Software Commentary Archive
:: Software Commentary Archive ::
The birth of the phone as platform
By Rich Karpinski
When is a phone, not a phone? When it is an application platform....
Hearts, minds and the mobile address book
By Whitey Bluestein
Mobile operators face a new battle for control of the customer relationship. But this time it's not about ringtones, games and search; it's about what is quite possibly their most valuable asset: the application you use to make a phone call....
The carrier and content divide
By Sarah Reedy
They own the network, have the most direct access to consumers’ pocketbooks, and they decide who gets valuable real estate on their decks. ...
The IT-telecom transformation
By Carol Wilson
Last week's IBM-Cloudshield announcement is just one more indication of the rapid pace at which IT technology is moving into the telecom world, displacing the proprietary and purpose-built systems of the industry's past....
TV Ads-Do They Measure Up?
By Daniel Chu
Advertisers across media are seeking unprecedented levels of campaign measurement and ad tracking....
The ‘black magic’ of handset success
By Rich Karpinski
What makes a successful mobile handset? Is it functionality? Hardware? UI? Apps? The right price? Some hard-to-measure buzz? Or the longed-for stamp of teen approval?...
Email: Killer App of the '80's to Killed App in the '00's.
By Chris Nicoll
It is amazing the generational shift that can occur in a short 20 years. A kid sitting by himself in a tree used to be a lonely sight. These days a kid sitting in a tree with a cell phone could be in the midst of a multi-person discussion and be happy as a lark....
Experiential services offer variety of revenue opportunities
By Maribel D. Lopez, Lopez Research
Facing new market realities, service providers understand growth will not come from adding subscribers, but from finding new ways to monetize existing relationships...
Marching toward the inevitable
By Carol Wilson
There is no doubt in my mind that, over the next year or possibly two, broadband service providers will begin offering service options based not only on bandwidth but on quality of service...
DPI vs. P2P
By Carol Wilson
A few years ago, peer-to-peer traffic was well on its way to becoming the bane of Internet service providers’ existence. The machine-to-machine nature of the traffic enabled P2P users to be constantly consuming available bandwidth, without paying anything extra, and ISPs weren’t prepared...
Back office on the hot seat
By Rich Karpinski
When I sat down to chat with Kevin Hart, chief information officer for Level 3 Communications, this week at a trade show focused on back-office operations, I expected to talk about SOA, eTOM, CRM and an array of other tech/IT acronyms...
Not satisfied on customer satisfaction
By Carol Wilson
One thing that must be said about global telecom executives is that they aren't overly self-satisfied. At least that's what a global survey, done by The Economist Intelligence Unit for Oracle, would seem to indicate...
Observations on the unified communications market
By Matthias Machowinski, Infonetics Research
We recently conducted research on the Unified Communications (UC) market, and encountered some interesting results that run against prevailing wisdom...
Microsoft, Yahoo! and the myth of the dumb pipe
By Rich Karpinski
So where’s the service provider bid for Yahoo! now that it’s on the market? Obviously, it’s nowhere to be seen. And that’s a good, sensible thing...
Open mobile Web: Progress and delays
By Rich Karpinski
Issuing press releases and releasing beta code was the easy part. Actually delivering products and sorting out the power relationships in a new, more “open” mobile universe – that’s hard...
A refreshing change
By Carol Wilson
MetaSwitch made its name in the early days by being a good supplier to second- and third-tier telephone companies, including many rural operators. The company was employee-owned until just recently, when it decided to seek outside funding to enable a global expansion. To be sure, this is a risk ...
Mrs. McDermott's morning
By Tim McElligott
The house was deathly quiet and chilled. The shades were raised. The sun was up. But the greyest of light was all that penetrated the thick November sky and shadows lingered in the deep corners of the kitchen. Her every move across the room was deliberate, each sound amplified, her mind in search of distraction. ...
I can't see clearly
By Carol Wilson
Spend a few minutes online at sites such as The Consumerist and you'll come away convinced that all service providers -- telco, cable, satellite -- are engaged in an evil plan to defraud consumers and make their lives as difficult as possible...
Growing pangs
By Tim McElligott
Ever get a notion about something only to dismiss it because it's not your area of expertise? Ever been reluctant to open your mouth about something that appeared obvious to you, but stopped because you knew that the experts in that field would scoff and snicker?...
Up to here
By Tim McElligott
When you're full, you stop eating. When you're tired, you sit. When you're through, you cuddle -- if you know what's good for you. But when you've simply had enough -- or as some folks say, “Had it up to here” -- what then? Well, you can do as I did...
Sign sign nowhere VeriSign
By Tim McElligott
I don't know which day VeriSign will come to rue the most: the day it hired Stratton Sclavos or the day it decided to divest most of what they have acquired over the last five years, including its telecom-related assets. Tough call...
The new content value chain
BY KEITH WILLETTS
Major content, service twists help to transform telecom...
From Peterbilt to Optimus Prime
By Tim McElligott
If life imitated art, network and business transformation would be instantaneous, as easy and as fast as transforming from a Peterbilt truck into an Autobot...
Acceptable losses
By Tim McElligott
Governmental (emphasis on the mental) budgets usually provide cushion for the inevitable waste that comes with implementing them. We accept that for some reason, just as we accept the reality that they have to account for acceptable losses in military campaigns. It's astounding what we can learn to accept...
Confessions of a CSR
By Tim McElligott
Yes, I was a customer service rep. And the saddest story I ever heard--one which, in the middle of, I inappropriately burst into laughter--was told by a lonely, old woman who had me on the phone for 20 minutes before telling me the reason for her call...
