December 2011
4 posts
The Awesome
Any product going against entrenched competition needs “The Awesome” - that one set of features that make it head and shoulders above them. Driving back from a gig last night, I was talking with friend Mike (former Apple engineer) about the webphone. We discussed what would be “The Awesome” of a new phone platform, a feature that would make a new product stand out. I use the term “feature”...
Wholesale Carrier
Because of Verizon Wireless’ recent boneheaded move, I feel it’s time to turn either Sprint or T-Mobile into a wholesale carrier. This would make their MVNO business into their primary revenue maker and enable likes of Google, Microsoft, and anyone else brave enough to develop a phone platform to deliver a great product without being second guessed or blocked by the wireless service...
Don’t tie me up with a contract
Small talk sometimes yields an insightful gem of an idea. Today I had one of those encounters where someone asked what I did for work. The best I could come up with that early in the morning was “I’m trying to build a new kind of cell phone.” “Well, make it so I’m locked in a contract for two years” she said. I must have looked confused so she went on. “It took me $500 to get out of my AT&T...
AT&T/T-Mobile was all about the subscribers
When an internal AT&T email said they could build out their network for $3.9 billion, it’s no wonder the Department of Justice and the FCC barfed all a $39 billion merger. This deal was all about 1) AT&T paying $1,000 per T-Mobile subscriber to get future contract revenue, and 2) Deutsche Telekom trying to get out of a US market that’s too competitive. Why AT&T thought this was a...