An interesting new play in the convergence arena are the mobile access companies. The value proposition is focused around on enabling users to access to their PCs using an internet enabled mobile device as long as they are online with their PC at the same time too.

To start with,this is a very welcomed and logical step in the convergence field. If you had told me two years ago that I would be able to surf the net and view my PC content via WAP using my simple mobile phone (Nokia 6230) (…) get out of here!

As it happens, SoonR and Avvenu are companies that are pioneering the way. SoonR got a thorough review on mobilecrunch a few days ago so it got me thinking in the context of our “Fusion” vs. “Boat on Wheels” awards. For the sake of fairness I will focus on Avvenu this time. (more…)

      

We are proud to launch our new campaign. From now on we will do our best to review convergence products and services and give them their share of thumbs up and thumbs down.

For that, we have come up with two distinct certificates – Fusion vs. Boat on Wheels. Fusion is good. It means the product has captured and blended converging elements properly, created synergy and delivered well. Boat on wheels means the product is exactly that – a forced mix of elements that are failing to comprise a stable compound.

We credited Sling Media with a Fusion certificate and have classified MSN TV as a Boat on Wheels. As you can probably tell by now we are opinionated a-holes. This does not mean we are right, only that we have opinions. We’d love to hear yours. Both about products you like us to review or simply about the products themselves.

      

I have taken some heat for going somewhat too bald on the user centric theme. One of my new critiques has even advised me to “go to business school, hippie!”, so I guess I should make a key distinction. Yes, there is such a thing as “bad naked”. So-called-user-centric initiatives can go very sour damage users and extinct markets. Kazaa and eMule, for example, are often mistaken for user centric when in fact they are user abusive. Not only because they facilitate collective theft, but because they set the stage for a hectic virus, Trojans and worm exchange as well. User centric does not mean free. It does mean that my personal content is mine, that for other’s content I wish to pay the other, and that I demand to have the full selection and personalized choice.

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