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      The Facebook Phenomenon and AT&T Wireless Coverage

      August 1, 2010 /

      Remember life before Facebook? That’s okay, neither does anyone else. The Facebook phenomenon is suddenly such a critical part of daily global communications it’s hard to remember a time — all of six years ago — when it didn’t exist.

      There’s no doubt about it, Facebook represents a radicalization of social communication. Its use has skyrocketed from its beginnings in 2005. In 2008 it overtook the once highly popular Myspace as the world’s most popular social networking site. By July 2010, Facebook boasted 500 million users.

      Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University, started Facebook way back in 2004. Initially the site was limited to students at Harvard, and then expanded to other universities. By 2005 the site became available to general Internet users over the age of 13. Its use and revenue quickly grew, and then in 2009 it exploded.

      What’s interesting about Facebook as a social networking tool is that it attracts multigenerational users, from teenagers to senior citizens. It allows users to get in touch with just about anyone, anywhere, without using up all their AT&T wireless coverage, as long as they have a free Facebook account.

      As its use has increased, more and more people have utilized it to renew relationships from long ago. High school sweethearts long separated have found each other. Children given up for adoption decades ago have reunited with their birth parents. In this way Facebook is a kind of miracle. It’s enabled friends, lovers and families, to reconnect, something almost impossible to accomplish just a few years ago.

      Where will Facebook and the social media revolution take us? Are we becoming too connected? Will we lose every vestige of our privacy? No one knows. For now, all we can do is hold on tight, surf the web and keep connecting. We’ll find out where we’ve gone to when we get there.

      Mobile

      The Economist Fail

      July 5, 2010 /

      This story is pretty surprising when you consider that The Economist is one of the most respected publications in the world.

      Photoshopped photos are a problem everywhere. It’s ruining the glamour business, and we’ve seen it have a big impact in the fashion world.

      Now we have a respected magazine photoshopping out a person in a photo in order to make a broad point about a story. But the real photo doesn’t really match the point, so they alter it. Wow.

      New Media

      Internet sales tax argument is heating up

      July 5, 2010 /

      Some Democrats in the House are poised to introduce a new bill to tax online purchases. The argument over Internet sales taxes has been raging for years, and it pits online sellers like Amazon and eBay against traditional retailers like Target and Wal-Mart.

      At the moment, Americans who shop over the Internet from out-of-state vendors usually aren’t required to pay sales taxes. Californians buying books from Amazon.com or cameras from Manhattan’s B&H Photo, for example, won’t be required to cough up the sales taxes that they would if shopping at a local mall.

      This is hardly a new debate: pro-tax officials and state governments have been pressing Congress to require taxes to be collected for a decade or so. They argue that reduced sales tax revenue threatens budgets for schools and police, and say that, as a matter of fairness, online retailers should be forced to collect the same taxes that brick-and-mortar retailers do.

      But with states scrambling for new sources of revenue during what may be a double-dip recession, pro-tax lobbyists are hoping that they’ll have better luck this year. The National Conference of State Legislatures applauded Delahunt’s legislation, saying he should be commended for allowing states to collect as much as $23 billion in new taxes.

      So did the Retail Industry Leaders Association, whose tax committee members include Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Costco, AutoZone, Target, and IKEA.

      On the other side are groups that advocate for lower taxes and retailers including Amazon.com and eBay. In a statement on Friday, Tod Cohen, eBay’s vice president for government relations said: “At a time when unemployment rates are high and small businesses across the country are closing shop, we are confident that Congress will protect small Internet retailers and the consumers they serve from another Internet tax scheme.”

      The absence of a tax online has been very helpful in the growth of the Internet and online sales. It makes thing much easier for small sellers as well, so any change would need to be carefully examined.

      That said, online sales are now huge, and it does hurt revenues for state governments.

      If they move forward, the key would be to craft a system that has one standard for all states, so every online retailer isn’t subject to 50 different state regulations. That alone would kill many online businesses.

      Perhaps they should have a single national rate, like 5%, and the states get money based upon the location of the purchaser for each transaction. Retailers would simply collect the tax and then report transactions and the locations of the buyer.

      Entrepreneurs, New Media

      New wireless auction approved by administration

      June 28, 2010 /

      Here’s some good news for the wireless industry and for the economy.

      The Obama administration gave a major boost to the wireless industry Monday by announcing plans to make available for commercial use a huge swath of spectrum.

      Obama signed a presidential memorandum directing the federal government and private companies to identify unused airwaves that could be auctioned off, or at least shared, to expand mobile broadband for consumers over the next decade. The goal is to free up some 500 megahertz — almost double the current amount of spectrum available for commercial use — by reallocating airwaves now operated by companies, broadcasters and government agencies.

      This is welcome news to those of us who believe that the wireless industries provides one of the largest areas of potential economic growth over the next 10 years.

      Mobile, New Media

      Wi-Fi access expands on domestic flights

      June 27, 2010 /

      Here’s some good news for travelers.

      In-flight Wi-Fi is not yet a commodity, but it is no longer a rarity. Most domestic airlines have been upgrading their fleets to offer the service more widely, to the point where nearly one-third of the roughly 2,800 aircraft in the nation’s passenger fleet are equipped with Wi-Fi, according to Aircell, the company that equips most of the Wi-Fi-enabled planes in the United States.

      If you travel on planes a lot and plan to use Wi-Fi frequently, you can shave some expense from the process if you have a Wi-Fi-enabled mobile device like an iPhone or Droid, which incur lower charges than the fees charged by airlines if you use a smartphone or laptop without Wi-Fi. If you don’t have your own device, airlines are not yet providing one.

      But no matter what device you use, the connection process is fast and usually pain free.

      On the other hand, an airplane has been one of the few areas where you were forced to go without a connection for a period of time. Wi-Fi can certainly come in handy to kill time or deal with issues that can’t wait, but we’re learning that putting away your phone and laptop can be important for your long-term sanity. I guess we now at least have a choice.

      Gadgets, Mobile

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