I never knew

Britain’s internet entrepreneurs are no longer languishing in the dot com doldrums, but have emerged revitalised and ready for another round. Bobbie Johnson surveys the scene and lists the top 10 British dotcoms to keep track of.—Top 10 dotcoms to watch

Most of what I want is choice. When carriers try to maximize their profits with new product offerings that constrain my choice, I get upset. I don’t want to pay them for their Mobile TV. I want a decent price on a connection where I can choose the content — the Internet. I don’t want their phones. I want the choice to use any phone that I desire. And most of all I want all of this on terms and at prices that carriers in the rest of the industrialized world seem to have figured out how to deliver profitably.—Disagreeing with Mark

For example, consumers in Lithuania can purchase an unlimited data plan for less than $3.00 per month, while similar plans can be had in the Netherlands and France for under $15.00 per month. In fact, Canada not only trails the U.S. and Western Europe, but Eastern European countries such as Poland and Romania, Asian countries such as Malaysia, and African countries such as Rwanda all offer unlimited monthly data plans for less than $50. Even in those countries without unlimited data plans, the pricing is often far better than what is found in Canada. Italians can purchase 1 GB – double the largest Rogers plan – for $29 per month, while a 500 MB monthly plan is $45 in South Africa, $79 in Mozambique, and $103 in Tanzania.—Uncompetitive Canadian Pricing Threatens Mobile Internet

I find this development simply stunning. Following the recommendation of the Telecom Review Panel to create a new complaints agency, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier announced in April that he was calling on the telecom industry to work with the CRTC to establish an independent telcommunications consumer agency. This is not working with the CRTC, however. This is creating a new corporation, handpicking an interim Commissioner, placing the incorporating lawyer along with lawyers from Telus and Bell on the board, and presenting the Commission as a done deal to the public.—The Canadian Telecom Complaints Commission

Sales of Mac notebooks grew 42% year-over-year … Music Business represents ~40% of Quarterly revenue … NPD reported iTunes became 3rd largest iTunes retailer in the U.S … Apple says it sold 270,000 iPhones in the 1st 30 hours of sales … Expect to sell 1 million iPhones by Sept 29th … 10 Million iPhones goal in Calendar 2008—Apple Posts $818 Million Profit for 3rd Quarter 2007

So I think we need more. More granular control. More pivot points for discovery and to flag things we want to watch continually. Simple on/off flow controls. Design that recognizes the ambient nature of these services and doesn’t pretend that we’re going steady.—The solution to too much information is more information