On innovation and your cell phone

Technology Review - Push-Button Innovation

Hello? Hello? Can you hear me now? The telecom sector seems badly disconnected. Analysis reports state that over two trillion dollars’ worth of its market value has evaporated in less than 30 months. The high-flying, high-tech visionaries of the high-bandwidth future--Global Crossing, Covad, Williams, XO, Teligent, et al--have vanished into bankruptcy or liquidation. The AT&Ts, WorldComs, Qwests and Sprints, as well as their counterparts overseas, have seen their bold ambitions for growth in billion-dollar gambits such as the third-generation wireless standard turn into mad scrambles for survival. A few dishonest telco execs may even be going to jail.

There are many good reasons for this sorry state beyond corrupt accounting. Here’s one of the best: America’s telecom companies are lousy innovators. ...

Interesting reading, especially in light of that "Can you hear me now?" ad campaign tromping around. All they're doing is bragging about reception. Wee! Meanwhile, we don't even have a standard for text messaging (three standards in US, in contrast to single standards in Japan and Europe).