Sidecut Reports

Good stuff from pal Andy Abramson about what the new Clearwire might do differently, instead of just acting like another DSL or mobile-phone option: Go deep with video, says Andy:

Instead of simply being another voice play to battle Skype or the mobile operators, the WiMax companies and the cable operators, and heck, even Ma Telco may all may find that they may be better off looking in another direction. That direction is real-time video communications bundled up along with other IP related services like voice and text, all in one neat little package.

There’s lots of meat to dig into here, including conjecture about how Skype has changed the game of communications forever, and why video and rich communications matter. So read the post. It’s worth your time.

Allow me to add my condolences to the growing list of folks remembering blogger and journalist Russell Shaw, who passed away last week. For those of us who covered the sometimes arcane topics of telecommunications and public policy, Russell could always be counted on to not just stay on top of the news (often linking to other blogs without any ego), but to give his readers the type of analysis that moves the ball forward. Not as easy as it looks.

And while he was clearly on the side of innovation and openness, Russell didn’t pull any punches or stay silent when it came time to knock down silly ideas — here is just one post that shows clarity of thinking in the middle of an issue where it was easy to get lost in emotion. It will be a quieter news room at VON this week, with one less sane voice in the mix.

Like Andy and others, I will be at this week’s eComm show in Mountain View — not sure when exactly but if you want to meet shoot me a message to kaps at sidecutreports.com and we can figure out when. Guessing I will be there parts of Wednesday and Thursday, as schedule permits.

One presentation not to be missed is Brian Capouch’s 12-Volt Telephony, a hit in the past and sure to be entertaining, especially if you like seat-of-the-pants, DIY telephony. (And aren’t afraid of ants!)