The Teachers Speak: Broadband Now
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Friday, May 18, 2012 · 
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I just returned from Discovery Education Networks ”Administrator Day of Discovery,” which convened education professionals to learn and share perspectives about the growing role of technology in education. Participants included an assistant principal of a Catholic academy whose school has implemented a “one-to-one” tablet program, to administrators struggling with chronically poor districts.
Not surprisingly, common concerns and gratifications were voiced by many. Above all, the educators recognized the need to meet the demands of “a generation growing up gnawing on iPads.” Their concerns cover a range of issues: teaching students to be responsible digital citizens, mindful of their “digital portfolio;” avoiding the temptation to rely on technological solutions for human problems; and, ensuring compliance with an evolving range of legal and societal obligations. Read more
An Addled Blackberry Addict
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Monday, April 2, 2012 · ·
Last week, RIM announced that it would retrench and focus on business applications rather than the consumer market. The announcement worried some, vindicated others, and likely was barely a blip on the radar of many who either don’t recall when Blackberries were blue or a time before touch screens.
Blackberry was first out of the gate with what was, essentially and quite effectively, a way to send and receive email “on the road.” I never saw my need for it until I was sandwiched between two co-workers in a cab, each of whose nose was buried in their device (at that time, probably a 7230), and wondered whether it would be more productive for me to be, well, more productive. Read more
Nebraska Bill Would Add E-mail to the Things We Leave Behind
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 · ·
A 1993 cartoon from the New Yorker magazine features two dogs sitting at a desktop computer as one says to the other, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” But, for anyone who thought Internet anonymity would be preserved in perpetuity, a Nebraska initiative could change that.
Nebraska’s Legislative Bill 783 would amend existing law to permit the personal representative of a deceased person to “take control of, conduct, continue, or terminate any account of a deceased person on any social networking web site, microblogging, or short message service web site, or email service web site.” If there was ever incentive to keep your online living clean, it’s here. Read more
Looking at a Smart and Cooperative Broadband Future
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 · ·
I have my Camp NARUC coffee mug; two August weeks in Lansing, Michigan, are not easily forgotten. And, perhaps as an outgrowth of that experience, as well as my time on the state-agency side of the industry, I enjoy the semi-annual gathering of regulators and the determined academic-types who attend the meetings. While many of the rest of us in Washington hover in the ether that fills the space between policy and law, NARUC is often populated by the ladies and the guys who crunch the numbers and deliver locally-focused policy projections with numbing dedication. And, as a trade-show junkie, I also have a soft spot for vendor pens and foam sumo wrestlers, and conversations with people who are ready to deliver the next great step in telecom or energy technology. Read more
My Lowes
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Friday, September 9, 2011 · ·
Responding to Home Depot’s provision of Motorola handheld devices to employees, Lowes is set to issue 42,000 Apple iPhones to its retail staff. Bloomberg news reports the provision of about 25 iPhones per store will supplement the introduction of “MyLowes,” an online tool that will enable customers to access everything from user’s manuals to paint formulas. According to reports, Lowes also plans to add WiFi to in-store locations in order to enable customers to use their smartphones.
The handheld battles are not limited to home improvement stores: Read more
VOTW: Going Cashless
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Friday, August 5, 2011 · ·
And last but not least, our video of the week (VOTW). The bells of cash registers were replaced by beeps as electronic machines moved to the fore. Now, some retail outlets are going “cashless.” In this week’s VOTW, a tablet and broadband combine to an experience worthy of the Jetsons.
AT&T Gets Out of the ESPN 3D Game
Posted by Josh Seidemann on Friday, August 5, 2011 · ·
UVERSE sports fans searching for a football to fly through their living rooms will be bereft of that thrill now that AT&T has terminated its contract for ESPN 3D. AT&T cited a confluence of high prices and low demand.
ESPN 3D was introduced in 2010 and has covered the FIFA World Cup, NBA Finals, NCAA football and basketball and Major League Baseball. But despite the assumed thrill of being at the center of the action, too few AT&T customers were interested in paying $10 per month to experience it. Read more