mutatron

WiFi vs 3G - Wireless Smackdown!

Both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail are carrying articles today on Bell Canada's new hotspot offering, AccessZone. (Here's the press release). This is certainly the first major hotspot announcement in Canada, and it is also unusual in that it comes from a cellular carrier.

The idea of WiFi hotspots is gathering considerable momentum, although key items - such as charges - remain unresolved. But that's ok, for now. A three-month trial will help Bell determine just how many people want this as a service, which is a critical factor for future business decisions for them.

But a far more interesting question surrounds the effects that WiFi may have on 3G - the high speed cellular services. It's often claimed that 3G will offer drastically improved bandwidth, and it's left as an implication that this will resolve all problems.

But connectivity has never been that simple...

The first constraint on 3G is going to be handsets, accessories, and data package prices. By the time a consumer has outfitted themselves for high-speed services, they are spending some major cash, both upfront and per-month. For the same cash, they can get themselves a high-speed home hookup, wireless gateway, and WiFi cards for both the laptop and the handheld - and still have some money left over for POCS (Plain Old Cellular Service), which will work just about everywhere. Add in hotspots, and suddenly the WiFi option looks like a really good deal. It even delivers home networking as part of the bargain.

The second constraint is that 3G only works where carriers set it up. This is fine in urban areas, but rural areas are likely to be poorly served at first. If history is anything to go by, they could be still on analog for some time. Unfortunately, your phone is still expensive even when the data coverage isn't there.

Of course, WiFi isn't everywhere either - but that fits users' expectations. Cellular users expect their phone to work everywhere, while WiFi users - even when they are the same people - understand that coverage is not automatic. This could be seen as a real problem for the perception of 3G services. So why would a cellular provider like Bell actively promote WiFi, and even provide services?

Money. Money-money-money. Setting up a few WiFi hotspots in important places is no where near as costly as rolling out widespread 3G coverage. More importantly, WiFi looks to be a far more cost-effective way to meet the customers' expectations with regard to data services, speed, and coverage. Meanwhile, Bell can concentrate on ensuring that its cellular network delivers voice calls over as broad a region as possible - possibly even without 3G.

This isn't going to be a rosy forecast for those who want a one-device does all Treo-or-Blackberry-like solution. But it looks like an effective way to get more services to more people for less money, and that is always nice.

News Flash: SUV Drivers are Twits

...According to (former?) New York Times Detroit bureau chief Keith Bradsher. Most of us, I suspect, had already sussed this out. Interesting to have it researched as thoroughly as this implies, though.

Bradsher's work first appeared as a trio of articles in The Atlantic. I've been unable to find them on the Net, though--just this reference in a column (which, you'll note, doesn't mention the connection; tsk tsk). Good quote, though:

An intelligent reader will conclude from this meticulous and sober investigation that the makers of these behemoths have exploited a lucrative market of self-regarding urban and suburban consumers who care not a whit that by driving such menacing and wasteful machines they are committing a horrendously antisocial act.

Of course, Bradsher also mentions: "Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communities. They are more restless, more sybaritic, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."

Embarrasingly large amounts of that quote apply to your correspondent. Perhaps I should trade in the Altima...

A Cup a-Cup a-Cup a-Cup a Cup...

I'm not one of those slaves to the bean, nosir. No caffeine junky me. Though in the spirit of honesty I suppose I should mention that I have been known to slam back a diet cola or two while waiting for the first pot of the day to finish brewing.

The Tuesday Night Shredding Bee was discussing coffee ads this week, and we couldn't remember when, exactly, the "Coffee Achievers" ads ran. In trying to find out, I came across an interesting perspective on the recent history of coffee retail in North America. There is no aspect of human nature that somebody hasn't tried to stuff into a vending machine, incidentally.

I'm sort of surprised that our discussion of the CA ads didn't bring up the campaigns run by Taster's Choice in the '80s (UK) and early '90s (NA). Whatever happened to Sharon Maughan, by the way? We all know where her co-star wound up...

If roasting your own beans is as easy as this makes it appear, perhaps it's time for me to give that a shot, and let Fourbucks fend for themselves for a while.

Scuse me: time for a top-up.

And you are who, exactly?

Michael is a writer with an unfortunate propensity for talking about himself in the third person. He started out as a broadcaster with one of Canada's oldest public radio stations. Since then he has been a journalist, a critic, a fiction writer, a technical writer, and just generally gives the impression of someone who hasn't decided what he wants to be when he grows up.

Michael also hates blogs and blogging. What he's doing here remains a mystery.

A Flag for Soviet Canuckistan?

It probably doesn't do as much for comedy as, say, writing speeches for Richard Nixon. But in the spirit of humour that led good ol' Patrick Buchanan to refer to Our Home and Native Land as "Soviet Canuckistan", we hereby present a proposed flag for this socialist paradise.

The red represents either the blood of the workers, shed on innumerable rinks during pick-up shinny games, or the national debt; we haven't decided which yet. The band of blue represents either the sea to shining sea thing, or the colour sacred to our comrades in the Peoples' Semi-Republic of Quebecistan.

The coat of arms (forgive the primitive nature of these images; it's my first effort at creating this type of graphic, and the nature of Soviet Canuckistan is that we would rather do slipshod work and get it published, so long as we can blame the Americans for it...) consists of the following:

A hockey stick-and-sickle surmounted by a maple, leaf, or, enclosed in a wreath whose makeup is as follows:

• An outer component of braided Tim Horton's coffee cups
• An inner component of braided Stompin' Tom Connors LPs

Seriously. Regardless of what you think it looks like... We'll have you know that a committee of Peoples' Artists worked (or at least claims to have worked) for months on this project. The fact that the members of the committee now reside in the Moose Jaw Gulag is purely coincidental.

Mutatron Is Outta Beta...

mutatron is starting up. Its existence is now revealed to the public. Here we go! Lights! Content! Action!

Do not look here for the latest and greatest headlines circulating about - if something has been reported already, then there are lots of better ways to find out about it. Besides that, it's better for you to read widely anyway.

Do look here for original thoughts and perspectives, and possibly things that have not been brought to your attention before. This does mean that you might not find something new here every day. Too bad. Quality takes time.

As for me, Mute? I'm the green, silent type. Mostly I won't say much at all.

Author: chris@mutatron.com

Chris Smith has both technical perspectives, and is the technical editor of mutatron - whatever THAT means. While writing this up, he was surprised to realize that he has decades - plural! - of experience in the software and technology industry, and more than a decade in banking and payments. When did that happen?

Mutatron comes down to a simple idea - Chris had considered an online publishing idea for some time, but had nothing that needed to be said that loudly. When that changed, Mutatron appeared.