I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the SMS Text News coverage of the upcoming CTIA conference here in Las Vegas. Lots of opportunity to think, especially on the 10 hour flight and the 6 hour lay over in LAX. I’m thinking diary style.
I reckon I’ll post news if I see it or if there’s something that I reckon deserves attention. But I think I’ll see if I can do a commentary on the experience and my observations.
I’m about to sort out my diary of agreed appointments so I’ll post that up. For those in the UK, I’m going to try and keep the posts flowing during your timezone. It’s conceivably possible. I’ll be able to bring you the background and gossip from the Microsoft, Yahoo, Sprint and Accel parties (The Accel invite list looks like a who’s who of the American mobile industry — Bob, CEO of Sonim, makers of the Toughphone is due there too, I read — although I forgot to bring my one to knock people sporting RAZRs on the head with).
There is, theoretically, wifi in the journalisty/bloggery press area so I should be able to post regularly. I might do a few one liners with a few links; or maybe a big rant, depending on what turns me on. We’ll also a have some ‘from the floor’ daily opinion from some executives too. I’ll get there early and look for some real journalists and see how many of them are pretenders. There’s nothing worse than coming across someone from a decent newspaper or something like Bloomberg and finding that they use the most basic rubbish mobile handset and that ‘mobile applications’ is just a theoretical concept for them. To the subject of this post. I was talking to one particular industry insider, alas anonymous — they couldn’t make it to CTIA (or, er, actually couldn’t face the tacky nature of the location) so they provided this briefing request:
“Keep track of what people are saying, at mwc i was asking everyone what was the most interesting thing they’ve seen and that helped me weed through a lot of the bullshit.”
“You’re going to hear operators talking out there ass trying to save themselves from become pipes, then the developers who are more confused than a teenage bisexual as to whether or not they should sell their wares to operators or B2C and finally the handset makers will have vibrating, touch enabled, haptic bullshit that is just thinner and prettier than what they had last year.”
“The smell of fear was in the air at MWC, curious to read what you have to say about CTIA. that is … if you don’t get arrested after you assault a man with a three year old razr and 2 year old treo on opposite sides of his hips, in holsters.”
I’ve already seen the treos, save me. Save me.