The decision is dismaying to me as it will be more costly to add a non-contiguous band in the future, and will require new devices and eNode Bs. LTE also offers the ability to grow from 10Mhz to 20Mhz with a simple hardware key, without any service disruptions, and they stand to lose this capability as well.

I like your classification of conscious vs unconscious carry. I think it’s status of unconscious really is the critical multiplying factor of why the iPhone became so successful and why the iPad cant be in the same success league.

The app store, a simple clean intuitive UI, YouTube and iTunes are all big contributors to the iPhone success but users have learned to instinctively use it (for everything all the time) simply because it was what we had available when we had a need and it worked (well enough). I think that’s what has made it so big despite its cost and wireless service detractors.

I got an iPhone because I saw its value by interacting with others using it. I saw it was a cool device because other people had it with them all the time and it was used in front of me.

Now consider this… I am reluctant to unplug my laptop from my desk in my office and bring it to sit on the couch in the living room when I see something on TV I’d like to know more about. Am I being lazy? No, I think its because I have an iPhone in my pocket and that despite its significantly smaller screen and slower page loads – it will get me my answers.

OK, I am being lazy, but I suspect I would do the same thing if my shiny iPad was sitting on my nightstand in the bedroom one room away. That is going to keep me from using it the way I do an iPhone – unconscious-lazy! That in turn is why I agree the iPad can’t be a game changing device. Not until it is comfortable enough to stuff in a pocket (or wear) so as to compel a friend to buy one too.

I know Kindle owners love them; I have actually never touched one. I guess because for most they are “conscious-carry” and because reading is a very personal experience (same-time sharing experience for books is bad). Following my second tier early adopter pattern for the iPhone… I’ll probably never own a kindle or iPad.

when you design a handset or tablet, you have it pre-run at the FCC lab or at some friendly lab abd yo uknow it is going to pass. no real magic there. in fact, I suspect that they would not have annouced the product without this approval level.

I think it is time the FCC put products behind a firewall until such time they are relased. It has long been a place for people to gain access to your device without buying one. It is one thing for the FCc to tear it apart an inspect it to make sure it cimplies, it is another to require that your basic IPR be put out there for all to review.

Do we need to just give away all our technical leeds to hordes of Asian knockoffs?

The other point is that I cannot understand why Apple went after the lowest priced data supplier rather than the best performance in networks? the main restraint of sales in Iphones is lack of AT&T coverage. With the addition of HD video, TV subscritions, HD video (netflix) subscriptions, ebooks, etc the bandwidth required for htis device will go up. The problem on AT&T is already overall data bandwidth and their backhaul abilites. With this deal, they increased the data load 5 fold and lowered the price and removed the contract. Until this is overcome, the device may have the VERY early adopters buying, but perhaps not the mass mainstream?

Keep bloggin…

I am a longtime Windows Mobile user, former MotoDROID user (gave it up because its more of a developer’s gadget cum mini-netbook than phone), and I now have an HTC ERIS.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the Android OS has some real promise. But the entire Android release has been a fiasco since day one. I think you hit it right on the head when you pointed out the mis-guided effort that attempts to segregate the Google vs Microsoft/Lotus external world rather than trying to recognize and integrate it.

Google has apparently found a way to get the carriers and manufacturers to participate in their experiment. You can’t figure out if basic things are gone because the manufacturer (Motorola or HTC) has left them out, or because the OS just doesn’t support them.

To make things worse no one owns the OS, therefore no one certifies whether any of the other apps work or manages how they interact. As a result when a user has a problem Verizon says “call the developer”, HTC and Motorola say “its not mine”, Google has no “google store”, and most of the developers will only tell you to try “uninstall and re-install”.

And just think – in a few months the carriers will be rolling out LTE and Google can make mistakes at 10x the current speed – or maybe they will learn at 10x?

Mel