_Murky picture for video phones_

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On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 10:16:39 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote:

>"http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/16470186.htm"


The story boils down to one word why TV shows aren't watched on cell
phones.

Its "Squintavision"

SMS wrote:
> "http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/16470186.htm"

Last year, perhaps year before last...I posted an item about cellphone TV.
One side of the story pointed out TV is a "sit-down" experience, one not
adaptable to driving or walking. The other side was full of the same hype
we heard before the internet balloon burst say how much people will want to
embrace it, yada, yada, yada....

[email protected] wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> The story boils down to one word why TV shows aren't watched on cell
> phones.
>
> Its "Squintavision"
>

Standing at the counter listening to the pitch, I started looking around,
not finding what I was looking for. The Pitchman made the mistake of
asking what I was looking for. "Where's the Fresnel lens, that plastic
sheet that will make it big enough so I can see his face on that little
screen?"

I've never seen a pitchman shut down his presentation THAT fast!

I could almost make out the colors of the two teams with my strongest
reading glasses, but reading the score was like looking at cnn.com's
webpage without WAP!

Oh, sorry. We weren't looking at the cellphone. This was that tiny Sony
Vaio tablet PC with the tiny touchscreen that slid up to reveal the
unusable keyboard beneath. I couldn't tell whether the cellphones were
in TV mode or whether we were looking at the contact list with background
audio noise...(c;

Are Japanese people being cloned SMALLER than they already are to save
space in the crowded country??

Larry
--
Extremely intelligent life exists that is so smart they never called
Earth.

decaturtxcowboy wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> "http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/16470186.htm"
>
> Last year, perhaps year before last...I posted an item about cellphone
> TV. One side of the story pointed out TV is a "sit-down" experience, one
> not adaptable to driving or walking.

That's the big difference between the U.S. and much of Europe and Asia.

When I'm in Japan and Korea, there's a tremendous amount of text
messaging and watching other crap on phones, but it's because people are
bored while commuting on the train or subway and because it's considered
rude to be talking on your phone on the subway.

If commuting on public transit ever became more popular for the middle
class in the U.S., outside of cities like NY, Chicago, and San
Francisco, then data usage on the cellular networks would go way up.

SMS wrote:
> decaturtxcowboy wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> "http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/16470186.htm"
>>
>> Last year, perhaps year before last...I posted an item about cellphone
>> TV. One side of the story pointed out TV is a "sit-down" experience,
>> one not adaptable to driving or walking.
>
> That's the big difference between the U.S. and much of Europe and Asia.
>
> When I'm in Japan and Korea, there's a tremendous amount of text
> messaging and watching other crap on phones, but it's because people are
> bored while commuting on the train or subway and because it's considered
> rude to be talking on your phone on the subway.
>
> If commuting on public transit ever became more popular for the middle
> class in the U.S., outside of cities like NY, Chicago, and San
> Francisco, then data usage on the cellular networks would go way up.

But they have better manners than us. I happened to be on a subway a few
weeks ago in the US. It was on a fairly long stretch that was above
ground and the nextel walkie-talkie speakerphones and beeping sounds
would drive anyone crazy.

On Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:38:57 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote:

>decaturtxcowboy wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> "http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/16470186.htm"
>>
>> Last year, perhaps year before last...I posted an item about cellphone
>> TV. One side of the story pointed out TV is a "sit-down" experience, one
>> not adaptable to driving or walking.
>
>That's the big difference between the U.S. and much of Europe and Asia.
>
>When I'm in Japan and Korea, there's a tremendous amount of text
>messaging and watching other crap on phones, but it's because people are
>bored while commuting on the train or subway and because it's considered
>rude to be talking on your phone on the subway.

That's true, but there's more to it. I can't comment on Korea
or Europe, but in Japan 75% of the working population spends an
average of 3 hours daily on above ground trains. Obviously that's
plenty of time to use and/or kill.

But there are also advantageous pricing plans. Most of my
friends in Japan pay about the same as we do on average in the US for
their monthly cell phone use, some a bit less. However, I don't know
anyone who doesn't have flat-rate unlimited text messaging included in
their plan package, along with direct file and photo transfers across
carriers, tv transmission and a number of other extras, and for good
measure incentive pricing on music downloads. I don't follow all of
the cellular companies in the US, but I think that's rare to
non-existent among US wireless carriers for equally priced monthly
packages.

DGI

David G. Imber wrote:

> But there are also advantageous pricing plans. Most of my
> friends in Japan pay about the same as we do on average in the US for
> their monthly cell phone use, some a bit less. However, I don't know
> anyone who doesn't have flat-rate unlimited text messaging included in
> their plan package, along with direct file and photo transfers across
> carriers, tv transmission and a number of other extras, and for good
> measure incentive pricing on music downloads. I don't follow all of
> the cellular companies in the US, but I think that's rare to
> non-existent among US wireless carriers for equally priced monthly
> packages.

The pricing is one factor. The available time while commuting on
transit, is another factor. The quality of the coverage is another factor.

The carriers could create advantageous pricing plans, and they would if
they believed that there overall revenue would go up, despite lower
revenue from the hard-core users that are now paying the high prices.
The carriers are working at improving the high speed data coverage, as
well as increasing the speed. But there's nothing the carriers can do
about converting the U.S. to a society where commuters use public transit.

I recall a co-worker that was from Germany telling me about his friend
from Switzerland coming to visit him in Silicon Valley. He told his
friend to take the commuter train from Sunnyvale to San Francisco.
The friend returned that night, shaking his head in disbelief, saying
that these were the kinds of trains that Switzerland got rid of in the
late 1930's. It took 80 minutes to go 40 miles, jerking and jolting the
whole way.

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:06:04 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote:


>The pricing is one factor. The available time while commuting on
>transit, is another factor. The quality of the coverage is another factor.

Yes, Japan has benefited from having basically one protocol
nationwide. It means less development overhead.

>
>The carriers could create advantageous pricing plans, and they would if
>they believed that there overall revenue would go up, despite lower
>revenue from the hard-core users that are now paying the high prices.

I agree, and I think this represents a difference in business
philosophies between the two cultures. I've lived between the US and
Japan for a long time and it's always been the case that in Japan new
technologies roll out at a low cost, even though it represents a
transitional hardship for the bottom line, because businesses
ultimately benefit from widespread popular, instead of limited
"specialist", adoption. I don't want to editorialize, but this
shortsightedness has retarded technological growth in this country.
It's one reason that Japan is almost entirely wired for 10 mps data
transmission at the equivalent of $25-$30/month, while our fastest
DSL speeds in the US aren't even considered under the term
"broadband". Not US-bashing as much as a feeling of being ridiculously
shortchanged. My mother-in-law on the outskirts of Hiroshima has FIOS,
but Verizon won't even guesstimate when I'll have it here in Manhattan
near the Financial District. US technology companies don't seem to
want to do business unless they can make an immediate "killing". There
is no desire to work at developing a market.

>The carriers are working at improving the high speed data coverage, as
>well as increasing the speed. But there's nothing the carriers can do
>about converting the U.S. to a society where commuters use public transit.

All the more reason if the technology requires no significant
upgrade of the service structure companies should literally give it
away in limited quantities so that the culture can come to depend upon
it, and eventually be willing to pay to upgrade the product in various
ways. But US companies don't think like that. If I didn't have to pay
for a separate texting package I might text, regardless of the fact
that I don't truly need to. If I used it and found I liked it, I'd be
willing to shell out for it. Seems elementary to me.

>The friend returned that night, shaking his head in disbelief, saying
>that these were the kinds of trains that Switzerland got rid of in the
>late 1930's. It took 80 minutes to go 40 miles, jerking and jolting the
>whole way.

Yes, my wife compares US passenger trains to amusement park
thrill rides where she grew up. But filthier.

DGI

David G. Imber <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>>The friend returned that night, shaking his head in disbelief, saying
>>that these were the kinds of trains that Switzerland got rid of in the
>>late 1930's. It took 80 minutes to go 40 miles, jerking and jolting the
>>whole way.
>

If you ride South of DC on Amtrak, make sure you get seats in the MIDDLE of
the car, not the ends. You get a 2:1 mechanical advantage over being
thrown sideways half the distance every time the unkept freight tracks have
an unintended expansion joint. Unfortunately, the toilets are the worst
place on the car to be thrown sideways, even off your seats in many parts
of Florida between JAX and MIA via Tampa-St Pete.

How awful. Riding in Japan it's hard to tell you're going 120mph unless
you look out a window...(c;

Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.

In article <[email protected]>,
Larry <[email protected]> wrote:

> David G. Imber <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> >>The friend returned that night, shaking his head in disbelief, saying
> >>that these were the kinds of trains that Switzerland got rid of in the
> >>late 1930's. It took 80 minutes to go 40 miles, jerking and jolting the
> >>whole way.
> >
>
> If you ride South of DC on Amtrak, make sure you get seats in the MIDDLE of
> the car, not the ends. You get a 2:1 mechanical advantage over being
> thrown sideways half the distance every time the unkept freight tracks have
> an unintended expansion joint. Unfortunately, the toilets are the worst
> place on the car to be thrown sideways, even off your seats in many parts
> of Florida between JAX and MIA via Tampa-St Pete.
>
> How awful. Riding in Japan it's hard to tell you're going 120mph unless
> you look out a window...(c;
>
> Larry

You east-coast commuters have all the fun.
The LA rail system is actually quite good, but then again, it's all new.
But then again, I have a business that I run out of my house.

--
To reply by email, remove the word "space"

Kurt <[email protected]> wrote in news:labolide-B51D9D.17225718012007
@news.giganews.com:

> You east-coast commuters have all the fun.
> The LA rail system is actually quite good, but then again, it's all new.
> But then again, I have a business that I run out of my house.
>
>

But then again, a 3BR, 2BA brand new home on a 1/2 acre lot full of oak
trees with a 2-car garage in a nice neighborhood is $130K in Charleston,
SC. You don't have to work 80 hours a week to buy one...(c;

Oh, Gas is $2.07/gallon at Sunoco up the street....which makes Californians
drool, obscenely.

Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.

In article <[email protected]>,
Larry <[email protected]> wrote:

> Kurt <[email protected]> wrote in news:labolide-B51D9D.17225718012007
> @news.giganews.com:
>
> > You east-coast commuters have all the fun.
> > The LA rail system is actually quite good, but then again, it's all new.
> > But then again, I have a business that I run out of my house.
> >
> >
>
> But then again, a 3BR, 2BA brand new home on a 1/2 acre lot full of oak
> trees with a 2-car garage in a nice neighborhood is $130K in Charleston,
> SC. You don't have to work 80 hours a week to buy one...(c;
>
> Oh, Gas is $2.07/gallon at Sunoco up the street....which makes Californians
> drool, obscenely.
>
But you do have the weather. There's a reason why it's so cheap to live
there.

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To reply by email, remove the word "space"

Kurt <[email protected]> wrote in news:labolide-02586E.17330320012007
@news.giganews.com:

> But you do have the weather. There's a reason why it's so cheap to live
> there.
>

But, no earthquakes since 1886. No major plate faults running under the
dining room and garage....(c;

Oh, and waterfront property doesn't fall off the cliff into the ocean,
either!

Didn't I read something about wild fires where you live?....(c;

Larry
--
Democracy is when two wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner.
Liberty is when the sheep has his own gun.

In article <[email protected]>,
Larry <[email protected]> wrote:

> Kurt <[email protected]> wrote in news:labolide-02586E.17330320012007
> @news.giganews.com:
>
> > But you do have the weather. There's a reason why it's so cheap to live
> > there.
> >
>
> But, no earthquakes since 1886. No major plate faults running under the
> dining room and garage....(c;
>
> Oh, and waterfront property doesn't fall off the cliff into the ocean,
> either!
>
> Didn't I read something about wild fires where you live?....(c;
>
> Larry

Yes, if you live in the mountains. No cliffs in NC, so no houses falling
into water. People make the choice to live in landslide area. Not me.
Tornado will wipe you out quicker than an earthquake. Lots of those in
southeast. Charlotte is 28% more than nation-wide average.

70s today, rode bike to beach. Had margaritas. No big heating bill in
winter, no AC bill in summer (because no AC - don't even need fans in
house).
I know I could own a mansion back there, but you pick your poison..
Too damn nice here.

--
To reply by email, remove the word "space"