Networks vs. Storage -- is Life Random?

I was just driving back up to my Emeryville office from a meeting on the Penninsula and was struck by how many Apple billboards I saw promoting their Shuffle mp3 player. Instead of making me want a Shuffle, though, the repetition of their "Life is Random" marketing message got me thinking about the difficulty they face in marketing this gadget.

The good news is that it is cheap and has a great user interface. But the tagline says volumes about what Apple has to do as marketers -- not only do they have to convince you to buy their product, but they have to get you to change your behavior. This is where marketing can become beautiful or stupid (sometimes both).

Why do you have to change your behavior? With 512 MB of memory, you aren't going to carry many songs around. With no UI, you aren't going to have much of a chance to select your music, even from the songs you are able to load. So the experience you are stuck with is randomly listening to a random excerpt from your music collection.

About now longtime readers of IP Inferno are wondering, what the heck does this have to do with IP?

I believe there is an interesting conflict brewing between networks and storage. What Apple wants you to buy into with their current product offerings is a portable storage solution. But lets imagine a world (or just visit Korea) where there is ubiquitous high speed IP connectivity. If you could connect to all of your data, all of the time, why would you want to carry all of your data with you?

Here is why you wouldn't:

1) portable devices are inherently limited -- limited storage, limited display or playback, limited battery life...

2) you already carry around a cell phone, why carry a second (third...) device?

3) you want spontaneous access to all of your data -- not just what you could fit on the device,or remembered to load, or what was available the last time you synched...

People who know me are aware that I chose to become the COO of Orb Networks in part because of the emergent value of an always on IP network. But this conflict between storage and networks goes far beyond digital media (which is what Orb is focused on).

Why do I carry around a laptop full of applications, files, messages... all of my information? Because I have to -- I can't count on ubiquitous connectivity. But this is very inconvenient. My data lives on one device, not on all devices. If I add an email address to my laptop's mail application it doesn't automatically synchronize to my cell phone - etc.

As ubiquitous IP networks appear, the answer will become clear. All of my data will live in a "system of record" (Geoffrey Moore's term) and my access to it from different devices will be across the network. Sure, I will cache data locally on my PDA, laptop, cell phone... either for performance or for those few times I am outside the reach of the network. But to the extent that I can trust the network, that local storage I will need will be quite small.

So ultimately the 512 MB of Apple's Shuffle may really be all I need for listening to my music. But not because Apple convinces me to listen to a random sample of my music in a random order. Rather, it will be because while I am accessing all of my music, in an order I prefer, that 512 MB of caching space is way more than I will ever need to take into account network issues.

To the Apple marketeers I would say -- life was random for prehistoric people who had no control over their environment. Ever since, we have been using technology to take control over our environment. So I say, "no thank you" to your invitation to become a cave man again.

Don't try VoIP on Verizon

I was excited about Verizon's new high speed IP network -- finally some terrific speeds and broad availability on cell phones! Here is the first cell phone network that could support Skype! But wait, what's that in the user agreement?

Data sessions may be used for following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force and field service automation. Intranet access requires the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.). Unlimited plans are for individual use only and not for resale. The Unlimited plans cannot be used: (1) for any applications that tether the device to laptops, PCs, or other equipment for any purpose, (2) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games, (3) with server devices or with host computer applications other than the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, including, without limitation, Web camera posts or broadcasts, continuous jpeg file transfers, automatic data feeds, telemetry applications, automated functions or any other machine-to-machine applications, (4) as substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections.

Well, I am not a lawyer, but it sounds like VoIP is just plain not allowed. Not only that, but without the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, all I can do is email and web browsing!! Why the heck do I need all of this bandwidth if all I can do is email and web?

I hope that the marketplace responds to Verizon with a big raspberry, and lets them know that when we buy data services we expect to be able to USE our data services!! On another front, isn't there something the FCC can do? Aren't the public airwaves that these data services are running on a part of the commons and this kind of restraint on trade a violation of the license under which Verizon operates? Someone with more FCC knowledge please help out here!

Canada, VoIP and 911

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission -- say that while you have a mouthful of shredded wheat -- ruled Monday that VoIP accounts that are essentially tied to one location must have basic or enhanced 911 service within 90 days (nomadic and foreign-exchange VoIP services can have a more limited solution in place). Jeff Pulver doesn't like it, and is quoted as saying that this is an unfair and unwise imposition of legacy regulations on a new industry:

"Left on its own, the CRTC is creating roadblocks that will discourage continued voice over broadband deployments in Canada and encourage would-be innovators to do business in other countries. ..."
Maybe, but: First, note that the most stringent requirement applies to those accounts -- where VoIP is standing in for a fixed landline phone -- where consumers will have the highest expectation of a working version of 911. While it's true that the industry is young, no one can say they haven't seen the day this would come; it's ludicrous to think you can provide residential phone service without also providing reliable access to emergency services.

Second, the industry itself seems to think it can meet the requirements without much of a sweat. In fact, the decision appears to do something that the Canadian VoIP providers have wanted for awhile -- requiring the local telecom incumbents to cooperate in with VoIPs' 911 needs and giving the VoIPs access to the emergency-service public-access points.

VoIP: Some Numbers

IDC is out with a report this morning that projects the number of U.S. residential users at 3 million by the end of this year, 27 million by the end of 2009. Beyond the numbers, IDC is carrying the same tune that Jeff Pulver and many others in the industry are singing: Providers need to focus on services that make their offerings more than POTS over IP (let's invent a new acronym and call that POTSOIP):

William Stofega, senior analyst in IDC's VOIP Services Research program, is quoted in a company release as saying: "... Carriers will need to offer services that are compelling and affordable. The winners will use the flexibility of IP to design services that differentiate themselves from their competitors. However, it is important to remember that the market for VOIP services is still in the very early stages of development and carriers and equipment vendors need to plan for a marathon."

Here are two ideas that are sure to make VoIP customers happy:
--911 service that really works
--customer service that really works

And something else that's got to be dealt with sooner or later, too: The crazy quilt (and getting crazier) of state regulations governing the new phone services. The latest exhibit comes from Colorado, where the state House of Representatives on Friday failed to pass a measure that would have exempted VoIP from phone taxes. Not that the vote was terribly surprising: Most states are loathe to sail off into the future without some notion of how they're going to preserve their revenue stream. The debate in Colorado, as reported in the Rocky Mountain News, shows legislators are a long way from figuring out what ought to be done.

New federal telecom act, anyone?