Trip to Philly and Cable-Tec Expo

Posted by on Sep 30, 2016 This year’s trip to Cable-Tec Expo required no planes, only trains and automobiles. Trip summary: Car ride to/from the Amtrak station, trains between Richmond and Philly, and uber to/from the hotel. There for less than 48 hours, I still had enough time to connect with friends and clients and make some new connections. The floor included not only booths, but also (much in the style of the...
read more

Ad Blocking: Containment or Rollback?

Posted by on Aug 2, 2016 In US foreign policy, a classic debate has been over whether to force change in or simply prevent the expansion of an enemy state. The choice is between “rollback” or “containment.” A similar debate is surfacing in the ongoing ad blocking “wars” between advertisers and consumers. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), an online media and marketing industry group, thinks you can do both. In a...
read more

The Third Wave and Steve Case’s Apple Disconnect

Posted by on Jun 24, 2016 Former AOL CEO and Chairman Steve Case has been snagging headlines and interviews. A year after Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion and 16 years after AOL peaked with a market cap of $163 billion (when it bought Time Warner) Case has been talking up ideas contained in a book released last month, The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future. The book is a mixed bag. Case himself calls...
read more

Boston INTX – Less Turbulence, More Focus

Posted by on May 27, 2016 Last year in Chicago, change was in the air. The NCTA had just unveiled INTX, the Internet & TV Expo, as the new brand for the Cable Show. The proposed Time Warner Cable-Comcast merger had flopped, but industry dealmakers were not done yet. Only a few weeks later, Charter announced its intention to acquire Time Warner Cable. At this year’s event in Boston, attendees were more comfortable...
read more

The Wired in Wireless

Posted by on Apr 15, 2016 It was once common to think that cellular communications were entirely wireless. If the public were polled, a large number would have thought that calls hopped back and forth from tower to tower until they reached their destination. The truth, of course, is otherwise. The all-wireless misunderstanding is less common today. All it takes is one look at a cell tower. While festooned with antennas...
read more