect it does the same to many people ..
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Chance to get a free white paper on Blackberry/mobile data ..
Hello all
Louella Miles is a well known UK based business journalist best known for her book Conversations with Marketing Masters
Louella is working on a white paper about blackberry on mobile data devices and productivity/work life balance
In return for a survey, she can give you a copy of the white paper when its launched.
She is looking
(a) to interview SMEs who have noticed an increase in their productivity through the use of such devices as BlackBerry, iPhones, etc.
(b) ask them how is this productivity increase achieved?
(c) ask them how they juggle their work life balance (do their partners get shirty when they take their phones on holiday?)
(d) discover SMEs who don't use such devices, and ask them why
(e) uncover survey data, if any exists, on whether mobile data devices do make a difference to productivity
(f) uncover survey data which reveals whether there are differences from one continental country to another
If this is of interest, please email Louella at louella.miles at writers4management.com
Regards,
Ajit Jaokar
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Mobile Advertising - By Chetan Sharma and friends. Top 10 reasons to buy this book ..
Chetan Sharma, Joe Herzog and Victor Melfi have written a fantastic book on Mobile Advertising – which I highly recommend. If you have known Chetan Sharma (and I have had the privilege of knowing him now for a few years), his hallmark is the extraordinary level of detail he covers both in his blogs and his books. This book keeps up with that tradition.
Here are the top 10 reasons why you should read and buy this book
a) Global coverage covering Europe, North America, Asia etc
b) Lots of data and statistics
c) Realistic viewpoint (no hype – which exists a lot in this space)
d) An emphasis on both technology and business
e) Detailed case studies
f) Tackling the ‘free’ issue i.e. ad funded models
g) Covers both operator and non operator perspective
h) Almost 400 pages!
i) Excellent index
j) The five point framework with a model for ROA (return on advertisement)
For those interested, first chapter is available for download - http://www.chetansharma.com/Mobile_Advertising_Chapter_01.pdf
along with full TOC - http://www.chetansharma.com/Mobile%20Advertising%20Full%20TOC.pdf and Foreword - http://www.chetansharma.com/Mobile_Advertising_Foreword.pdf
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May 12, 2008
A sad day for China ..
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of China and especially sad to see that potentially 900 students may have died from one school
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Triumph of the long tail .. How techno band toppled Madonna
This is truly amazing and a reflection of the Long Tail in action. How techno band toppled Madonna
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Commercial dance is a very overlooked genre," Mr Cadman says. "It's quite sad really. The Clubland TV channel is doing fantastically well, it's one of the biggest music channels on Sky.
"It's all upbeat commercial dance, and I think a lot of people want that, and not necessarily when they're in a club."
Their customers are the tens of thousands of people who can be found at nightclubs in towns and suburbs every weekend, he says.
"The clubs that hit the headlines tend to be the named clubs - everyone knows of Cream and Gatecrasher, but what people don't tend to talk about is the club on every street corner.
"It might be a Ritzy or Ikon or Oceana. There are so many of these clubs and they're in every suburban centre. If you take Manchester, it might be the outlying areas - Oldham, Bolton, Stockport.
We've heard it called chav music, council house music
Matt Cadman
"All the town centres tend to be quite cool and built for young executives, who are probably a little bit older, and then in the outside areas you get more kids from 17 to 24 going to clubs, and they tend to be the ones where we do particularly well.
"Where we tend not to do particularly well is within the M25. As soon as you get inside the M25, it's like commercial dance music doesn't exist.
"And 95% of the national media is controlled from within the M25 so I think that's why they don't see it. They just literally don't get it.
"When they hear something like a Scooter or Cascada, they'll think it's rubbish. We've heard it called chav music, council house music, kiddie music - every disparaging term.
"And that's just not how we see it. We love it, we think it's fantastic. And so it's proved - it's not like we're listening on our own. Somebody's wrong somewhere down the line."
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Mobile phones that use Bluetooth to bring Facebook alerts to the street
Mobile phones that use Bluetooth to bring Facebook alerts to the street .. very interesting.
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May 9, 2008
Should your blog be on the OpenGardens blogroll ..
I am revamping the opengardens blogroll. Happy to add any good blogs or recommendations. The OpenGardens blog is ranked at 7 out of 10 at google page rank - so will do good for your google ratings.
I am also looking to link to blogs from all over the world based on criteria below especially from India, Chinese language/Japanese/Korean/German language/Spanish language and europe even if they are not in English
Criteria
The blog must be mobile /wireless/web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 related
It must have good content
It must be consistent ie not an ocassional post in a month
I especailly welcome global blogs (even if they are not in English)
kind rgds
Ajit
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Nokia re-emphasises its Internet credentials ..
From arstechnica
"Our goal is to act less like a traditional manufacturer, and more like an internet company," Kallasvuo told his shareholders. "Companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft are not our traditional competitors, but they are major forces that must be reckoned with. Make no mistake: We are taking on these challenges seriously and aggressively."
"When we look at it with the eyes we have now, when regarding pedestrian navigation, map services, digital maps, we are even more excited about the opportunities than when making the decision" to buy Navteq, said Kallasvuo.
Absolutely agree! Very few companies in the existing Telco space are going to dominate the world where the Mobile Internet is the dominant player and Nokia is one of them in my view..
For that matter .. very few existing Telecoms companies are going to survive in my view and there is a lot to be learned form Nokia
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Classic Ray Charles - Hit the road Jack ..
Watched this song more times than I can remember. Enjoy!
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Robbie Williams had made five times as much money from his deal with T-mobile Sony Ericsson in one year than he had from his record label
Fascinating stuff from David Cushman's blog ..
The mobile part in this mix? Well it interested me that Tim revealed Robbie Williams had made five times as much money from his deal with T-mobile Sony Ericsson in one year than he had from his record label. He made most of all from touring (the because effect in full effect!)
Interesting also that Sony Ericsson spent six times as much promoting Robbie's latest album in Australia than EMI did.
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May 8, 2008
Carnival of the Mobilists #122 at Xellular Identity
Carnival of the Mobilists #122 at Xellular Identity. have a read if you have not done so already ..
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Being Digital event - London 10 June
Tony Fish is putting on Being-Digital and it could be the digital event of the summer, covering the mashup of applications and services on the web, mobile and TV.
10th June BAFTA, Piccadilly, London. http://www.being-digital.com/
From their conference media/promotional details
>>>
They have already confirmed many of the best digital executives, entrepreneurs and investors in the UK. The reason that senior people are willing to give their time is that there is a need to discuss & debate the 7 core themes; social, search, advertising, identity, content, location & retail, and understand the implications on investment and cash.
It looks like there will be 30 or so cutting-edge demo companies providing both 1 minute pitches when relevant to a theme and working demos of their products & services. There may be room for one or two more.
TechCrunch UK is running a competition starting on the 11th June for the best Being-Digital Demo Pitch (1 min on stage). The winner will receive free hardware and consultancy from SUN Microsystems and ideas.org (the digital strategy, design and development agency).
130 professional have already registered, they have a capacity limit of 200 on a first paid basis. The event will sell out and you can pay £250 this week or £325 next week.
To register and pay please click here. http://www.mashupevent.com/node/436/register?destination=node/436/register
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Admob introduces mobile analytics ..
Admob, the industry's favourite poster child for mobile advertising introduces another cool product as they launched their Mobile analytics product last week. conceptually, this is similar to Google analytics on the Web .. and Admob's vast experience on the Mobile Web makes this an interesting product .. You can read more about it on the Admob blog
AdMob Analytics is accepting limited private beta sign ups at the following link: Admob mobile analytics .
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Suddenly Adobe/Flash Lite gets very interesting for mobile devices ...
Adobe has made some very interesting announcements recently. My friend Simeon has a good blog on these developments Adobe’s Open Screen Project Indicates Strategy Alignment
I last met Simeon at Barcelona in 2007 at Mobile World Congress when I was speaking there, and we had a lengthy discussion about Adobe. I remember Sim was optimistic about Adobe/Flash Lite then - but I was not.
My point has always been - on the Mobile web Adobe is not doing what it did on the web(and which made Adobe successful on the web in the first place) i.e. on the Web - it gives the client for free and charges money for the tools. On mobile, it charges a lot of money for the client(at least it did so prior to this announcement). In private discussions I had with Operators and device manufacturers, this had always been a problem for them - thereby slowing uptake of FlashLite.
I know you could argue that the client was not free in the case of FOMA in Japan - but Japan already had a vibrant mobile data industry in the form of imode prior to FOMA(so the FOMA - flashlite was a lesser risk)
However that has changed
The client is now free. That fact along with other changes makes adobe / Flash Lite a much more interesting proposition to watch now on
Its also nice to see Gary Kovacs take on a key new role .. And from my brief interactions with Gary – this is a good move for Adobe with Gary heading mobile developments
Certainly one to watch
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May 5, 2008
PhD research/student looking for a position
I have worked with Khamish on a few projects before and now that he is completing his PhD he is looking for a position. If you are interested in speaking to him, please contact him on the email below
Khamish Malhotra
M.Sc, B.Eng, Dip.Eng, CCNA, MIET, MIAENG
Khamish Malhotra is a research scholar at Faculty of Advanced Technology, University of Glamorgan. He has a Dip. Eng in Medical Electronics from Pusa Polytechnic (1996), a B.Eng in Electronics Engineering from Nagpur Univ. (1999), an M.Sc in Computing and Performance Engineering from University of Bradford (2003). He is currently writing-up for his PhD (Embedded Mobile Internet Technologies for Remote Patient Monitoring Applications) at the Faculty of Advanced Technology, University of Glamorgan. He has got publications on his name in various telecommunication conferences and magazines. He has worked as a part-time lecturer at Faculty of Advanced Technology, University of Glamorgan. . He is currently a member of Institution of Engineering and Technology and International Association of Engineers. He has over 5 years of Information and Communications technology experience gained with leading companies in India and UK.
His areas of research are Mobile related Healthcare, Wireless Remote Monitoring, Performance Modelling and Evaluation, Use of Multimedia over Mobile Networks, Mobile Computing and Network Security.
Please contact Khamish at khamishm at gmail.com
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May 4, 2008
Read write web is five years old..
I missed this one .. Read write web is five years old . A great achievement on behalf of Richard Mc Manus and team! If you dont follow this blog - you should!
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Blogging and the state of PR: Interview on Flacksrevenge blog ..
Bob Geller SVP of fusionpr is one of the savviest PR people I know and who understands new media, blogging and social software.
So, it was a pleasure to be interviewed by Bob for his blog Flacksrevenge. You can see the interview HERE
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Near time connection : An example of Mobile SAAS, Mobile Web, Mobile Widgets and Mobile Ajax in action ..
Near-Time is one of the leading on-demand, Enterprise 2.0 platform for cross organization collaboration. Near-Time combines blogs, forums and wikis and it enables business professionals to create rich interaction with their prospects, customers, partners and suppliers.
Near-Time has recently launched Near-Time connection which extends the Collaborative Capabilities of Near-Time to other Mobile Devices and to iGoogle via Widgets.
It is an example of a single interface / service (driven by the Web) and extending it to mobile devices and to iGoogle and thereby increasing the reach to existing (and potentially new) users.
By that I mean, while Symbian /Nokia support is absent at the moment on Near-Time; Nokia also supports Mobile Widgets in a big way. Hence Near-Time could easily extend the reach of their application to all Nokia/Symbian devices using the same Widget code base.
Through this strategy, application discovery will also be driven by the Web and via multiple channels (for instance – the Widget may be first discovered in iGoogle but the user may also have a Pocket PC device and may use the near-time application on the Web and also on the pocket PC.)
Finally .. By providing the ability to embed widgets into a home page, the user gets a customized product and at the same time overcomes the limitations of widgets themselves(i.e. the single, monolithic focus of a widget). The choice of launch platforms is also interesting (Web + iGoogle, iPhone, Pocket PC and the Blackberry)
I think leveraging the power of the Web, Mobile Web and Widgets by incorporating the ideas of Mobile SAAS, Mobile Web, Mobile Widgets and Mobile Ajax will be increasingly the way to go – fuelled by the greater uptake of the full Web on Mobile devices, Mobile Ajax and Mobile Widgets.
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May 3, 2008
Last.fm scrobbling for Nokia S60 and S40 devices thanks via new MyStrands Social Player
Mystrands have released version 3.1 of MyStrands Social Player, which allows you to scrobble tracks to Last.fm as you play music on S60 and S40 devices. Recently listened tracks on your mobile device will now be available on your Last.fm profile.
See the full announcement and downloads at the Mystrands blog
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May 2, 2008
Mobile connections opportunity at Supernova and Techcrunch ..
Hello all ..
This may be a very big opportunity for someone in the mobile space if you get it right.
Supernova is probably one of the best conferences in the tech visionary space and has played a key role in anticipating critical developments on the path to the Network Age for the last seven years.
Past speakers include Sergey Brin and speakers this year include Jonathan Schwartz, Mike Arrington, Joi Ito and others including me :)
Kevin Werbach, the creator of supernova emailed me about a new initiative they have just announced .. and the upside can be coverage on techcrunch!
For Mobile Connections at Supernova 2008, they are looking for game-changing innovations that provide a glimpse of the wireless future .. and the leading ideas will enjoy coverage on techcrunch.
See details below.
See also the links at the bottom of this email from Kevin to get an ethos of this conference(which is unique)
If you are attending, please email me as well so we can catch up(I am speaking on Wednesday but I will be there for most of the week)
Any qs, please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com or the supernova folk below and I can try and help if possible
The Supernova conference and TechCrunch are looking for the next great mobile ideas.
It's a safe bet that the most significant innovations in the Network Age will be tied to mobile communications. For Mobile Connections at Supernova 2008, we're looking for game-changing innovations that provide a glimpse of the wireless future. This is not another start-up contest -- it's limited to pre-commercial or non-commercial submissions.
We want to hear about concepts, prototypes, research lab projects, hacks, and business ideas, in any area related to mobile communications: devices, applications, interfaces, business models, location-based services, development tools, use cases, transmission technologies, etc. If your submission blows us away, we'll invite you to showcase it at Supernova 2008, June 16th in San Francisco, CA. You'll also enjoy coverage on TechCrunch, the leading media site covering emerging technologies and companies today, and the Supernova Conversation Hub.
There will be no charge for those selected. Email your submission to mobile@supernova2008.com by May 23, 2008. More details at Mobile connections - Supernova and Techcrunch
and also these links from the creator of supernova Kevin Werbach give you an idea about the thinking behind supernova
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2005/tc20050126_7264.htm
http://www.news.com/Perspective-Techs-big-challenge-Decentralization/2010-1071_3-963113.html
http://www.news.com/Anticipating-a-post-Web,-post-PC-world/2010-1071_3-1008628.html
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Which mobile/Wireless legislation is needed?; Patientline; Open systems and Rating the nurse in ward two ..
In spite of the flippant sounding headline .. This blog covers an important topic ..
I am an invited expert advisor to the European union Joint research commission - which is a part of the European union pre legislative/policy support initiative.
In many ways, my unorthodox - but also I believe practical - views complement the more traditional view point and it is always great to be a part of this initiative.
I will cover two aspects in this blog ..
Firstly, which aspects should be legislated to facilitate greater uptake of mobile / wireless technology within the European union (and I seek your feedback on this) ..
Although, no big fan of legislation – there are areas where clearly legislation is needed.
My three candidates are
a) Roaming charges
b) Transparency of pricing and
c) Transcoding(this will need a separate blog) – but by transcoding I also mean any ‘retrofitted changes’ to a site from a provider that affects the accessibility of the site itself
Seek thoughts and feedback ..
Also,
I also spoke about my usual viewpoint .. OpenGardens and Open mobile networks and I gave the example of patientline – to explain the problem at a microcosm level.
Patientline , as its name suggests is a network designed to ‘provides communication services to patients’. Patientline was recently in the news for increasing the cost of calls by 160%.
Let’s delve into the background behind this decision ..
Patientline is a monopoly(aka walled garden)
When it was deployed, mobile phones were totally banned from hospitals
So, at great cost (£160m!) and after considerable time, a network was put in to serve the ‘captive’ audience.
Note that the business model (i.e. recouping the investment of the network) and creating a profit on that investment – depended in the customers NOT having a choice ..
After this network was deployed, it was discovered that phones could be used in hospitals(but obviously not near equipment) and certainly they could be used outside the building itself
At this point, after all the cost and expenses, the customer had a choice ..
So, they took it ..
And this explains the hike in prices and the ‘enhanced services’ (TV) introduced in an attempt to recoup costs.
However, this is a part of a more fundamental problem
Openness makes a lot more sense when viewed from a customer standpoint and technology will catch up sooner than we think - breaking business models which restrict the customer.
This is inevitable. Happened to AOL, is happening to Mobile Operators and will happen to Patientline.
And it underpins the LTE vs. wimax debate
"As an industry it takes us a long time to get things done; we need to move faster otherwise others will eat our lunch," said Sarin
And what is the solution?
Accept that networks will be an investment with little returns. However, look to add services on top of a network.
What could that be in case of patientline?
Maybe a social network amongst patients
Maybe a game to rate the nurse in ward two ..
Who knows?
I don’t. And that’s the point
Patientline would need to be viewed as a platform ..
In