Digest #22
Since there is much more than just blogs at this point, I decided to rename this section; but nothing major.
This time there are some links related to the comments on the FCC stand on net neutrality, some stats summarizing 2009 as well as some regional stats, a number of provoking ideas on database security, digital collectivism, and more, a little bit on media and environment, and of course some fun stuff. Enjoy!
One of the (not so) recent topics on the agenda of the US telecom industry is net neutrality. Back in October the FCC proposed net neutrality rules and recently there was the deadline for submitting comments. For example, the wireless carriers did their best to distinguish themselves from the wired networks operators. Skype argued against allowing content discrimination, Amazon argued for allowing it as long as it does not harm other content (more on that). A think tank Digital Society supported a more nuanced approach to net neutrality claiming the “smart” networks are at the basis of truly neutral web. Nicholas Bramble of the Yale Information Society Project compiled a nice sample of comments from the various stakeholder.
Also, a lot has been written about the role of technology in Haiti relief efforts, so here is my very small contribution to this discussion – a collection of post disaster shelter solutions published by the MAKE magazine.
Interesting reports, numbers, and visualizations
“Internet 2009 in numbers” (via @rafik) – Spam, webpages, and much more… enjoy :)
“BuddeComm’s 2010 Global Telecoms Industry Snapshot” – Usually I don’t like posting forecasts here, but this one contains some interesting numbers about the past decade, so here it is.
“International Phone Traffic Growth Slows, while Skype Accelerates” – A blurb of a report from Telegeography (you need to buy the complete report).
“Evolution of Storage” (via Bob) – A nice visualization of how far we have gone in terms of storage for music, photos, and data.
“Report: 44% Of Google News Visitors Scan Headlines, Don’t Click Through” (via Tech.Blorge) – I think the title speaks for itself; it is an interesting observation in light of all these debates about the relationships between the “old” and the “new” media.
“Heritage Foundation: Index of Economic Freedom 2010” (via @infopolicy) – I have not read the entire analysis in depth, but I think there is not much revolutionary in it; what I found particularly valuable is that they make their dataset publicly available.
Some location-specific stats:
- Asia – Mobile broadband
- Belarus – Twitter usage (in Russian)
- Russia – Search queries
- South Africa – Internet penetration
- Switzerland – Broadband
- USA – Broadband speed
- USA – Seniors online
Interesting thoughts, ideas, opinions, and discussions
I think many have heard about Apple and AT&T not allowing VoIP in their environment and about the broad criticism of this move. So, it was interesting to see some alternative views as well: “The iPhone & the Lack of Voice Over 3G: Alternative Theory” and “More level headed analysis of VoIP over 3G“. Unfortunately I don’t think I have enough technical knowledge to judge these stands, so I would love to hear from those of you who can do that.
“Large databases can never be secure” – An opinion article from Guardian, which is particularly interesting to me in light of the biometric database debates in Israel.
Tarleton pointed out an interesting discussion about “digital collectivism.” On the one hand we have Jarod Lanier who, in clearly a PR act for his forthcoming book, makes an argument against web 2.0-ish digital collectivism. On the other hand, we have Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr and now Hatch, defending the collaborative spirits of netizens while making a plug for her companies.
Speaking of Tarleton, he just gave an interesting talk at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society on the “politics of platforms“.
“The Future of Communication: Theory and Methodology?” (via @JamesShanahan) – Dietram Scheufele shares some thoughts about the field of communication at the crossroads raising more questions than providing answers, as its title may suggest. What do you think?
“Framing the Digital Divide in Higher Education” – Ismael Peña-López publishes a monograph summarizing some recent thought on the digital divide. I have not read the entire thing, but it seems like an interesting read.
“Hungary introduces mandatory open standards for public institutions” – I think this is interesting and also important development for encouraging competition in the MICT industry and accessibility to information.
“The New York Times to start charging for online content, again – this time, metered” – I am sure there will be much more information about this as the implementation time approaches, but the move itself is interesting. Here is Guardian further speculating about what it may look like: “How will a New York Times paywall work?“
“Rock Band opens to user-created songs” – This is quite an interesting move in the 2.0-ish direction. I wonder if it will take off.
“Environmental impact of media” (via @JamesShanahan RT @mediatwit) – An interesting conversation about the environmental impact of “old” mass media vs. “new” mass media, specifically print vs. digital; the overall gist is that print can be actually more environmentally friendly compared to the digital publishing.
Simply Interesting, Fun, and Coll Stuff
“Lego router” (via Sean) – A guy built a case for Linksys router out of Lego. He also built a computer case in a similar way. It all is probably useless, but really cool.
“The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures” – If you are in the online dating scene, this may actually be useful.
“Linux-powered digital guitar with touch screen interface” – MAKE magazine has some really cool projects published on their blog. I think this one is a nice example:
And finally, a tribute to Veronica:
:)
As for the voice over 3G topic I kind of agree with what the article says. I have never tried VoIP over a 3G network (although my friend in UK claimed he tired), I can tell you Clearwire, a 4G wireless broadband carrier has put a lot of effort in bringing VoIP as its major application. For the results we obtained, VoIP over fixed WiMAX is pretty satisfying but mobility is still an issue since whatever LTE or WiMAX, the signal strength still degrades sharply as the distance from the endpoint to the tower increases. But bottomline is, I see 4G as the main playground for VoIP and related apps.
Thank you Ran! Do you think the 4G will also bring with it new billing models? I mean instead of fixed-price data plans, we will start see more and more billing as a function of usage. I think there is already a motion in that direction. Don’t you think?
That’s a really important question Dima.. Yes there is surly a lot of hypes going on around this topic but for some reason, it seems to feel like backwards somehow.. Remember in 2.5G era when people had GPRS etc – that’s when customers are billed by the usage. There is some stories about iPhone challenges the b/w on ATT but the situation doesn’t get too seriously outside few major cities like NYC and the Bay area. Also I guess the carriers are very cautious to actually go ahead and do that because they could potentially lose customers to competitors especially when you have iPhones are ready for Verizon and other carriers.
I think it’s still unclear to me how it will eventually turn out but if 4G is about convergence and pervasive broadband, the concept of billing by traffic is rather odd.
I agree that it sounds odd, particularly in context where we are used to fixed price internet access. However, I can see how that may change over time (perhaps over a relatively long period of time). I cannot pin-point it right now, but I remember reading about the pay-per-use model used for home internet access. In fact, it is practiced to a degree already, even here – at Cornell, we have a certain quota for internet traffic outside of campus (I think 10G) after which there is a per MB charge. From a purely selfish point of view, i hope this transition won’t happen, but I can see how it can…
Interesting.. I think it’s more of parallel paths carriers need to go – put more towers and fibers on the ground and figure out what’s the innovative billing strategy. I see Google Voice as a potentially very disruptive product in the telecom landscape.
Indeed… Have you used it? I would really love to try google voice out.
I’ve only tried it for inbound calls – calls from other phones to my Google Voice number. iPhone feels the pressure: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/27/apple_now_allowing_iphone_apps_to_make_voip_calls_over_3g_networks.html
That’s an interesting piece of news. Thanks for sharing!
And if you know of a way to get another invite to Google voice, it will be much appreciated :)
Sure. Invitations haven’t showed up yet but I will do as soon as they come in.
Thanks!