About a week ago, we noted that Verizon was gearing up to launch its own app store for Android phones. This app store, called V CAST Apps, would be completely separate from Android’s existing Market for apps. In other words, it’s Verizon kicking their partner Google in the man region.
Of course, we all knew neither side would spin it that way. And sure enough, today we have Verizon’s take. During their Verizon Developer Community Conference earlier this afternoon, the company took the time to respond to the charges that they were taking over control of Android devices with maneuvers such as this. Jkontherun has a good overview of what was said, but Verizon itself was tweeting key parts. Here’s my favorite:
V CAST Apps is NOT out to take over the phone. It’s about choice, and about simplicy – carrier-billing — and quality — great apps.
Oh Jesus. Here we go again. It’s not about control or money — no, of course not. It’s about “choice”. Excuse me while I vomit in my mouth.
Does anyone really believe that Verizon really cares about choice here? What they care about is not ”becoming a commodity connectivity provider,” as James Kendrick puts it. And that’s fair enough, there’s nothing wrong with a company wanting to be successful and maintain their success. But I’m sick of this spin that all of this is for the betterment of all. Verizon cares about making money just like every other company and that’s why they’re doing this.
But there are two main reasons I have a problem with all of this. First, Verizon has proven itself to be incapable of making a decent consumer experience. I’ll refer back to my experience with the Motorola RAZR which was delayed for many months so Verizon could load it up with their crap UI and V CAST junk. And now we’re seeing it with the Droid Verizon phones. They’re packed to the gills with garbage compliments of Verizon. There is no question that Google needs to improve the Android Market experience, but as the creators of Android, I have much more faith in them doing that than with Verizon circumventing it.
Second, here’s what really annoys me: believe it or not, I really like the idea of Android. I love the idea of an OS ecosystem that works across a range of carriers. In the U.S., Apple isn’t doing this, Android is. I like anything that gives the carriers less power. The problem is that Verizon is now using Android’s openness to ruin that approach.
Verizon is essentially making Verizon Android phones different from all other Android phones. Say I buy an app through the V CAST app store then a year down the line I buy another Android device on Sprint. Guess what? It won’t work on the new device. This was supposed to be an open ecosystem — instead, it’s turning out to be very, very fragmented. We’re seeing now that a Verizon Android phone and a Sprint Android phone will soon only share a bit of branding in common. The harmonious ecosystem is being razed.
And all of this doesn’t seem to bode well for the prospects of a Verizon iPhone. Does anyone believe for a second that Apple is going to let Verizon open their own app store on the iPhone? Not a chance. They’ll be lucky if they get a V Cast content app pre-loaded on there — you can bet Apple doesn’t even want that. So why would Verizon want to have anything to do with a device that will turn them into the “commodity connectivity provider” when Google is giving them the keys to the castle?
And so, despite the best efforts of Apple and Google over the past few years, the carriers are now striking back. And it’s us, the consumers, who will lose as a result. How’s that for “choice”?
[image: Warner Bros.]
A commenter to the previous post referred me to a September 2, 2010 interview that Christine O’Donnell did on the Dan Gaffney radio show. The whole thing is worth a listen, but I was especially intrigued by the discussion of her education. The audio link is here: Dan Gaffney Audio: Christine O’Donnell for Senate Interview.
In regards to O’Donnell’s bachelor’s degree Gaffney asks, around the 14 minute mark, as to whether she received her bachelor’s degree from Farleigh Dickinson University or not. Gaffney asked: “Have you actually been given that degree?” She said “Yeah” and then there was some cross-talk about Mike Castle. Then there was the following interchange:
O’Donnell: It took me over twelve years to pay off my student loans. From there I went on and I got a constitutional fellowship…a graduate fellowship in constitutional government. Many people…
Gaffney: From where?
O’Donnell: From the Claremont Institute.
(Transcription mine.)
She went on to recount how she did the cap and gown ceremony (presumably in 1993) and was handed a bursar’s bill instead of diploma. She then stated that she was “awarded my diploma once I paid off my bills.” She went on to say how, unlike Mike Castle, she wasn’t a millionaire so paying for her education was difficult and so forth.
First, lots of people have student loans and take years to pay them off, and yet are awarded their degrees. Indeed, that’s what the student loans are for. In her answer she is conflating money owed to her university with money owed on her student loans. However, let’s stop and think: money from student loans go to pay the school and the money owed on loans are owed to a lending institution. Farleigh Dickinson would not have given her a bill for her student loans on commencement day.
Second, she makes it sound in the interview as if she actually earned her degree back in 1993 but wasn’t allowed to get a diploma because of her student loans. She lies by omission by not owning up to the fact that she had just recently finished her degree requirement this summer. To quote from the Politico piece I linked in my earlier post:
Scott Giglio, assistant director of public relations at the Madison, N.J., university, told POLITICO the Tea Party Express-backed Senate hopeful was officially awarded her bachelor of arts degree in English literature on Wednesday.
“She’s gone through the process to receive her degree, that’s not the story. She fulfilled the last course requirement this summer. It was just a general elective course,” said O’Donnell campaign manager Matt Moran.
That would have been Wednesday September 1, 2010—the day before her interview with Gaffney. I can’t for a minute believe that she was unaware of this fact when asked the question.
Along those lines, she is claiming it took her twelve years to pay off her loans, but ignores the fact that she was awarded the degree 17 years after the alleged cap and gown/bursars bill event. As such, the focus on student loans and the twelve year timeframe related to them utterly avoid the real issue of when and how she received her degree.
Third, the reference to “a graduate fellowship in constitutional government” is highly misleading at best. Why? Because the Claremont Institute is not an institution of higher learning, it is a think tank. The term “graduate fellowship” is generally associated with actual graduate study, not being a fellow at a think tank. Now, being a think tank fellow would be a decent resume line, one would think, but making it sound like graduate study is dishonest and actually add fuel to the fire about the LinkedIn profile allegations I noted earlier today.
This Week's Health Industry <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com
Decisions on several major drug treatments are expected.
CBS <b>News</b> Reporter Arrested for Growing Pot | PopEater.com
Police arrested CBS News correspondent Howard Arenstein and his wife, along with reporter Orly Azoulay, Saturday for drug possession with intent to di.
<b>News</b> the Old Media Won't Tell You: More Trash at One Sparsely <b>...</b>
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eric seiger eric seiger
About a week ago, we noted that Verizon was gearing up to launch its own app store for Android phones. This app store, called V CAST Apps, would be completely separate from Android’s existing Market for apps. In other words, it’s Verizon kicking their partner Google in the man region.
Of course, we all knew neither side would spin it that way. And sure enough, today we have Verizon’s take. During their Verizon Developer Community Conference earlier this afternoon, the company took the time to respond to the charges that they were taking over control of Android devices with maneuvers such as this. Jkontherun has a good overview of what was said, but Verizon itself was tweeting key parts. Here’s my favorite:
V CAST Apps is NOT out to take over the phone. It’s about choice, and about simplicy – carrier-billing — and quality — great apps.
Oh Jesus. Here we go again. It’s not about control or money — no, of course not. It’s about “choice”. Excuse me while I vomit in my mouth.
Does anyone really believe that Verizon really cares about choice here? What they care about is not ”becoming a commodity connectivity provider,” as James Kendrick puts it. And that’s fair enough, there’s nothing wrong with a company wanting to be successful and maintain their success. But I’m sick of this spin that all of this is for the betterment of all. Verizon cares about making money just like every other company and that’s why they’re doing this.
But there are two main reasons I have a problem with all of this. First, Verizon has proven itself to be incapable of making a decent consumer experience. I’ll refer back to my experience with the Motorola RAZR which was delayed for many months so Verizon could load it up with their crap UI and V CAST junk. And now we’re seeing it with the Droid Verizon phones. They’re packed to the gills with garbage compliments of Verizon. There is no question that Google needs to improve the Android Market experience, but as the creators of Android, I have much more faith in them doing that than with Verizon circumventing it.
Second, here’s what really annoys me: believe it or not, I really like the idea of Android. I love the idea of an OS ecosystem that works across a range of carriers. In the U.S., Apple isn’t doing this, Android is. I like anything that gives the carriers less power. The problem is that Verizon is now using Android’s openness to ruin that approach.
Verizon is essentially making Verizon Android phones different from all other Android phones. Say I buy an app through the V CAST app store then a year down the line I buy another Android device on Sprint. Guess what? It won’t work on the new device. This was supposed to be an open ecosystem — instead, it’s turning out to be very, very fragmented. We’re seeing now that a Verizon Android phone and a Sprint Android phone will soon only share a bit of branding in common. The harmonious ecosystem is being razed.
And all of this doesn’t seem to bode well for the prospects of a Verizon iPhone. Does anyone believe for a second that Apple is going to let Verizon open their own app store on the iPhone? Not a chance. They’ll be lucky if they get a V Cast content app pre-loaded on there — you can bet Apple doesn’t even want that. So why would Verizon want to have anything to do with a device that will turn them into the “commodity connectivity provider” when Google is giving them the keys to the castle?
And so, despite the best efforts of Apple and Google over the past few years, the carriers are now striking back. And it’s us, the consumers, who will lose as a result. How’s that for “choice”?
[image: Warner Bros.]
A commenter to the previous post referred me to a September 2, 2010 interview that Christine O’Donnell did on the Dan Gaffney radio show. The whole thing is worth a listen, but I was especially intrigued by the discussion of her education. The audio link is here: Dan Gaffney Audio: Christine O’Donnell for Senate Interview.
In regards to O’Donnell’s bachelor’s degree Gaffney asks, around the 14 minute mark, as to whether she received her bachelor’s degree from Farleigh Dickinson University or not. Gaffney asked: “Have you actually been given that degree?” She said “Yeah” and then there was some cross-talk about Mike Castle. Then there was the following interchange:
O’Donnell: It took me over twelve years to pay off my student loans. From there I went on and I got a constitutional fellowship…a graduate fellowship in constitutional government. Many people…
Gaffney: From where?
O’Donnell: From the Claremont Institute.
(Transcription mine.)
She went on to recount how she did the cap and gown ceremony (presumably in 1993) and was handed a bursar’s bill instead of diploma. She then stated that she was “awarded my diploma once I paid off my bills.” She went on to say how, unlike Mike Castle, she wasn’t a millionaire so paying for her education was difficult and so forth.
First, lots of people have student loans and take years to pay them off, and yet are awarded their degrees. Indeed, that’s what the student loans are for. In her answer she is conflating money owed to her university with money owed on her student loans. However, let’s stop and think: money from student loans go to pay the school and the money owed on loans are owed to a lending institution. Farleigh Dickinson would not have given her a bill for her student loans on commencement day.
Second, she makes it sound in the interview as if she actually earned her degree back in 1993 but wasn’t allowed to get a diploma because of her student loans. She lies by omission by not owning up to the fact that she had just recently finished her degree requirement this summer. To quote from the Politico piece I linked in my earlier post:
Scott Giglio, assistant director of public relations at the Madison, N.J., university, told POLITICO the Tea Party Express-backed Senate hopeful was officially awarded her bachelor of arts degree in English literature on Wednesday.
“She’s gone through the process to receive her degree, that’s not the story. She fulfilled the last course requirement this summer. It was just a general elective course,” said O’Donnell campaign manager Matt Moran.
That would have been Wednesday September 1, 2010—the day before her interview with Gaffney. I can’t for a minute believe that she was unaware of this fact when asked the question.
Along those lines, she is claiming it took her twelve years to pay off her loans, but ignores the fact that she was awarded the degree 17 years after the alleged cap and gown/bursars bill event. As such, the focus on student loans and the twelve year timeframe related to them utterly avoid the real issue of when and how she received her degree.
Third, the reference to “a graduate fellowship in constitutional government” is highly misleading at best. Why? Because the Claremont Institute is not an institution of higher learning, it is a think tank. The term “graduate fellowship” is generally associated with actual graduate study, not being a fellow at a think tank. Now, being a think tank fellow would be a decent resume line, one would think, but making it sound like graduate study is dishonest and actually add fuel to the fire about the LinkedIn profile allegations I noted earlier today.
This Week's Health Industry <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com
Decisions on several major drug treatments are expected.
CBS <b>News</b> Reporter Arrested for Growing Pot | PopEater.com
Police arrested CBS News correspondent Howard Arenstein and his wife, along with reporter Orly Azoulay, Saturday for drug possession with intent to di.
<b>News</b> the Old Media Won't Tell You: More Trash at One Sparsely <b>...</b>
12774581 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fbigjournalism.com%2Fmpleahy%2F2010%2F10%2F03%2Fnews-the-old-media-wont-tell-you-more-trash-at-one-sparsely-attended-left-wing-rally-than-at-all-the-tea-parties-around-the-country-in-a-year-and-a-half%2FNews ...
eric seiger eric seiger
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