AT&T Archive

We’ve covered the Apple iPad several times on CenterNetworks. The device appears to be launching next month and I believe it will be a game changer. Andreas discussed how he sees the device being used in the home and I agree with him that a whole new set of consumers will join the Apple camp when the iPad tablet hits the market. Whether you buy an iPad or one of the other 50 tablets that will launch this year, one thing is clear: all of them will have some level of Internet access built in. Some may have WiFi only, some may have wireless connections only and some will have both.

I use Sprint for wireless service and have been very satisfied with the call quality and reception I’ve received no matter where I travel to. I’ve started to wonder if I purchase an iPad (or another tablet) if there is even a need for a smartphone anymore. For normal Internet users, the tablet will give them access to the Internet when needed and they could potentially move to a basic phone and save money on their mobile costs. It’s something that I am seriously considering once my contract is over.

Naturally if I moved to a simple phone and a tablet, it would require that I carry the tablet with me wherever I go. What makes this more interesting are some of the billboards I’ve seen around NYC that show mobile carriers offering unlimited talk, text and web for $40/month. I don’t know who the actual service provider is for some of these plans but with a phone that can do all of those things, it makes not having a full smartphone even better.

Apple should offer current iPhone customers a discount on the AT&T service on the iPad. Without a discount, I wonder if the new customers that will be attracted to the iPad will shy away from purchasing a smartphone, and potentially an iPhone.

I only write a few texts a month and mainly use my mobile device for checking and replying to emails. Something I could easily do on the iPad or a basic phone when I don’t have the iPad with me (e.g. out for the evening, parties, etc.)

Another interesting note – the more people I talk to about their mobile usage, the more I hear one thing…that they barely use the voice feature on the phone. I fall into the same camp — I receive 500 minutes a month and barely use 30-50 a month. Perhaps a pre-paid plan could work very well to keep my expenses down even further.

If you are purchasing an iPad, do you plan to keep your smartphone as well? Could you see mainstream consumers that purchase a tablet computer moving to a more simplified and less expensive mobile service and device?

Over the past week we’ve looked at why the iPad will be good for contractors and why you might not be the target audience for the device. After considerable thought, I’d like to share why I want an iPad.

I’m not an Apple fanboy – the only Apple device I currently own is a 4 year-old refurbished iPod Nano. I don’t carry an iPhone – I use a Samsung Ace Windows Mobile smartphone. I still like the device because it’s tiny and has great battery life for my trips. I was recently scolded for not using Keynote for my presentations. My main computer is a refurbished Dell XPS M1330 laptop which I’ve enjoyed over the past year although lately the fan has made so much noise that I can’t bring it to SXSW with me. I have been considering purchasing the new Asus ULvt30 laptop as it has a super battery and looks like it would meet my needs well.

So why do I want the Apple iPad? It’s been bashed from blog to blog and fanboys are torching their shrines to Steve Jobs. (side note, I wonder if the fanboys would have loved the device if Jobs gave one to everyone in the audience. You know, just like Google did with the Nexus One. Didn’t see much hate over that way, did ya?)

Continue reading “Why I Want an iPad (and you will too)” »

Since the Cingular re-brand, AT&T has been doing everything possible to appeal to the younger, hipster set. While I think most of their efforts haven’t reached their desired effect (see grandma saying IDK, My BFF Rose), they are now leveraging the current Superman strength of the Facebook brand.

I noticed the following advertisement outside the AT&T store in Union Square and saw two more large billboards in Times Square as well. Reminds me of the Palm advertising campaign in Chicago and NYC w/flickr/Google/eBay earlier this year.

So the big news today is that AT&T is now going after their customers who illegally pirate and steal music. Techmeme has all of the various links and it appears that the LA Times has the lead.

Times staff writer James says, “AT&T Inc. has joined Hollywood studios and recording companies in trying to keep pirated films, music and other content off its network — the first major carrier of Internet traffic to do so. The San Antonio-based company started working last week with studios and record companies to develop anti-piracy technology that would target the most frequent offenders, said James W. Cicconi, an AT&T senior vice president.”

I reviewed most of the links on Techmeme and I was very surprised to see that no one mentioned that the Apple deal might have something to do with this. In 2 weeks, nerds and geeks will line up for hours as if a new Krispy Kreme was opening to get their hands on an iPhone. Well what do we know about the iPhone? It comes with an iPod which (work with me here) holds songs from iTunes where you can buy music and videos! Hello!

Simple Columbo logic makes me realize that while AT&T is helping the industry on the whole, Apple will certainly benefit from this. While the stories seem to talk about hardwired home Internet connections, AT&T’s recent completion of their Cingular acquisition makes me believe that Mr. Jobs should benefit nicely from this.

Even if Apple has nothing to do with this, they should certainly see a side benefit from it.

Duncan believes customers may switch to another provider, but that is much easier said than done. Basically it’s either cable or dsl, dsl sucks because you need a local phone line and normally you have one cable provider only. So switching costs are very high.

I am not sure yet whether AT&T is doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I am torn in the middle. If a customer is using their service to commit a crime, don’t they have a responsiblity to report that?

Is my viewpoint right or wrong? Do you think AT&T is doing the right thing or the wrong thing? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

With the news that hackers gained access to AT&T customer data this week, I started to really think about what companies lose when they "lose" customer data. It certainly does not seem to be a lot honestly. Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, chief privacy officer for AT&T stated, "We deeply regret this incident and we intend to pay for credit monitoring services for customers whose accounts have been impacted. We will work closely with law enforcement to bring these data thieves to account."

But what does this really mean? They will pay for some minimal credit monitoring services for affected accounts. I have worked with people for over seven years helping rebuild credit. Identity theft is one of the toughest things to deal with. In fact, I had it almost happen to myself last year. Could it happen to anyone? Yep. Will these companies who lose our data help us get our identities back? Nope.

Let's take a look at just some of the recent data that has been lost by major firms in the United States:

• Georgia Technology Authority – March 2006 – 573,000
• Discount Domain Registry – April 2006 – "Thousands of records"
• University of Alaska – April 2006 – 50,000+
• Ohio University – April 2006 – 300,000
• Mercantile Potomac Bank – May 2006 – 50,000
• AICPA – May 2006 – 330,000
• Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp. – May 2006 – 1,700,000
• American Insurance Group (AIG) – June 2006 – 930,000
• Vassar Brothers Medical Center – July 2006 – 257,800
• PSA HealthCare – August 2006 – 51,000
• Chevron – August 2006 – could be up to 59,000 employees
• AT&T – August 2006 – "fewer than 19,000 customers" – sounds like a sales pitch for 18,999

(data from PrivacyRights.org)

No matter if it's one record or a million, what is our government doing to make sure these types of incidents do not happen again. I have always had a fear that when we offshore outsource our call centers and IT functions that eventually some "evil" person will be able to compromise our data. But why worry about that when it is already happening on US soil?

What happens to the companies and organizations on the list above? What penalties did they face? What penalties should they face? Until there are stiff financial penalties for losing customer data, it is not on the radar for CIO's. Perhaps this should be added to the requirements for SOX (Sarbanex-Oxley Act) and CEO's held responsible for these violations. I think that would be a great first start.

We worry about our social security numbers, date of birth and credit card numbers, but today, what is a valid e-mail address worth? What happens when a new Web2.0 startup loses our e-mail addresses?

To address this, each interview that CenterNetworks conducts, we will ask the partipants wherever possible about their security models. Let's start to discuss data security in this new world and maybe we can come up with a resolution to present to the government for how breaches should be handled.

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