Comments on: Investing in Payphones http://www.robhyndman.com/2006/01/02/investing-in-payphones/ any technology distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:44:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Stuart MacDonald http://www.robhyndman.com/2006/01/02/investing-in-payphones/#comment-886 Stuart MacDonald Tue, 03 Jan 2006 04:02:35 +0000 http://www.robhyndman.com/2006/01/02/investing-in-payphones/#comment-886 While I completely agree with you on the, um, questionable value of an investment in payphones in this day and age, it is interesting to note that "progress" often does create opportunity to service those the "progress" leaves behind. For instance, while Telus/BCE/Rogers et al continue to move customers to faster bandwidth in the home (at higher monthly fees, natch), AOL Canada is repositioning its' Netscape brand as a low-cost access alternative to broadband, for those for whom $50/month or whatever is just not good value. While the other guys are duking it out and upselling like crazy, AOL is taking a sleeping brand name with awareness and equity, snapping in some on-the-fly data compression technology, likely using some of their own bought-and-paid-for network capacity and offering a cheap "poor man's broadband" for people the Big Guys are rushing to leave behind. "Progress" creates opportunity. Smart, that. - Stuart While I completely agree with you on the, um, questionable value of an investment in payphones in this day and age, it is interesting to note that “progress” often does create opportunity to service those the “progress” leaves behind. For instance, while Telus/BCE/Rogers et al continue to move customers to faster bandwidth in the home (at higher monthly fees, natch), AOL Canada is repositioning its’ Netscape brand as a low-cost access alternative to broadband, for those for whom $50/month or whatever is just not good value. While the other guys are duking it out and upselling like crazy, AOL is taking a sleeping brand name with awareness and equity, snapping in some on-the-fly data compression technology, likely using some of their own bought-and-paid-for network capacity and offering a cheap “poor man’s broadband” for people the Big Guys are rushing to leave behind.

“Progress” creates opportunity. Smart, that.

- Stuart

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