Telecom Providers, Bloggers and the Media - Robin Hood, Men in Tights

Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity,

When I give I give myself

Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

Most of the news about the “secret” Tablet Wars is only being reported on Yahoo! News, CNET and ZDNET, with the technology trolls EnGadget and local Jamaican forums such as TechJamaica filling in the chinks with rumors.

In fact, let me talk it straight, people; it is my suspicion that possibly, the movers and shakers in the Technology World may in fact be of the traditionalist view to keep their products and specs quiet unlike the media savvy Apple, fearing user backlash and lack of mass acceptance if they know too much about the product.

These certain Baby Boomer [ages 45 to 90] Silicon Valley CEO’s and Presidents, who are  choosing instead to deceive Customers with specs and hardware that drain battery life and leave the Customer breathless and unsatisfied as to user friendliness, lack of intuitiveness and aesthetics.

Worse, local Jamaican journalists are themselves clueless about the technology, taking an objective stance and regurgitating facts proffered to them from so called “experts” who are themselves merely paid Telecom Provider mouthpieces.

But an even greater barrier to the adoption of the Internet by the masses is the fact that most people do not see why they need it, a fact pointed out by guest columnist Larry Downes in the article “Memo to Washington: It’s the broadband, stupid”, published November 18, 2010 12:01 PM PST by Larry Downes, CNET News - Wireless.

Ditto that for Jamaica. Telecom Providers, who are now playing the part of ISP (Internet Service Providers) with their “G”-esque offerings, as not being truthful about their Internet services, specially their speeds, as I had recently revealed in my blog article entitled “LIME vs Digicel - The Truth About Charlie”.

It’s all about money.

So with all this media obfuscation both here based on how you interpret the article “Digicel sets the record straight on 4G”, published Friday, November 05, 2010 By Al Edwards, The Jamaica Observer and in the US of A, how do these Governments intend to make Broadband Internet a Right, effectively a Utility like Electricity, Water, Sewage and Gas.

Much as it is in Finland as stated in the article “You Gotta fight for your right to broadband”, published Thursday July 1 2010 by Christopher Null, Yahoo! News, when many Baby Boomers [ages 45 to 90], who are the CEO’ s and Presidents of some of these Silicon Valley and Telecom Providers still see the Internet as a play toy of Generation Y [ages 14 to 25] and Generation X [ages 26 to 45] as opposed to the all-in-one medium of communication of the future?

Worse, Generation Y [ages 14 to 25] and Generation X [ages 26 to 45] see the Internet not as a medium of collaborative work and education, but as a source of “free” i.e. Copyright Infringing downloads of music, movies, books, you name it, they can find it, yet achieve little work on the Internet. I personally blame Social Networking for turning the Internet into a wasteland for Socialites.

Thus Telecom Providers turn Newspapers into propaganda machines to express their point of view for profit, leaving the Customer more bewildered and mistrusting than before when products fail.

Much like the now obviously failed Digicel Broadband 4G, which Telecom Provider Digicel is still refusing to admit is not 4G and is still advertising, when in fact that is the reason why their Customers are experiencing less than 10MBps speed as per my blog article entitled “LIME vs Digicel - The Truth About Charlie”; too many persons on the Network, congesting due to unnecessary advertising of a product which would naturally sell itself.

It will be a success in the future, but the bad taste created by Telecom Provider Digicel as it relates to the slow speed of their Wireless Broadband will not be so easily be forgiven by the tech crowd, mostly trolls who read EnGadget and live on Tech Jamaica  the main aficionados of Wireless Broadband, most of whom are Data Hogs looking to take advantage of Digicel’s naivety and generosity in giving them a wireless means of committing Copyright Infringement.

Trust is in short supply. You cannot trust the Customers to not download Copyright Infringing material and use the Internet for “educational purposes” as CEO Mark Linehan would desire Customers to do as stated in the article “Digicel retrofitting stores for 4G”, published Sunday August 22 2010, The Jamaica Observer and you cannot trust the Telecom Providers to be honest when the use the Media to communicate to Customers.

Unlike Japan, Jamaica, United States of America and Latin America lacks a technology culture, as we apparently are very enmeshed in our Social Networks and listening to our Apple iPod’s, our attention span shrinking to the point that reading articles longer than one (1) page is uninspiring, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) a side effect of the Internet as stated in the article “'The Shallows': Is the Net Fostering Stupidity?”, published June 3, 2010, 5:00PM EST by BusinessWeek THE STACK.

This is a rather sinister and Orwellian view of the Internet reminiscent of the George Orwell's 1984. To persons in the West [Americans, Jamaicans, and Latin America] technology has to have a practical impact, as we cannot partake of technology for its sake alone, as the Japanese are wont to do.

A blogging culture, such as Administrator Kirk’s Geezam blog is the best way to get people excited about technology, as forums such as Tech Jamaica are for complainers, but of what use is it if people do not see the need for the Internet and do not like reading?

The Internet may, ironically, be making us smarter but also may be making everyone suffer for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), in addition to the caffeine laced coffee that makes us jittery.

This is the lament of a blogger; if I write it, will you take time away from your Farmville and read a bit?

Worse, I got all this tablet craziness started with my suggestion of the Apple iPad in 2009, set to merge reading, content consumption and the Internet and yet the excitement is still muted.

The Tablet is going to make the Laptop and the Netbook obsolete as stated in the article “Tablets threaten to make Netbooks obsolete”, published Wednesday September 8, 2010 2:20 pm ET by Tony Bradley, PCWorld Business Center, Yahoo! News yet the excitement level is waning. People of the Western Hemisphere, you disappoint me in your lack of enthusiasm as the Year of the All-Electric Vehicle, 2011 AD, draweth nigh.