Dan Hesse: “My plans are to continue unlimited plans forever”

In an interview with Mobile World Live, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was very blunt about his approach to Sprint’s unlimited data plan. “My plans are to continue it for as long as we possibly can, hopefully… forever.” Sprint’s contract with Clearwire allows for unlimited usage of Clearwire’s network, and Hesse holds regular “keeping unlimited” meetings to make sure the program is managed in a way that will allow Sprint to continue it. That should clear up the concerns about Sprint possibly pulling the rug out from under its current smartphone users.

Source: Mobile World Live

And one more thing

After months of speculation, “the new iPad” (yes, that’s currently the official moniker) is finally out of the bag, with the usual fanboy fanfare and related noise.  The new retina resolution is obviously the biggest topic out there, with the nonsensical, newly-designated 4G network status for AT&T iPhones also trending among AT&T haters (count us in) and the like.

But the biggest point of yesterday’s announcement is being ignored by most tech sites.  It’s the fact that iPad 2 is staying in production and dropping to $399.  Obviously irritated by Amazon’s success with the Kindle Fire, Apple had no choice but to lower the entry ticket price to the magical post-PC world.  Does that mean Apple will never ship sandpaper with its tablets and drive the price down even further?  Never say never, but it’s not happening this year.

P.S. By the way, Tim Cook’s presentation was kind of a disappointment.  Too much stumbling and relying on memorization.  I guess he tries to emulate Steve Jobs, which is obviously a hopeless task, as their personalities are completely different.  And don’t even get me started on Phil Schiller.  What a bore.

Sorry, Andy

Did anyone notice Eric Schmidt say “Sorry, Andy” during his keynote at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona two days ago? Schmidt was speaking in the context of his Android phone having an off button. Andy Rubin used to work under Steve Jobs, and Jobs did not believe in ‘off’ buttons on devices. It seems a decision from the top forced Rubin to put one on Android.

SOPA/PIPA/government fail

We haven’t used this platform for any visible thought-training initiatives lately, but with SOPA/PIPA looming in the depths of legislative hell, the Center is sending you this minor update.

Call or write your congresspeople and demand that they stop messing with technology until they understand how it works. No, the Center doesn’t care about the dangers of your Facebook shutting down (in fact, that would be quite entertaining), but we do care about Thoughts, obviously. We can’t train them if they’re not free.

So, please, do the right thing and make some noise.