Cultural suicide
TweetJust thought I’d add my two cents to the discussions occurring about Canadian mobile data packages (in case you’re wondering, they go up to $12 per MB).
As a content-creating Canadian with an N95 smartphone, I produce value for my country by creating video content, increasing Canada’s profile in the web/mobile space. By allowing data packages to remain at this price, they are letting Americans take control of the space instead. We see more Steve Garfield and Scoble on their N95s than me, because it would cost me up to SIXTY DOLLARS to send a 5 megapixel photo to Flickr (in Canada, there is no unlimited option).
In fact, since I am being paid by Americans, I am producing exceptional value for Canada, bringing in dollars and paying taxes while not needing a Canadian company to pay my salary.
If Canada wants to help me compete, they need to find a way to make these data packages come down. In an increasingly web and mobile world, it’s cultural suicide not to do so.
Filed by Julien at 10:48 am under random
Hi, I’m Julien Smith.
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Right on Julien!
It’s time for the government to move forward with the release of more spectrum to a NEW wireless player. How about Google?
That’s great Jules. But how do we do that?
i think everyone wants an iphone. i can’t figure any other explanation for why this somewhat obscure issue (to mainstream, I mean) is getting all this high-level press.
[...] Canadian mobile phone rates are between 3 and 20 times more expensive than those on the USA or UK. We can thank our telecom oligopoly for that. But it’s not just expensive rates that are stifling the Canadian economy. We may be strangling Canadian content as well, as Julien notes: As a content-creating Canadian with an N95 smartphone, I produce value for my country by creating content, increasing Canada’s profile in the web/mobile space. By allowing data packages to remain at this price, they are letting Americans take control of the space instead. [...]
You want cultural suicide? New York city just banned making indie films. http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2007-08-02/film/3
Governments are notoriously slow to adapt to new trends because, well, they are not bound by the same exigencies of market competition that the private sector is.
My point? I’m with you 100%, but you’re preaching to the choir. We’ve got Web 2.0 evangelists to get corporations up to speed, but I can only the deaf ears on which their sermons would fall if they had to pitch a room full of bureaucrats and legislators.
Then, just as they had them hollering hallelujah, lobbyists or a change in government would derail the whole process.
I guess I’m a cynic when it comes to democracy. That’s why I prefer the interwebs.