New kid on the (wireless) block
The impending entrance into the Oklahoma City wireless market by Verizon Wireless has been trumped by Cox Communications.
The long-time cable television, Internet and wireline phone provider in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets said Monday that it will launch its own branded wireless telephone service next year, even going to far as to build its own 3G network.
I spoke to Cox spokeswoman Jill Ullman in Atlanta, and she was mum on what Cox will call the service or any other details such as a launch date or what it will cost subscribers. That will come later, she said.
Cox withdrew in April from a joint venture with three other cable providers and Sprint that lasted only a year. That was the Pivot service that it launched in Spring 2007 to much fanfare.
“The dynamics of a joint venture had some constraints, and we believe that by going at this on our own we won’t have any of those experiences,” Ullman said. “We know that we learned a lot through our relationship with Pivot and the biggest learning from that relationship is that our customers want us to control the entire customer experience.”
I asked telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan in Atlanta for his views on the new Cox wireless service, and here’s what he told me:
“If done right I think they can compete and be successful. They have to market correctly. They have to have products that are part of a bundle and stand alone wireless, as well. Many of the questions about Cox’s potential success come from the mis-steps from the last attempt by the cable television industry to enter wireless over the last couple years. If the lessons were learned, Cox could be successful. I think a section of the marketplace would like that to happen.”
Ah, bundles. No one is bigger on bundles than Cox, which claims to have invented the concept.
“Sixty-four percent of our customers nationwide already take more than one service from us,” Ullman said. “We see that as a great opportunity. Our initial success will be in this base of satisfied customers. With more than 64 percent of our customers already subscribing to the Cox bundle, that is going present a great opportunity for wireless.”
Business Writer
First in class: Oklahoma’s oldest schoolhouse
Sometimes we drive by history every day and fail to see it for what it is. Take the state’s oldest public schoolhouse, for instance.
For years, I drove past the old one-room schoolhouse on Second Street in Edmond and saw it only as a nondescript camera shop. Didn’t know how long it had been there or any of the history of the old building. Next to it was one of those quick-lube oil change places, so there didn’t seem to be anything historic to the location.
Then one day I spotted a plaque outside the building commemorating it as the first public schoolhouse in the Oklahoma Territory, 1889.
I finally got to see inside the historic building today, and it was a real treat. Beverly Terry, who serves as sort of administrator of the building, served as our tour guide and told of some of its history and that of its renovation.
Ms. Terry pointed out three original blackboards that were found during renovation and restored. I loved the desks most of all, because they were period pieces, and most if not all still carried initials of students carved into them maybe a century ago.
Best information about the place. Original cost: $35 in 1889 dollars. Cost of renovation in turn of the 21st century dollars: $395,000.
A fourth grade class from the Edmond elementary school where my wife works spent part of the day there Thursday, sitting in the antique desks and being taught a lesson from a teacher in period costume.
My wife, Paula, accompanied the Russell Dougherty Elementary School students to the old schoolhouse, which is only a couple of blocks south of her school. She also dressed in period costume, which included a bonnet.
Naturally, she left her bonnet. So, when we drove by the old schoolhouse to retrieve it today we had the good fortune of meeting Ms. Terry, who was cleaning the building.
The point of all of this is that history isn’t always something on pages of books. We’re often driving past it every day without realizing what we’re not seeing.
Jim Stafford
Business Writer
A description of short selling
This is a nice video explanation of short selling, a legal method used by traders to profit when stock prices fall. The video also includes a primer on naked short selling, which has been banned by some companies.
This is from Marketplace Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch.
Getting naked in short selling from Marketplace on Vimeo.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Odd couple: Flaming Lips and Kraft salad dressing
The Flaming Lips present: Kraft salad dressing. Some may be aghast, but all kinds of popular music has found its way into modern-day marketing. The Flaming Lips have previously allowed their tunes to be used by Dell and Land Rover.
Still, would you have guessed that this song would be the background music for a commerical?
If you could blow up the world
With the flick of a switch
Would you do it?
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah)
If you could make everybody poor
Just so you could be rich
Would you do it?
(Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah)
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Phishing: don’t get caught
Commoncraft.com has produced an easy-to-understand video that explains what Phishing is, how to avoid being a victim of this scam and what to do if you think you might have provided sensitive personal information to a scammer.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Sad trader photos
Several blogs have sprung up that display a variety of photographs showing distressed stock or commodities traders from the United States and elsewhere. When markets tank, newspapers, Web sites and broadcast media tend to use images of worried, angry or sad traders on a trading floor.
It’s a bit misleading because, as anyone who has ever visited a major stock or commodities exchange can tell you, there are worried, angry and sad traders on the floor at times even on good days. It’s a high-pressure atmosphere populated with type-A personalities.
But it is interesting to see the photos arrayed one after another.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Foolish Forecasters Missed It on iPhone
In case you missed it, Apple said it has sold more than 10 million iPhones this year. That beat its stated goal of 10 million iPhones for all of 2008, two months ahead of schedule. In fact, Apple sold 6.9 million of the phones in the latest quarter, which topped sales of RIM’s Blackberry at 6.1 million.
More than that, the success of the iPhone made some prognosticators who poo-pooed the phone look absolutely foolish. Thanks to the MacDailyNews blog, here are some of the worst of the forecasts of failure for the iPhone:
[iPhone] just doesn’t matter anymore. There are now alternatives to the iPhone, which has been introduced everywhere else in the world. It’s no longer a novelty.” – Eamon Hoey, Hoey and Associates, April 30, 2008
“We are not at all worried. We think we’ve got the one mobile platform you’ll use for the rest of your life. [Apple] are not going to catch up.” – Scott Rockfeld, Microsoft Mobile Communications Group Product Manager, April 01, 2008
Microsoft, with Windows Mobile/ActiveSync, Nokia with Intellisync, and Motorola with Good Technology have all fared poorly in the enterprise. We have no reason to expect otherwise from Apple.” – Peter Misek, Canaccord Adams analyst, March 07, 2008
“What does the iPhone offer that other cell phones do not already offer, or will offer soon? The answer is not very much… Apple’s stated goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008 seems ambitious.” – Laura Goldman, LSG Capital, May 21, 2007
“The iPhone is going to be nothing more than a temporary novelty that will eventually wear off.” – Gundeep Hora, CoolTechZone Editor-in-Chief, April 02, 2007
“Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone… What Apple risks here is its reputation as a hot company that can do no wrong. If it’s smart it will call the iPhone a ‘reference design’ and pass it to some suckers to build with someone else’s marketing budget. Then it can wash its hands of any marketplace failures… Otherwise I’d advise people to cover their eyes. You are not going to like what you’ll see.” – John C. Dvorak, Bloated Gas Bag, March 28, 2007
“Even if [the iPhone] is opened up to third parties, it is difficult to see how the installed base of iPhones can reach the level where it becomes a truly attractive service platform for operator and developer investment.” – Tony Cripps, Ovum Service Manager for Mobile User Experience, March 14, 2007
“I’m more convinced than ever that, after an initial frenzy of publicity and sales to early adopters, iPhone sales will be unspectacular… iPhone may well become Apple’s next Newton.” – David Haskin, Computerworld, February 26, 2007
“The iPhone’s willful disregard of the global handset market will come back to haunt Apple.” – Tero Kuittinen, RealMoney.com, January 18, 2007
“The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant… Apple is unlikely to make much of an impact on this market… Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry.” – Matthew Lynn, Bloomberg, January 15, 2007
“I am pretty skeptical. I don’t think [iPhone] will meet the fantastic predictions I have been reading. For starters, while Apple basically established the market for portable music players, the phone market is already established, with a number of major brands. Can Apple remake the phone market in its image? Success is far from guaranteed.” – Jack Gold, founder and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, January 11, 2007
“The economics of something like [an Apple iPhone] aren’t that compelling.” – Rod Bare, Morningstar analyst, December 08, 2006
“Apple is slated to come out with a new phone… And it will largely fail…. Sales for the phone will skyrocket initially. However, things will calm down, and the Apple phone will take its place on the shelves with the random video cameras, cell phones, wireless routers and other would-be hits… When the iPod emerged in late 2001, it solved some major problems with MP3 players. Unfortunately for Apple, problems like that don’t exist in the handset business. Cell phones aren’t clunky, inadequate devices. Instead, they are pretty good. Really good.” – Michael Kanellos, CNET, December 07, 2006
Jim Stafford
Business Writer
Election year markets
I recently obtained a copy of “Stock Traders’s Almanac 2009,” which contains a wealth of statistical-based information on markets, and a fair amount of common sense. Based on historical and market data compiled over the past 96 years, the publishers report the following impact of presidential elections on the market:
– Post-election years are worse for Republications. The market is likely to fare worse if Sen. John McCain is elected, at least in the first year. Mid-term years have been inferior under Democrats.
– November is much better in election years when the incumbent party is ousted. Stock Trader’s Almanac Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Hirsch refers to this as the “ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead effect.”
– Markets fare better under Democrats while the dollar is stronger under Republications.
– The combination of a Democratic president and a Republican Congress has delivered the best market results.
– The first two years of a presidents’ term market performance lags behind the last two.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
A tip from Sonic
Ever wondered about the proper protocol when it comes to tipping your carhop? The question actually came up during a conference call with Sonic Chairman Cliff Hudson.
I’d say the analyst gets the worst of this exchange:
<Q – Steve West>: Hey guys. Just a couple of quick questions. One, can you guys maybe explain the tip credit waging initiative you’re doing in — really what does that mean? Are we supposed to be tipping at Sonic, because I’ve never done in the past. You make me feel cheap here. And also just a follow-on question about some of the re-franchising you are doing.
<A – J. Clifford Hudson>: On the tip credit issues, Steve we — the majority of our customers do tip at Sonic. So you are in the minority.
<Q – Steve West>: All right.
But the biggest news to come out of the conference call was the unveiling of a new foot-long coney dog and tater tots special.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
Worst week ever
Sometimes we hail recent happenings as the biggest, best, worst or most important events ever. However, last week was indeed the worst ever in the history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to Dow Jones.
DJIA Percentage Declines
Week ending … Change
10/10/2008 … -18.15 percent
07/22/1933 … -16.66 percent
05/18/1940 … -15.48 percent
10/08/1932 … -15.15 percent
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
