Author: Tom Nolle

We’re continuing to see parallels between the world overall and the world of technology; between global economic issues and tech issues.  It’s so logical (the parts conform, after all, to the Model of the Whole) that you have to wonder if it’s an accident! Egypt is proving that online social network services can build a…

There are some new indications that the momentum of the web is shifting more decisively toward content, but not in the simplistic “content is king” sense.  What’s happening is a combination of fairly complicated and interrelated shifts, and these are gradually changing the way the online business model works.  How that will impact the online…

News Corp has finally launched it’s iPad-paper, The Daily, but it’s obviously way too soon to know whether the experiment in a newspaper that’s neither printed nor online, but instead is appliance-targeted, will work.  The price is lower than that of print news to be sure, but at $40 a year it’s still more than…

FCC has filed a response to two provider lawsuits on net neutrality (one by Verizon), saying that because the order has not yet been published in the Federal Registry it’s not technically in effect and cannot yet be challenged in court.  That seems a rather lame move, but as I noted last week the current…

AT&T’s report on earnings reinforced some structural changes in the industry that Verizon’s report had already suggested.  One basic truth is that mobile services are more profitable and more fertile areas for growth than wireline.  Another is that mobile service gains and ARPU both depend substantially on broadband and smartphones rather than on voice services. …

Earnings season is underway, and I think it’s clear that the results are generally positive and probably more so than expected.  That raises again the possibility that the recovery is proceeding more quickly than economists expected, and another sign that may be true is that the major parties in the US now seem to be…

Cisco took what could be a giant step for itself at CES with its new video ecosystem.  Called Videoscape, it combines in-home tools and software to centralize the mediation and management of video relationships, creating what’s probably the most architected video service layer available to network operators today.  Since Cisco was already doing well in…

The new year is always a time of perceived change, though of course the simple transition between two calendar dates doesn’t drive change itself.  Rather than talk about the coming year in general (which I’ve done in our Annual Technology Forecast issue for Netwatcher in any event), I’ll focus here on the immediate “changes” the…

I had a chance to review the full text of the FCC’s Net Neutrality Order (10-201 if you’re into the FCC’s numbering system) and there were no real surprises in the material versus the commentary that was provided in the public meeting.  I’m still concerned that the FCC hasn’t created a solid legal foundation for…

The FCC’s neutrality vote went as expected, with commentary by various people involved in the process, including the Commissioners.  I found a lot that I agreed with, but I disagreed with at least some of what virtually everyone said.  It’s not a disappointing order, though I’m sure that most will characterize it that way.  The…