Today on Radio New Zealand National at 11:05 I talk about a lot of things, but my main topic is the Rapture of the Nerds – or, rather the technological singularity (as more sober commentators describe it). Who knew that it, like so much of modern computing, came out of Bletchley Park?
You can read on for my speaking notes, or after the broadcast you can download the audio as ogg or mp3. (more…)
posted by colin at 9:02 pm
I went yesterday to the media event which Telecom set up to reveal more about its XT network.
The event was held in the Westin Hotel in Auckland. Paul Reynolds, the Telecom CE, and Alan Goudie, Head of Retail, sat behind a coffee table and spoke reasonably informally to 30-40 media and technology types sitting on brightly coloured cubes. Telecom staffers in branded t-shirts hovered around the edges of the room, ready to show of their new wares. A couple of TV cameras were set up among the audience.
(more…)
posted by colin at 9:28 am
OK, so I went to the Telecom XT launch in Auckland today. I’ll blog about what went on tomorrow. But for now: Telecom are very proud of the technical quality of their network. Test-drive it for a month, they said. And they showed us some upcoming TV ads of people doing just that. Then they lent me a phone and a SIM to try it out with.
I’m keen to give this thing a blast. I’d love suggestions on what to try. Anything goes provided it doesn’t damage the phone (or me!), and I can do it in and around Wellington. The phone is a Nokia 6120. I’ll post results on the site.
Suggestions, please?
posted by colin at 8:51 pm
Today on Radio New Zealand National I talk about the mobile wars – the new Telecom XT Network, the new “Two Degrees” mobile company, and the existing Vodafone network. What are we to make of all the hype, the court cases and the bluster?
Read on for my speaking notes or download the audio as ogg or mp3. (more…)
posted by colin at 11:03 pm
There’s a column by Debbie Mayo Smith in today’s Herald (Business users not getting the text message) extolling the virtues of text messaging for communicating with customers. Debbie’s thesis is that busy people get a lot of email already and she doesn’t want her messages to queue up with them. “Text does not have an IT manager, ISP or company filtering it out”, she says.
Well, yes. That’s rather the point. Most of us have no way of filtering text messages short of ditching our mobiles. We tend to look at our text messages immediately. It’s personal, almost intimate. That’s why I’m concerned about the Herald article. (more…)
posted by colin at 9:35 am