The Telecom Digest for July 25, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 200 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
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Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:23:02 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Steve Jobs Is Houdini
Message-ID: <p06240820c86f56036ce9@[10.5.11.42]>
Leadership
Steve Jobs Is Houdini
Richard S. Levick, 07.22.10, 12:06 PM ET
On Friday, July 16, Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, found
himself in a kind of situation many public figures have faced before
him. A crisis had built and wouldn't go away. As the world waited in
hyped expectancy, the spotlight fell on the central player to step
onto the dais and deal with it. In this case, Jobs' handling of the
iPhone 4 situation generated an unusually wide variety of immediate
reactions, from lavish praise to widespread criticism.
Then on Tuesday, July 20, Apple reported earnings that put both the
positives and negatives of his performance in a new perspective. The
company had exceeded expectations, reporting $3.51 earnings per share
on revenue of $15.7 billion. Analysts had projected $3.12 a share on
sales of $14.75 billion. The numbers represent a significant annual
surge, up from $9.7 billion in revenues and $1.8 billion in earnings
this quarter last year.
With shareholders presumably happy, it's fair to say that any lasting
impact of the July 16 press conference involves longer-term consumer
perception. In that context, Apple certainly waited too long to bring
out Jobs as spokesman, nearly three weeks after the media, the
Internet and the consumer marketplace began to buzz about the antenna
problem that appeared to be threatening the iPhone 4's launch. Who
more than Jobs should know that in the digital age you must control
the narrative from the very start?
When he finally did seize the moment, he did so with a strategic
mixture of conciliatory giveaway and spirited defense. Blithely
dubbing the crisis "antennagate," he said Apple would provide free
cases for all iPhone 4 users to mitigate the effect of the "death
grip" that caused dropped or weakened signals.
That was a relatively cost-effective way to satisfy a public that
wanted a tangible sacrifice from an offending party, but it was a
shrewd best-of-both worlds approach as well. If nothing else, the
giveaway affirms that any problems with the phone are eminently
fixable. (A product recall would have been the worst-case scenario.)
At the same time, Jobs went on the offense, averring that the
situation was "blown so out of proportion, it's incredible." During
the question period that followed, he declined to apologize to
investors. (The current earnings report shows there was no need.)
Importantly, he also spent a full five minutes pointing out how
commonplace wireless signal problems are among other companies.
...
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/22/steve-jobs-apple-houdini-leadership-managing-crisis.html
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:21:37 -0500
From: John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Overlay acceptance
Message-ID: <AANLkTik6uSGdqdUjYsn1R4CsvZ+UmdzYOwUXy9XvZe8u@mail.gmail.com>
On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 10:51 AM, David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote:
> MD did one of the first overlays, and there was a hue & cry not
> to be believed; you have thought the state's children were being
> bundled up & sent to the Soylent Green plant.
I agree. I remember hearing time and again how difficult 10-digit
numbers would be on "our children" as if we were collectively rearing
the nation's millions of children and these children were incapable of
remembering anything longer than seven digits.
--
John Mayson <john@mayson.us>
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:44:37 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Ringing up sales
Message-ID: <p0624082bc87003ea7631@[10.5.11.42]>
Ringing up sales
Phones are retailers' latest route to back-to-school shoppers' wallets
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | July 23, 2010
Merchants looking to boost sales during the critical back-to-school
season are courting students where they spend most of their time - on
their phones.
Kmart is planning next week to blast out daily text messages with
promotions for the back-to-school season. J.C. Penney Co. is
displaying interactive ads on iPhone apps that allow users to view
new outfit combinations for the fall and find the closest store. And
American Eagle Outfitters this week is giving away free smartphones
to consumers just for trying on a pair of jeans - no purchase
necessary.
"Mobile is the way to reach consumers, especially college students
and younger, right at their fingertips,'' said Ben Dolgoff, cofounder
of Peekaboo Mobile, a new app developed in Boston that uses GPS
technology in phones to find deals from nearby stores and
restaurants. Dolgoff is working with dozens of merchants, including
Subway, Beacon Hill Athletic Club, and Boston Common Coffee, to
launch mobile coupons aimed at area college students for the
back-to-school season.
Many retailers are realizing they can no longer afford to neglect the
mobile space, especially for back-to-school, the second-biggest
shopping period after the holidays. Consumers last year spent about
$1.2 billion on goods and services purchased via mobile phones and
the market is expected to reach $2.1 billion by the end of this year,
according to Mark Beccue, a senior analyst with ABI Research in New
York.
Retail analysts say the mobile push is especially critical this year
as businesses attempt to combat sluggish consumer spending. The
National Retail Federation reported that overall back-to-school
spending will increase to $55.12 billion, but average spending for
college students is expected to dip slightly.
While some mobile deals send consumers straight to merchants'
websites, American Eagle is trying to lure shoppers into stores with
its denim giveaway. Every customer who tries on a pair of jeans
between July 21 and Aug. 3 receives a free smartphone after signing
up for a two-year service plan, starting at about $40 per month
without data. Shoppers can choose from more than 40 phones, including
the $500 Droid by Motorola, and customers also receive a $25 gift
card redeemable online or in American Eagle stores.
...
http://www.boston.com/community/moms/articles/2010/07/23/ringing_up_sales/
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:15:04 -0400
From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Statement by Apple on White iPhone 4
Message-ID: <op.vgbhfey6itl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:54:11 -0400, Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote:
> July 23, 2010
>
> Statement by Apple on White iPhone 4
>
> White models of Apple's new iPhone 4 have continued to be more
> challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a
> result they will not be available until later this year. The
> availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not
> affected.
>
> http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/23iphonestatement.html
Heh ... calls to mind old Henry Ford and his Model T principle:
"They can have it any color they want, so long as it's black."
:-) . Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:37:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Overlay acceptance
Message-ID: <8cda84b0-1ef2-4006-85d8-f4be8542dca8@u26g2000yqu.googlegroups.com>
On Jul 23, 11:51 am, David Lesher <wb8...@panix.com> wrote:
> But now, does anyone even raise their voice? My pet theory is
> coincident with splits/overlays was the saturation of users with
> cell phones. Most cell phone calls are dialed with 10D; and the
> users seem to cope. That coping seems to translate back to
> wireline, even if the 2500 pad lacks a SPEND key to push.
True. But I also suspect another reason is that a great many
telephone sets today have speed dialing built in, so for many calls
the user only needs to hit one button. Further, many people have
answering machines and call waiting, so they don't have to repeat
dialing if a call attempt is unsuccessful. (Remember how in the old
days one would have to repeatedly dial a number for an important call
if the party was either busy or not home?)
If users still had rotary dials, especailly the older kind with the
metal dial ring, they wouldn't be pleased. Frequent dialing of ten
digits on rotary phones gets tiring real fast.
In some places in the country, it wasn't that long ago that local
calls needed only five digits.
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:56:31 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Apple iPhone 4 Case Program
Message-ID: <p06240839c870d98785e3@[10.5.11.42]>
If you purchase an iPhone 4 before September 30, 2010, you are
eligible to receive an iPhone 4 Bumper or a select third-party case
from Apple at no charge.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/case-program/
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:39:50 -0400
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Paul Rosen, 88, helped develop the high-speed modem
Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.64.1007241639340.13255@panix5.panix.com>
Paul Rosen dies; helped develop high-speed modem
By T. Rees Shapiro
Saturday, July 24, 2010; B05
Paul Rosen, an electrical engineer who in the mid-1950s
helped develop the high-speed modem, spurring revolutionary
progress in the nascent industry of telecommunications,
died of congestive heart failure July 20 at his cottage
in West Bath, Maine. He was 88.
The technology behind the modem -- a device that converts
data into [analog (1)] signals that can be passed through
channels such as [legacy (2)] phone lines -- has existed
in primitive forms since the late 1940s. But in those days,
phone lines carried data signals inconsistently, and information
was transmitted slowly.
While working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's
Lincoln Laboratory in 1958, Mr. Rosen and a colleague, Jack
Harrington, patented a device that rapidly transmitted large
amounts of data over phone lines.
Their invention, "Method of Land Line Pulse Transmission,"
helped expand computer networks nationwide by significantly
accelerating the flow of data over phone lines.
------
(1) and (2) added by poster...
the rest, as they say, is history:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/23/AR2010072305195.html
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2010/07/23/PH2010072305336.jpg
Paul Rosen, center, stands in front of a sequential decoder, an early
piece of telecommunications equipment. His work was a crucial addition
to a landmark Army defense project during the Cold War.
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:53:15 +0000
From: colins@people.net.au
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Apple: iPut a rubber band on it
Message-ID: <52078.1279932795@people.net.au>
Users of Apple's new iPhone 4 have reported that the phone loses
reception when you hold it a certain way. Attempts to quantify the
extent of the defect have only fueled the controversy. So how do you
test a cellphone antenna? Do you really need an anechoic chamber, like
one of the 17 Apple reportedly owns?
What's wrong with testing the phone in a radio-frequency isolation
chamber, as Consumer Reports did? Host Steven Cherry interviews
Spencer Webb, antenna designer and president of AntennaSys, about his
own tests for the iPhone 4 and the challenges of getting quantitative
results.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/telecom/wireless/how-bad-is-the-iphone-4s-antenna-problem
Regards,
Colin
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