Bob Stoffels

May, 2013

The Crystal Ball

At this very minute thousands -- nay, tens of thousands -- are searching for new apps which will some how make life easier, or more productive, or more efficient, or simply different. Let’s look at some of these applications, and try to figure whether they will lead us in a direction that will allow us to anticipate the future.

April, 2013

Infrastructure

A goodly part of the expansion of the country’s infrastructure is an expansion of its infrastructure. That’s our business. That’s what we do. And we must do it well.

March, 2013

Telephone Poles

A story about telephone poles and OSPassion from years ago. Does its lesson stand the test of time? Read it and find out.

February, 2013

Do You Know Where I Am?

A recent study indicated that there are more than 20 different ways that data about you can be collected in a single day. And more are appearing every month. Apparently there are no secrets. Beware.

January, 2013

Exit 2G

The times, they are a-changing. Legacy systems are being phased out, and new (in many cases un-dreamed of) systems explored and employed. In upcoming years 1G systems and 2G systems will fade from use, and will be nothing more than a memory.

December, 2012

The QR Code

If you want to find out something about the company that baked that bread, or about the company that distributed those nails, you have to search the label for a street address or an email address. Then you have to wait till you have access to a computer or a stamp, and by that time you likely have forgotten what you wanted to know. Enter the QR Code.

November, 2012

The Age of The Computer

Imagine that this very instant there are hundreds of focus groups in session, each trying to determine the features on or in a “computer” that are really important. But maybe I’m missing the point -- or maybe this is the point: We’re assuming that the computer exists, and we’re trying to find out how best to configure it.

October, 2012

R&D

There are those who say that we’re making a big thing out of something that is really quite simple: The company that spends the most on R&D will produce the best results. Not so.

September, 2012

For the Birds

No one ever suggested that building and operating a communications tower was a simple matter. Lots of legal issues are involved. But birds? No one suggested -- seriously -- that birds circling those towers with red lights could pose a problem. But it does.

August, 2012

Numbers, Please

Have you noticed that our area codes are something of a jumble? They are not sequential, and they appear to have nothing to do with geography. Also, in days of old the middle digit of these 3-digit numbers was always a 1 or a 0. This is no longer the case. How come?

July, 2012

Electric Vehicles

Battery powered cars may today be the newest thing in automotive transportation, but they are not new. They were being manufactured, and even raced, as early as the late 1890s. Is purchasing an electric vehicle worth while? As in all things, it depends.

June, 2012

Moving Right Along

Some time ago the CEO of Verizon became convinced that the wireline telephone business was not going to improve. Ivan Seidenberg decided that the future was in wireless, and that the LEC should consider exiting some of its wireline business. Subscribership was declining, and a different model had to be applied. Since then the telephone business has become a whole new ball game. But let’s check -- is that really true?

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