At Work Social Media Overblown?

Researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project recently found that very few workers actually create or read blogs while at work. About 11 percent of respondents who have Internet access at work say they have read blogs while at work.

Reading is most prevalent among younger generations of employed Internet users. About 33 percent of Iinternet-using employees say they have read someone else’s blog or online journal, either at home or at work.

Among young working adults, 46 percent are blog readers, compared with 33 percent of 30-49 year olds and

25 percent of employed Internet users ages 50-64. At-work blog reading is equally prevalent among all of these groups, though. 

Some might seize on that finding as an example of workers not taking advantage of all the information-bathering and communication tools they now have at their disposal.

Some will leap to the conclusion that workers are doing themselves a disservice by avoiding blog readership or creation while they are at work. That might be true. But there is another way to look at matters. 

Those of us who have done journalism for any length of time sometimes believe--apparently incorrectly--that most people in a business or profession "need" to read news and other information sources to do their jobs. But hang around in the mailroom at any organization. What you will find is that after the "C" titles, very few people who work in organizations actually read publications of any kind related to their industry verticals or horizontal job responsibilities.

It simply is not true that most people "need" to know what is happening at a high level in their industries to do their actual jobs. If it were true, then almost everybody would be reading and acquiring such information at work. But most people do not. 

One can argue that "most" people thereby are harming their careers. To be sure, there is no way to prove or disprove such a thesis. But it has not been my experience, as somebody who has picked up mail in the mailroom, that most people actually think they "must" know what is happening in an industry at a high level, in order to do their actual jobs. "C" titles obviously have greater incentive to monitor industry trends, as they must raise and allocate capital. Marketing staffs often have higher incentive to know what's going on because they must create and manage a wide variety of sales-related and product development tasks. 

Information technology managers typically spend more time than most staying "up to date" on technology trends. But most people simply do not, because they don't have to. 

Media publishers and content providers of all sorts have a vested interest in persuading people that a particular product is a "must read" for most people who "matter." That just isn't true, in most cases. Most people not only have no such need, they have no such habit, either.

Ping Patent, Ding Providers

Google has filed a patent application that essentially would allow end users of communications services to conduct real-time auctions and then select the best deal. 

Think of it as an application of "on demand" bandwidth to virtually any voice, video or data session a user wants to create "right now."

Customers like this sort of thing, carriers typically don't, as prices tend to drop when there is real-time transparency into cost and quality parameters of available access and transport options. 

Cisco Makes Big Move into Cloud Computing

Cisco has undertaken a major new initiative in the unified communications space, introducing a new architecture for its former WebEx Connect service, making Cisco a provider of Web-based productivity applications including email, instant messaging, voice, calendaring and virtual whiteboards.

The offering is part of Cisco’s Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and is part of a vision Cisco now has for "everything as a service." Predictably, the initiative has pundits touting Cisco's new move to compete with the likes of Google and Microsoft in Web-based services and applications. The strategy has elements of that, to be sure. But that's almost a by-product of the larger move towards cloud computing services that use a browser front end as the portal to services and applications of all sorts that once were delivered using physical media and local storage. 

Cisco says Verizon Communications is an initial partner, and that further deals are expected with European and Asia-based service providers as well. Cisco executives say business models might vary from carrier to carrier, but that subscription fees will drive the retail offerings and carriers will share in that revenue. 

Though initially services are expected to be consumed by PC users, the service also will be made available to "most" mobile platforms by the first quarter of 2009, including support for Symbian, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile

operating systems.

EC Wants to Slash Texting Rates 60%

The European Commission, as expected, has proposed a new law slashing international text messaging rates by 60 percent by the summer of 2009. Specifically, the EC has proposed a retail cap of €0.11 (about 16 cents), excluding value-added tax, on roaming text messages, combined with a €0.04 cap at wholesale level, to be introduced by July 1, 2009. 

Tracfone Plumbs a Niche

TracFone Wireless Inc. has launched a program in Florida that provides low-income households with phone service. SafeLink Wireless will operate as part of Lifeline, a U.S. government-supported program providing phone service for low-income households.

It provides households a free mobile phone, mobile access to emergency services and 68 minutes of free monthly air time for a year. The cell phone offers in-demand features like voicemail, text messaging, call waiting, international calling to over 60 destinations and caller ID.

Families may qualify for SafeLink Wireless service if their household income is not above 135 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines, or if they receive government assistance that including Medicaid, food stamps and other programs.

The program is yet another example of a niche voice service that does not fit the classic definition of a "commodity." That is to say, this particular voice application is not a functional substitute for other voice products, but rather a particular implementation of voice that is the foundation for a vertical revenue segment within the broader market. 

Some providers of voice services for retailers would probably note that very little outbound traffic or features typically are used in such settings. Most of the value is provided by inbound calling features such as automated attendant and call transfer, for example. Low-cost mobile service might be part of the reason. But part of the reason for this use pattern is simply that many retailers do no outbound telesales. They simply wait for customers to walk in the front door or call. 

Restocking functions might require some outbound calling, but in many cases local distributors supply that function, so "long distance" is not required. 

The point is that, in actual practice, there are all sorts of real-world use cases for voice communications that do not fit the classic definition of a "commodity," with the implications that typically has for pricing, conditions of use and packaging. 

Xohm Launch Slips to October

Sprint Nextel will launch its Xohm mobile WiMAX network Oct. 8 in Baltimore, the company says. But that doesn't mean we should expect a full commercial launch. Initially, the network will be used by "friendly" partners such as Intel and other Xohm partners who will seed the market with selected friendly users. 

Motorola, Nokia, Nokia-Siemens Networks, Samsung, ZTE, ZyXEL, Ciena, DragonWave and Mformation also will be providing software, hardware and applications during the test period. 

Future service will launch in Chicago and Washington, D.C. as well. Aside from the normal shakedown issues, backhaul has been a key issue, and carrier Ethernet is a key technology for solving those problems.

T-Mobile Drops 1 Gbyte Monthly Cap for G1

Facing huge criticism about its 1 Gbyte monthly cap on 3G access for the G1 Android phone, T-Mobile has decided to lift the cap immediately and is reviewing its options for a permanent plan. But T-Mobile now is saying it has removed that limit while it reviews its plans and decides on new ones.

T-Mobile is likely to come up with a plan that still accomplishes the goal of shaping traffic, when necessary, to maintain reasonable end user experience at times of peak load, especially when some very-heavy users are placing unusual stress on the radio network.

Consumer pressure does work. T-Mobile knew it had a problem and is taking steps to ameliorate it.