IP: More on gprs

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

> >Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 06:22:05 -0800 (PST)
> >From: Bruce Krulwich <krulwich@yahoo.com>
> >Reply-To: krulwich@yahoo.com
> >Subject: Re: IP: RE: If you love GPRS, set it free
> >To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
> >
> >Dave,
> >
> >I think one of the lessons we can learn from the past 18 months is that
> giving
> >things away for free to jump-start usage doesn't work.  The "old model" of
> >providing something that people actually want and will pay for seems to
> work
> >much better, but it takes time.
> >
> >I used GPRS (here in Israel) about a year ago for about a year and a half,
> and
> >the always-on always-connected aspect of it is REALLY nice.  Is WAP full
> >Internet?  Obviously not.  But I don't want to do heavy browsing all the
> time.
> >  I do want specific information all the time.  Heavy browsing I'll leave
> for
> >the desktop.
> >
> >Right now I'm a heavy user of a connected PDA (the Nokia Communicator), and
> I
> >really miss GPRS.  Being able to get my e-mail anywhere, anytime is great,
> but
> >having to connect each time is horrible.  I would certainly pay a monthly
> rate
> >for enough GPRS usage to support constant e-mail checking, occasional
> >information retrieval, and maybe AIM/ICQ.  None of those have heavy
> bandwidth
> >or speed requirements.
> >
> >So what about a GPRS package deal with e-mail, AIM/ICQ, and reasonable
> >browsing support, pushed for people who are willing to pay for always-on?
> >Won't that be better than sending another technology down the tubes by
> >subscribing to a failed economic model?
> >
> >--Bruce


> From: "Alan A. Reiter" <reiter@wirelessinternet.com>
> To: "David Farber" <dave@farber.net>
>
> Bruce Krulwich's comments make sense.  But a big problem is getting the
> wireless industry to promote services without hype.
>
> You don't need high speeds to be useful.  Look at i-mode in Japan, SMS
> around the world and BlackBerry in the U.S.
>
> But you do need to be honest with the consumer.  If you're going to
> advertise "wireless Internet," you had better be sure that the experience
> offers something close to what your target market expects.  That has been
> the problem with WAP.  BT Cellnet advertises "Surf the Net.  Surf the BT
> Cellnet."  That's just plain misleading.  Many carriers overseas have
> advertised WAP as "the Internet in your pocket."
>
> People **will** pay for services, but they won't overpay and they will
> quickly determine whether they are indeed getting "wireless Internet."
>
> Instant messaging already is a part of the carriers' portfolio -- both
> cellular operators and packet data operators (Cingular Interactive and
> Motient).  All the big IM players are involved in wireless: AOL, Microsoft
> and Yahoo, among others.  Also, cellular operators do understand, finally!,
> the value of e-mail.
>
> The carriers' marketing departments and the senior executives simply don't
> "get it."  Most of them seem unable to come up with a total package --
> offering the right device, the right pricing and the right **message** about
> capabilities.  If you want a wireless Internet experience, you're going to
> need -- based on today's technologies -- a phone connected to a computer or
> PDA, or a wireless-enabled PDA.  That means the network operators need to
> place a greater emphasis on devices other than handsets.
>
> Advertising "wireless Internet" -- when using a postage stamp-sized LCD on a
> phone -- is ridiculous.  But it doesn't mean that getting, for example,
> e-mail headers or short items of time-sensitive data, isn't useful.  The
> marketing messages haven't been on target.
>
> GPRS can be useful.  But GPRS (and other data services) have to be packaged
> and marketed correctly.  Most of the carriers are selling what THEY want
> people to think ("wireless Internet"), not what's reality.  Subscribers have
> been "getting it" faster than carriers -- that's why the wireless data
> business is in such trouble!
>
>
> Alan
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Alan A. Reiter, president
> Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing
> **consulting, workshops, publications**
> E-Mail: reiter@wirelessinternet.com
> Phone: 1-301-951-0385
> Fax: 1-630-982-1994
> Web: http://www.wirelessinternet.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 9:30 AM
> To: Alan A. Reiter
> Subject: comments

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