Canadian Market Just Doesn’t Get the Nexus One Google Phone
I'm not claiming to be an expert or anything, but I did spend a good six months following the HTC Hero story before it came to market. In case you missed that one, its release was a watershed moment in the history of the Android OS. Many people have agreed that it was the first device to really compete with the iPhone head to head and showed that Google's foray into the smartphone realm was more than just a half-baked afterthought.
I haven't followed the Nexus One story much at all, actually, until now. But I believe that it makes the Hero seem like just another iPhone rip-off. That's because what we are getting with the Nexus One isn't just another smartphone, it is a whole different way of relating to the telecommunications industry.
Many people are still unaware of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). This is a telephone service that works just like your traditional landline, except instead of using an analog signal (the kind used by Alexander Graham Bell himself in the first phone call), it uses a digital signal that is transmitted over the internet. The great advantage of this technology is that traditional phone lines can still be used, but using digital technology increases the bandwidth of the transmission. In other words, you don't need an analog signal anymore, all you need is an internet connection (whether that be DSL or cable or satellite) and you can make and receive telephone calls.
This technology has yet to make its way into the cellular market for many reasons. The main one being that its introduction would seriously hurt the bottom line of cellular companies. Just think, with VOIP on a cell phone you don't even need a "Talk & Text Plan". All you need is a data plan. With a data plan you can use Skype, or Google Voice or some other technology out there that we haven't even heard of or hasn't been invented yet.
The Nexus One is pushing the limits by going for the jugular of the cellphone industry. That main vein is the outrageous prices that the industry places on consumers for traditional services that have basically been rendered obsolete by the emergence of new technologies like VOIP (don't even get me started on the text-message thing, which is an even more outrageous story of manipulation and incredibly lucrative for the entrenched powers).
The reason that most people don't know about this in Canada is obvious. Rogers, Bell and Telus have the highest rates of any cellular companies in the world. Anything that would jeopardize their cartel is blasted in the major press because they not only control a lot of the media directly, but also indirectly through advertising. They aren't going to be paying the Globe and Mail or National Post or even the Toronto Star for advertising if their reporters are telling the public how they are being ripped off (much less reporting those stories themselves).
This missing puzzle piece in Canada, to really make the Nexus One a game changer in this market, will be for some Canadian Cellular company to offer "data only" cellular plans. What that would look like is that you buy a sim card from a cellular provider and pay for a data plan only instead of a talk and text with data which is the current norm. This really isn't that different from buying a USB stick that you hook up to your laptop, it is just that we still don't think of smartphones as handheld computers. The reality is that is just exactly what they are. Millions of dollars in advertising revenue are being spent to keep you and everyone else in Canada from realizing this (and to be fair, it is happening in the US as well, but at least T-Mobile is already on board with Google).
I have an inkling of hope that Globalive will be offering this type of service through Wind Mobile, but only time will tell. As for me, I'm hoping that Google offers the Nexus One directly to Canadian consumers sooner than later, I want one! How about you?
Soft Morphing Mobile Robot
Those folks at DARPA are again up to something strange again, this thing is called the Chembot. It's hard to watch, robots aren't supposed to be mushy.
Real Transforming Robot
What else can I say, this is incredible. Maybe transforming robots are going to be a lot more than just science fiction.
Bugbase Brings Open Hardware to the Masses
I'm starting to get really excited about the emerging field of open hardware. The primary concept is analagous to the open software movement in terms of making hardware that can be modified by the user. Bug Labs is now selling a modular computing device running Linux sofware with an ARM processor. The possiblities for this are absolutely unlimited.
Here is an interview with Eric von Hippel from MIT discussing one of the Bugbase modules that has been developed in his honor, the BugvonHippel breakout module that expands the capabilities of the Bugbase into being used as a controller for about any electronic device you could think of. There is also a lot of really good discussion and speculation about where the future economy is going, where design and innovation is user-driven, rather than by the manufacturers.
After all that, I just can't wait to get my hands on one of these!
Simple Stem Cell Thereapy Cures Blindness
Using stem cells from the patient's own good eye, University of South Wales researchers are curing blindness in an extremely simple and non-invasive procedure. Makes one wonder what kind of other "miracle" medical treatments are just beyond the horizon.
World Builder
This is an extremely moving film about a possible future... there is no dialogue, so ephemeral, so beautiful.
Let’s Go to the Allosphere
A bit speechless (or would the textual equivalent be textless) after watching this video. Using visual art to represent scientific data has been going on for a while, but to make it completely immersive and add the audio dimension completely blows my mind. This may be the kind of breakthrough we need to start really getting a grip on extremely complex systems like human cognition and quantum mechanics.
File Number # 8740-B2-200904989 – Bell Canada – TN 7181
I just received this email from my ISP. After reading it over I posted a response to the indicated URL. I wanted to show the world just how manipulative and evil Bell Canada can be. I should know, I worked for one of their mutant symbionts in the states (AT&T formerly known as SBC formerly known as Southwestern Bell before the breakup of Ma Bell when they and Verizon and Bell Canada were all just parts of the biggest monopoly the world had ever seen).
**********
Dear Valued Customer,
We are writing to you today as many activities are underway to shape/reshape
Internet use as you all know it. Over the last year some of you have been
made aware and/or have seen activities on throttling in the news or in your
daily lives. Another proceeding relating to the Internet in Canada required
Telecom providers (Bell/Telus/etc.) to provide ISPs with wholesale service
speeds that match those that they offer to their own retail customers.
Specifically, Bell has been directed by the CRTC to provide matching speeds
which would allow us all to have more flexibility in our day to day online
requirements. Instead of adhering to these directives, Bell decided to take
this issue to the federal Cabinet and at the same time file a tariff
application with the CRTC proposing to introduce Usage Based Billing (UBB)
on its wholesale customer accounts.
What does this mean for you, the consumer?
Bell provides TekSavvy with last mile, wholesale DSL access services, which
TekSavvy uses to provide you with your Internet access. If Bell were to be
allowed to introduce UBB on this service, a cap of 60GB would be imposed on
all of its users, with very heavy penalties per Gigabyte afterwards
(multiple times more than our current per Gigabyte rate of $0.25/GB on
overages). This would inherently all but remove Unlimited internet services
in Ontario/Quebec and potentially cause large increases in internet costs
from month to month.
If you'd like to make your comments/concerns known about what Bell is
attempting to do, please do so here:
http://support.crtc.gc.ca/crtcsubmissionmu/forms/Telecom.aspx?lang=e
Select the word "Tariff" from the drop down list.
Add the following in Subject Line "File Number # 8740-B2-200904989 - Bell
Canada - TN 7181" and make your thoughts known!
The deadline for filing your comments is today at midnight, so hurry!
Regards,
*********
HERE IS MY RESPONSE:
Nothing less than the future of Canadian innovation is at stake with this tariff. The only party this helps is Bell Canada, and their legacy of control and manipulation. There is no way that this is good for the average consumer who will end up paying for it. Rather than becoming more competitive and implementing technology that gives consumers more choice and more value for their money, Bell Canada is seeking governmental approval for its mismanagement and abuse of technological resources.
Ten years ago 60 gigabytes a month of downloads would have seemed an outrageously high number. But then again, ten years ago a dial-up internet connection and 56 kilobytes per second was the norm. Even so, under ideal conditions it would have been possible to download over 145 gigabytes of data in a month! (56 kb/sec * 60 sec * 60 min * 24 hours * 30 days = 145152000 kb = 145.152 GB/month). So even though 60 gigabytes seemed like a lot back then it still represented less than half of the potential amount of data that could have been downloaded with that technology.
Today it would be a conservative estimate to say that most broadband services average around 2 megabytes per second download (2000 kb/sec). This represents a capacity increase of 35 times, so the potential data downloaded under ideal conditions comes to over 5000 gigabytes! The 60 gigabyte per month download represents 1.2 % of the ideal capacity of the system under current conditions. For all practical purposes we can expect information technology to continue to improve in at least a linear fashion and in another ten years for it to increase another 35 times in capacity. In other words, not only does this tariff look stupid now, but as times go by the apparent stupidity of it will increase as well, as that 60 gigabytes per month represents less and less of the total data transfer capacity of the system and Bell Canada is able to charge their customers premium prices for nearly all of the data traffic that passes through it.
A fair tariff (if there is such a thing) would at least consider charging overage fees based on some ratio between potential and actual use, and as more bandwith becomes available that specific number would increase. How Bell Canada even came up with this 60 gigabyte per month number itself is completely suspect. If we were expected to only drive 1 % of the speed our cars were capable of, then we would all be driving somewhere between 1 and 2 kilometers per hour.
To the people who will decide whether or not to implement this decision, please, please, do not give in to this ridiculous proposal from Bell Canada. Do not slow down the pace of innovation and progress that has been made possible through the internet by allowing them to put up a big toll gate at every intersection. Say "no" to the culture of entitlement and control that exists at Bell Canada and say "yes" to the future.
*******
Unfortunately, when I tried to submit that whole schpiel I was told that it exeded 2000 characters. So, I put in my calculations which were the most important part so the rest of my rantings will have to be remembered here.
Sovereign Immunity Must be Overruled
I agree with president Obama on a lot of things, like reducing the influence of the military industrial complex, or leveraging governmental authority to make health care affordable to the citizens of the United States, or being more open and diplomatic with Islamic countries but to name a few things. On his economic policies I think the things he has tried to do to help the average American taxpayer, like mortgage assistance and higher taxes on the wealthy are good too. He should not have agreed to bail out the banks in my opinion, but I realize that is pretty much a lost cause at this point.
Professor Turley from George Washington University is right in this case, to disagree with president Obama over the issues of sovereign immunity. To give the government a free hand to invade the privacy of its citizens, and to give the Bush administration a "get out of jail free" card for all of the illegal and immoral acts that it perpetrated while in power, is just plain wrong. This is something that every U.S. citizen should know about and should take steps to raise awareness and to create a discussion about where this kind of decision will lead us. We don't want to go there. The government is powerful enough without closing the door on its citizens ability to question its actions.
