deal architect

Weekend Stuff: Leap Babies

I had forgotten it was February 29, till I saw the Google logo with the leaping frog. And of course, you think of those with birthdays every 4 years.

You think it must be a novelty - only 200,000 in the US know the feeling, but this article made me think it must be kind of a pain to be a "leaper"

"For a little kid, not to have a birthday" every "year would be kind of devastating,"

"...trouble registering for services online with computer programs that don't recognize Feb. 29 as a valid date, to getting arrested for having a driver's license where the birth date and expiration date don't match."

Weekend stuff: Utilities and payment UI

Funny that Jeff Nolan experienced problems this afternoon trying to set up credit card auto-pay on his PG&E account. I did with Verizon.

The legacy GTE part of Verizon which provides local phone service, till 6 months ago, did not allow credit card payments on-line. You had to go into one of their stores to pay by card. Then they only allowed you to pay one month on-line at a time. Today, I notice they allow recurring pays. So 3 tries later I finally get in and it takes about 6 screens (including your agreement to forego paper bills) to get to the card set up. Finally it takes, but message reads - may take up 60 days, so keep paying as usual. The email confirmation contradicts that and says it may take 30-45 days. This is a technology company?

In meantime, my electric utility Tampa Electric, wants you to pay $ 4.95 each time you use a credit card.

You think with their bulk, they could negotiate their credit card fees down to be cheaper than the paper and labor and real estate cost of receiving checks in mail or at a payment location. And when they do start accepting cards on-line, there is a whole ecosystem of charge processors and payment software and SaaS they could leverage. So the user experience could be better.

Can you imagine how much worse it likely is, when they have to pay you?

Weekend Stuff: Is there anything Robin Williams cannot make fun of?

I have always felt he is the best stand up act - rapid-fire on his feet.  Here he impromptu entertains the TED conference during a technical glitch. Smart of the organizers to let him roll.

Kudos, AT&T

for not printing out call details on the wireless bill and saving probably 80% of the paper....but can you please improve the on-line reporting?

- would love to see search by area code
- links to a reverse call look up directory
- would like user-defined tags so we can sort by tags.
- allow for on-line analysis month over month
- allow exports into Excel

Go take a look at what funds like Fidelity provide their customers. What I am suggesting is pretty basic.

Your turn, AT&T and Verizon

When they introduced their $ 99 voice plans, I wrote AT&T Wireless and Verizon would have to do better.

Sprint just did - $ 99 for voice AND messages, data, G.P.S. and TV broadcasts.

I expect AT&T and Verizon will likely:

a) spread FUD about Sprint's financial viability
b) hold customers to threats of 2 year contracts
c) match it with 14 pages of fine print
d) offer it if you sign up for other bundles that include FiOS, DSL, hotspot, long distance

Seriously, guys $ 89.99  a month is much more realistic price for the bundle Sprint is offering. $ 79.99 for just unlimited voice and data. And $ 59.99 a month for unlimited voice only.

And, btw, most consumers would be ok if you put some language against use of unlimited time towards baby or other monitoring.

Update: Dean Bubley's view on Verizon data pricing

No wonder they are jetlagged

This photo was taken at a FCC hearing on Comcast at Harvard earlier this week.

Hey, anyone can doze off - even our former Presidents.

Apparently Comcast got them off the street to pack the room.

I would have negotiated a Singapore Air SkySuite

Making the iPhone more business friendly

It has had a phenomenonal launch, but the iPhone did not have even 1% global market share in Q4 2007. So geographic growth is one way to expand. Enterprise penetration would be another aspiration as Larry Dignan points out.   Couple of months ago, Forrester had identified other items to make the device "enterprise-ready".

Has Google become a copycat?

It gets all kinds of kudos for being innovative, but as Eric Schmidt presents this morning to the HiMMS about Google's Personal Health Record, I heard someone earlier in the week at the conference say "well, they had to match HealthVault that Microsoft announced last year"

This morning, as Google announces what it has done to its JotSpot acquisition last year, blogworld asks "Sharepoint killer?"

Killer, or not, let's agree Google is the one trailing.....at least for now.

BTW - I am hearing several MS Dynamics resellers say Sharepoint has a lot of momentum in the SME market.

Expensive European meals and fines

Oh this brings back memories.

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes bought Steve Ballmer of Microsoft dinner at De Beukenhof  near her home in Holland in October. It cost her Euro 350.

I spent a few months working on a project in northern Holland in the late 80s, and while I am sure it is a step down from her restaurant, it reminded me of the place I frequently had dinner - d'Olde Schuur in Rolde. Country inn hospitality. Simple but great food (except the Advocaat). I loved a spinach dish so much they offered to rename it "Spinazie Vinnie" - while assuring me that asparagus was more popular with the locals -)

A few months later, the multi-national team on the project decided to have a reunion.  We met  at a Brazilian churrascaria in Paris. Great evening, but both my wife and I were on a low-meat diet around then, and as we evenly split the bill, I remember it was the most expensive salad we had ever eaten - and it was not even a spinach one!

Steve Ballmer got his "over priced salad" yesterday and has me beat by a long shot. He ended up with a tab of Euro 899 million. And when I was in Europe, the dollar was strong. Relative to the British pound (no euros back then), the dollar was almost twice as strong as today.

Double ouch!

I can only think of one worse punishment. Being forced to drink Advocaat every night for a year-)

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