Tuesday, January 21, 2003
A thorough analysis of the second-tier market would also do some good. If we assume that the Times Square Starbucks is going to have 2-5 free Wi-Fi community networks in addition to T-Mobiles, but that they are likely to have little competition (and few customers) in Oskokie, Iowa then you have two choices. Either compete with free networks by bundling your services, or embark on a compaign to get Wi-Fi into the hands of non-competitive, growth markets (ie Charlotte, NC instead of New York, NY).
It's easier to imagine creating new Wi-Fi fans than it is to compete by bundling services. T-Mobile will likely find it very difficult to sell even an extra $10 plan when compared to free. But, then again, Starbucks is selling $4 coffee in areas where $1 coffee is available on every corner.
Cynisism aside, we could all use a little injection of optimism ("paraplegics will be able to walk") in remembering what technology can do.
Thursday, January 16, 2003
The network is Microsoft's third foray into being a monthly-revenue driven model. MSN has proved to be a decent, if in no way dominant, competitor to AOL. X-Box Live is too early to make any pronouncements on, but certainly they face an entrenched player in Sony Playstation. With Spot, Microsoft is attempting to invent the next carrier model -- to finally find a space with no competition. However, we'll see if a 20-year old FM Subcarrier technology with a humble background will be able to slip under the radar of paging carriers and wireless cellphone operators who each are trying to derive monthly revenue from people's reliance to their data.
