T-Mobile can Thrive in the Future with Data. Lots of Data.

When the AT&T + T-Mobile deal fell apart just over a year ago, I wrote that T-Mobile’s best hope was go switch its focus to data.  The carrier hasn’t followed my advice (that’s not a surprise 🙂 ), but is going to take some steps that are helpful in unbundling its plans so if you own your phone outright you can get a lower rate.

But although this is a useful step in its own, I have to doubt whether it’s going to draw in a lot of new people to a network that they may perceive as inferior.  I predict it won’t change the market position of T-Mobile in a meaningful way.

The future for T-Mobile is still data, not voice.  But more importantly, the future is where a single subscriber has lots of devices using data, all sharing a common pool of data access.

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Fixing the Mac App Store’s amnesia about installed programs

My Mac App Store had developed a strange problem: it couldn’t remember that I had installed any of the programs.  Thus, it would show the list of all purchases from the store along with the active button that says “Install”, not the button that says “Installed”.

Also, it wouldn’t show updates for any of my installed programs.

I could install any of the programs again — that would work.  But almost immediately it forgot that I had installed it.  It was like Dory from Finding Nemo.

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Apple’s First Made-in-America Mac Will Be The One You Never Heard Of

On Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple will begin producing a Made-in-America Mac sometime next year, but offered few details on when or what, other than saying that it would be an existing Mac product.

Here’s Tim Cook’s interview with Brian Williams of NBC where he discusses it: 

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The key quote: “Next year, we will do one of our existing Mac lines in the United States.” But which one?

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Another airline adopts tablets … but an HP tablet?

From c|net:

Windows 8 tablets to be handed out to Emirates’ flight crew

The luxury airline announces that it is delivering 1,000 HP ElitePad 900 tablets to its flight attendants, which will run on Windows 8 and come with a built-in airline-specific business app.

Interesting choice.  I would have expected an iPad as first choice, or maybe a Microsoft Surface.  I have to wonder how tablet like the custom app will be, or whether it will look more like a windows desktop app…