Seriously Twitter. LMAO
Comparing phone sizes
Haven’t linked to this, so I figured I should before I forget. Unfortunately it’s down now.
Telkomsel and XL Axiata begin selling iPhone 4S in Indonesia today
Today Indonesia’s Telkomsel and XL Axiata will begin selling the iPhone 4S. In a departure from past pricing plans, this time each telco has markedly distinct packages and even different pre-paid costs. Additionally, there is approximately a 10% increase over the cost of past iPhones while in the US it has remain the same since 2008 for every iPhone model.
Previously outright cost of iPhone 4 used to be Rp 7 million and Rp 8.2 million for the 16 GB and 32 GB respectively. The iPhone 4S now start from Rp 7.7 million for the 16 GB all the way to Rp 10.3 million for the 64 GB.
The 4S being released in January may seem a little late compared to the December release of the iPhone 4 in 2010 but one needs to remember that it wasn’t until mid October last year that Apple began selling the 4S in the US, so now Indonesia is only four months behind instead of six or more. The 3G was released in March 2009 and the 3GS in February 2010.
As for the pricing plans, here are the packages from Telkomsel. The lack of contract plans in Indonesia means buyers are given the choice of 12 month credit card installments or full price purchase.
The included free calls and SMS are intra-network only, meaning they apply only within the same network, not to numbers from other mobile network providers as per local regulations.
It’s very likely that as it had been in the past, post-paid packages are valid for pre-approved customers only as new Telkomsel iPhone customers are generally directed towards pre-paid options.
Pre-paid customers have a new daily plan to choose from which limits them to 60 MB data consumption per day. Previously all packages had been monthly.
XL Axiata’s iPhone plans are different as well this year. In addition to the three 12-month credit card installment plans and the option for outright purchase, the blue network now offers six-month credit card installment plans for pre-paid customers. The total costs of the pre-paid installment plans differ very slightly from the full up-front purchase price which makes it quite an attractive option.
At the conclusion of the installment period, customers are enrolled automatically to a 1.2 GB monthly data package with the standard call and text rates. Excess call/text/data are charged at prevailing rates.
[update]
Forgot to include pre-paid costs for iPhone 4S on XL Axiata. They are 16GB Rp 7,999,000; 32GB Rp 9,199,000; 64GB Rp 10,399,000
Personal hotspot use is included in the data packages of both Telkomsel and XL Axiata.
Telkomsel does not bundle voice/text/data packages for its pre-paid plans while XL Axiata does.
New and old Techmemes. About the redesign.
How the US lost out on iPhone work
This incredible investigative report by the New York Times takes a look behind the scenes on why Apple outsources its manufacturing work to Chinese companies and workers.
The company held out for as long as it could to maintain manufacturing within US borders but eventually caved in and in 2004 shut down its last US plant in Elk Grove, California, which was making Macs. The former plant now serves as a call center for Apple.
As to whether the US can reclaim manufacturing jobs from China, this part is damning:
Another critical advantage for Apple was that China provided engineers at a scale the United States could not match. Apple’s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers eventually involved in manufacturing iPhones. The company’s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States.
In China, it took 15 days.
The Atlantic last year calculated how much an iPad would cost if it was manufactured in the US, it was $1,140. That point was rebutted but then the rebuttal itself was claimed to have been taken through a misunderstanding. If this is all too confusing to follow, let’s take this discussion back to the point in the NY Times article.
“What U.S. plant can find 3,000 people overnight and convince them to live in dorms?”
China’s Foxconn can and has done this.
MPAA chairman Chris Dodd threatens to cut funding to US politicians over SOPA failure
“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,”
This is an incredible statement from a former Senator who is chairman of the MPAA and is one year away from being eligible to directly lobby the government.
CrunchFund partner MG Siegler has harsher words to say about Chris Dodd.
More on Chris Dodd’s statement.
MPAA chairman Chris Dodd threatens to cut funding to US politicians over SOPA failure
The Pirate Bay press release on SOPA
Brilliantly written and this paragraph at the end is precious
Some facts (years, dates) are probably wrong in this press release. The reason is that we can’t access this information when Wikipedia is blacked out. Because of pressure from our failing competitors. We’re sorry for that.
Hollywood drops support for Obama for siding with Silicon Valley
Hollywood drops its support for Obama? Maybe they need to update their business models like when the movies went to home projectors and then to televisions, then to video cassette tapes, optical discs, and now digital stream/downloads.
It’s technology. Adapt and make money off of it, or attack and be hated, reviled, and abandoned by the consumers.
These Hollywood big guns keep making boatloads of cash off every new technology that they decry, it’s almost like putting on a show for nothing.
Piracy is about access. Look at how the video game industry transformed itself with online multiplayer games. Video game networks like Blizzard’s Battle.net, Microsoft’s XBox Live, and Sony’s PSN are doing well fending off pirates by limiting access to only legitimate members.
Look at how the music industry is being converted into digital. Not fast enough to make money? It’s only been just over a decade since consumers began to embrace digital downloads and less than a decade since iTunes Music Store debuted. iTunes makes it really easy for people to acquire music legally. Spotify and Rdio are doing the same thing for streaming services.
Content business is going digital and Hollywood should have been working with Silicon Valley on how to make money off of that instead of attacking those who take advantage of their lack of foresight. On that note, how would you transform entertainment?
Hollywood drops support for Obama for siding with Silicon Valley
Limits to being on social networks
On the internet you’ll easily find me on Path, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Instagram, but I’m not sure if I can manage yet another social network.
Instagram is already being neglected although I still check it from time to time, Facebook has been off my radar for a while, and I’ve even reduced my time on Google+, no longer as active on it as I used to be six months ago. I haven’t logged on to Koprol in a long time. I can’t even say much about soundcloud, 8tracks and last.fm. I’m sure there are other networks that I’ve signed up for in the past and completely forgot about.
From the looks of it, I can only pay attention to five or less social networks. How about you?
When choice becomes overwhelming
Choice is good, but being flooded with a barrage of options will only confuse consumers. There is a point at which choice becomes overwhelming and actually detrimental. Ever been to a fancy restaurant where they preset the table with three different kinds of spoons and forks each and two or three knives?
Ever seen the range of cars on Toyota Japan’s website? Not only does it become overwhelming, it’s also wasteful.
Device manufacturers should cut down on options and offer a more limited range of models that serve wider interests and use-cases. Clarity over obscurity.
AuliaSays 