Comment on Made in America: The state of US-based music services by Tom

If so, what's the point of labeling the list with "Made in America" slogan and excluding services that are not US based, yet are targeted to the same US audiences?

Comment on Made in America: The state of US-based music services by Tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/07/14/us-based-music-sites/#comment-639848

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by tom

om, i enjoy reading most of your columns. but this is a sad one. i think what you're referring to is what some people call 'the Wal-Mart' effect. everything's cheaper and available in one place - and if we skip ahead a few steps, then all that's available is what Amazon or Wal-Mart sells. and for those of us who sell items to Amazon, it's become a very bleak proposition. because of how you describe the situation. Amazon loves to trot out similar responses and use them to hit people over the head with regard to selling terms. and don't even get me started on sales tax. want your roads fixed, more police officers, maybe a public school in your neighborhood. don't live in a state that has cut a deal with Amazon so they don't have to pay sales tax on items they've sold. but all those retailers where you go to look at stuff and then end up buying it on Amazon - they collect sales tax in the community they're located in. you're a smart guy. think a little more about what you're giving up for 'your convenience.' cheers!

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/20/we-are-spending-more-money-with-amazon/#comment-625787

Comment on What the AT&T;/T-Mobile Deal Means for Apple by Tom

I wouldn't count on ATT willingly offering unlocked phones. ATT has been making all the wrong moves, data caps, overpriced data plans, going after those who teather to their overpriced data plan with out paying again for the same data. This buyout probably wont be a goodthing for US GSM users.

Comment on What the AT&T;/T-Mobile Deal Means for Apple by Tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/apple/what-the-attt-mobile-deal-means-for-apple/#comment-610904

Comment on The Future of Cheap Androids Begins Now by tom

a couple things: the US desperately needs virgin mobile style pricing on an operator with SIM cards. in most countries prepaid and SIM card swapping go hand in hand. or at least virgin mobile should start accepting used sprint phone on their network. the closest that we have here is simple mobile(a t-mobile MVNO) with a $60 unlimited everything, but we really need something like the virgin mobile $25 deal. now for the killer apps on this thing. VOIP over 3G to add unlimited voice. and since i bet a lot of the people buying this phone have limited home access to the internet the other killer app is tethering. lately i have been running a phone flashing business converting verizon and sprint phones to cricket and metroPCS. one thing that i can tell you is that on cricket the demand for tethering on android phones is absolutely enormous, in fact in a lot of the small cricket dealers this has become the main selling point and is often the only reason for the customer switching from a basic or feature phone. also for now it is the only way to get unlimited internet over cellular since the dedicated USB dongles and MiFi's are sold as metered buckets, but not the phone data plans.

Comment on The Future of Cheap Androids Begins Now by tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/mobile/cheap-android-smartphones/#comment-585498

Comment on Where to Watch the Golden Globe Awards Online by Tom Smith

I use ivi TV, my favorite online television service. Where you can watch THE GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS, not just the red carpet. This is from the ivi TV blog post: http://blog.ivi.tv/2011/01/watch-golden-globes-online-sunday-january-16-2011/

Comment on Where to Watch the Golden Globe Awards Online by Tom Smith

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/video/golden-globes-online/#comment-575899

Comment on How App Stores Can Compete With Android Market by tom

i order for a alternative app store to have an impact on overall app quality for users would be it was the only app store users went too. i do not see that happening. sheer size and selection will therefore win in the end.

Comment on How App Stores Can Compete With Android Market by tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/mobile/how-app-stores-can-compete-with-android-market/#comment-572055

Comment on InsomniMac: What’s Keeping Your Mac Up at Night by Tom

I find it to be unacceptable to leave a pc running 24/7 in a normal household. A house is not a company. If you want to watch a movie on your appletv, just wake your mac. It's not that far to your desk and you are not that lazy! And if you are, use something like Remote HD on your iPhone. Does nobody realize how much energy and natural resources are wasted for this, not to mention the CO2.

Comment on InsomniMac: What’s Keeping Your Mac Up at Night by Tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/apple/insomnimac-whats-keeping-your-mac-up-at-night/#comment-535334

Comment on “4G” Showdown: Tale of the Tape by Tom

I'm guessing the T-Mobile coverage by end of 2010 is supposed to be 20 million not 200?

Comment on “4G” Showdown: Tale of the Tape by Tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2010/12/01/4g-showdown-tale-of-the-tape/#comment-532303

Comment on For $55, What Kind of LTE Experience Does MetroPCS Deliver? by tom

i would disagree with the statement from metroPCS about what their customers are looking for. i am quite familiar with the retail environment in both metroPCS and cricket retail stores. high end smartphones(usually flashed(converted) from verizon or sprint) are not only in very high demand(far beyond the supply) plus prepaid customers are easily willing to pay in the $400 - $700 range for used phones. that is something very different from the major carriers. the reality is that metro's leapfroging of 3G means that for now at least customers are unable to use fast data on the phones they can easily obtain(new or used phones flashed from spring or verizon) and are instead limited to either metro's limited 4G selection or using WIFI only for data.

Comment on For $55, What Kind of LTE Experience Does MetroPCS Deliver? by tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2010/11/26/metropcs-4g-review-lte/#comment-524652

Comment on Flat-Rate Data Plans Are Dead. Is That a Good Thing? by tom

i am not sure why but it seems to me this 'look at from the business prospective' is unique to technology. i am not sure whats up with it but when it comes to technology it seems lots of people believe even the consumers should see things from the side of the business. i do not know of any other business area where this opinion is so prevalent.

Post originale: http://gigaom.com/2010/11/04/flat-rate-data-plans-are-dead-is-that-a-good-thing/#comment-502825

Comment on Broadband Speed Is the Tail Wagging the Policy Dog by tom

i always have mixed feelings about this. as much as i like really fast internet I also believe internet connection are more expensive than they should be. more investment in infrastructure also often means higher prices. so i want see the internet get a bit faster but also a lot cheaper. i would certainly be willing to sacrifice some speed for lower cost.

Post originale: http://gigaom.com/2010/10/16/broadband-speed-is-the-tail-wagging-the-policy-dog/#comment-299376

Comment on Wi-Fi Looks to Keep the Mobile Internet Dream Alive by tom

i understand the benefits of wifi at my home, workplace, etc. and also can see why cable companies might want to offer city wide wifi as an incentive for customers. but is does it really make more sense for the carriers such as AT&T; or verizon to use WIFI instead of deploying picocells, mircocells or whatever is the latest fad in tiny cellular towers? it would certainly keep things a lot simpler for their customers. as smartphones become more commonplace the customers will be less sophisticated and many may not even understand how the wifi capability on there phones work. also with the proliferation of MIFI devices and tethering becoming more common a lot of wifi connections are going to loop back onto the cell networks anyways.

Post originale: http://gigaom.com/2010/10/16/wi-fi-looks-to-keep-the-mobile-internet-dream-alive/#comment-299168