Convergence
All of us are watching the convergence of the telecom and computing industries from a vantage point so close to the action that we often miss the larger implications. The more cell phones get to be like computers the more we have to wonder about the role of the carriers. You know, the carriers are those guys that are processing billions of cell phone calls and mountains of data. The iPhone has accelerated their entry into the computing industry and the netbook and the Google phone push things along even faster. This is going to push the carriers into the channel marketing mix -- which will be an opportunity for some and a threat to others. The carriers could bring a very interesting new layer to our industry in 2010.
In addition, let's not forget the cable companies and their competition with You Tube and the fight over net neutrality.
If that is not enough, add in the Panasonic, LG, Direct TV, and Skype partnerships bringing down the price of video teleconferencing over the web and you have another dimension -- I have lost count -- is this the 4th or the 5th dimension of the telecom and computing convergence?
Yow! This is going to be interesting.
Here are a couple of news stories on the Skype announcements: