Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Republic Wireless, Galaxy Nexus And Tardiness

I have a laptop I bought a few months back for 330 dollars after the rebate. I think I want a $79 Kindle to borrow books from the New York Public Library. And I think I have decided on Republic Wireless to be my first smartphone. And that is it. That will be enough gadgets. I am a Dell, Walmart kind of guy.

They said they will be out. But then you go to their website and they say sorry, get in line, we will email you when we have more. So no soup for you this year.



No Republic Wireless phone in sight. $19 a month is cheaper than even the prepaid basic phones. For me it is the wifi part that gets me. A smartphone is a small computer. It needs to be running on wifi. What I would have really liked is a Galaxy Nexus on the Republic Wireless network. But if it is between the phone and the network I am going for the network. Only the line is so long. Take that iPhone.

Why don't they just manufacture more phones? I mean, if they are making money when they sell phones. Why not just make more of them and make more money?

Galaxy Nexus Has Competition

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Paperless Post Iterations

Post-ItImage via WikipediaEvite Cries Y(h)elp! Copies Paperless Post Pixel By Pixel

Only now is Paperless Post thinking in terms of the freemium model, and I believe they have been profitable for a year now. That is curious. Most others start with the freemium model. They build the user base, and monetize later.

With Paperless post you get to send out invitations to important events in your life. The paper is gone, but the beauty is preserved, perhaps even enhanced.

And it is not just about digital. It is not just that you used to send paper versions, and now you send digital versions. The digital medium allows for the collection of data as to how the invitation card travels around as people open up the cards, RSVP and so on. That feedback loop was not possible with the paper incarnations of the cards.

Other than sending more and more beautiful cards to more and more people for more and more events what are some of the directions Paperless Post could go on to?

One obvious thing that emerges is that special social graph of people you invite to the special events in your life, people who show up for those special moments. Culling that social graph could lead Paperless Post into unforeseen directions. Amazon started out selling books. The Amazon Web Services was built for internal use, and now is a major Amazon offering.