73 Democrats tell FCC to Drop Title II Gambit

73 House Democrats have sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission warning the agency not to go forward with its plan to partially reclassify ISPs as common carriers, a move needed to impose net neutrality rules.

'The uncertainty this proposal creates will jeopardize jobs and deter needed investment for years to come,' wrote Texas Congressman Gene Green. 'The significant regulatory impact of reclassifying broadband service is not something that should be taken lightly and should not be done without additional direction from Congress.'"

Common carrier regulation in the U.S. communications business historically has been good for coverage, bad for innovation. It was good for quality but bad for prices.

Whether common carrier regulation would have the same impact on broadband and innovation in the broadband business is the question

73 Democrats tell FCC: drop net neutrality rules

Access for "One Price Across Digital Platforms" Will Come

In a move with likely implications for the evolving Internet access business, The New Yorker will let readers pay once for digital access across the iPad, the Kindle and other platforms, hoping to improve on the current industry practice of charging even subscribers for each edition on each device.

The same sort of thing ultimately will happen in broadband access as well, as users start to experience greater pain paying separately, by the device, by the form of access, by the place for their broadband access services.

Both AT&T and Verizon already have spoken about a future scenario where an authorized user can use wireless and wired broadband access, across multiple devices. Think of it as a sort of family plan for individual users, where the "family" includes all the communications-capable devices a particular user wants to use.

If you think the future will feature communications need for a wide variety of appliances, used across home and mobile enviornments, but with differing usage characteristics, a unified plan makes sense.

New Yorker Plans One Price Across Digital Platforms - Advertising Age - MediaWorks

Android Music versus iTunes: Table Stakes

There's lots of activity in the mobile music space at the moment. Spotify is preparing to launch in the United States and Nokia is rolling out multiple new "Comes With Music territories. But Google is lijely the most significant of the new entrants.

Not that music stores per se are that big a deal on the revenue front. Of course the music download store has never been the end game. The margins are so small that the a la carte download store only has any value as a means to an end, a way to add a sticky application and increase device value, for example, as well as to provide an e-commerce platform, to a lesser extent.

Android Music versus iTunes: When Open Isn’t Quite As Open As It Might Appear | Forrester Blogs:

4G Speeds From T-Mobile

T-Mobile USA is touting its "4G speeds" in the Northeastern United States and other major cities across the country. Some are going to argue at the claim, which is properly made. T-Mobile's HSPA+ network will in face operate at speeds fourth-generation network providers are promising.

Users will not care about which air interface gives them their bandwidth, but they will care about the speed. It's true "4G speed" is not the same thing as "4G network," but only carriers care about such things. Users just want the better performance.

The latest activations are in the New York City metropolitan area, including New Jersey and Long Island, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, Connecticut (Hartford, New Haven, Milford and Stamford) and Providence, R.I.

The faster network already is live in Philadelphia, as well the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Boston and Washington, D.C. are expected to be "lit" in the coming weeks.

4G Speeds From T-Mobile Now Broadly Available in the Northeastern U.S. and Other Major Cities | Business Wire:

Are Millennials A Predictable Part of the Generational Cycle? | Millennial Marketing

That "Millennials" might be different from their parents, but neither generation arguably is so "unique and different" as sometimes might appear. Nearly 20 years ago, William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote “Generations,“ which suggested there is a repeating four-generation pattern in American history.

If at all accurate, Millennials are part of a pattern. Though their common generational experiences mark them as different from the three preceding generations in the cycle, the cycle will repeat, with Millennials in turn succeeded by a generation with different, but broadly predictable outlooks.

Sometimes we mistake the forest for the trees, focusing on how much "technology" is simply a background factor for Millennials. What we overlook is the pattern that suggests why their values and views are different from that of their parents, but also that those values are part of an old pattern.

If so, yet another turn is coming.

Are Millennials A Predictable Part of the Generational Cycle? | Millennial Marketing

Walmart drops price of iPhone 3GS to $97

Handset price is getting to be a non-issue for users who want to buy an Apple iPhone. With the announcement of the next-generation iPhone just weeks away, Walmart has lowered the price of the soon-to-be-replaced 16GB iPhone 3GS to just $97, when purchased with a two-year contract.

Walmart drops price of 16GB iPhone 3GS to $97, impending iPhone HD to thank

Will Apple "Blow Google Out of the Water?"

Google used the occasion of its developer conference to jab Apple. Will Apple take the opportunity at its June 7 meeting to jab back? Most people think it likely will.

"If Google didn't act, we face a draconian future," said Goolge VP Vic Gundotra at Google's recent developer meeting. "One man, one company, one device would control our future," said Gundotra.

At its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple is expected to detail its new iPhone operating system, OS 4.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/23/steve-jobs-on-wwdc-announcements-you-wont-be-disappointed/