It seems like the Newton (remember from the John Sculley-led era of Apple) was just yesterday. Now, some 18 years later, this iPad ancestor is barely a footnote in our march through the progress of technology. The idea was the right one, but there were too many parts of the ecosystem that had yet to be fully developed and/or embraced by the public. From wireless to display screens to applications to consumers being ready for such a radical change of behavior, it was almost two decades before everything would fall into place for Apple or the rest of the industry.

Fast-forward to today and a subtle, but important, element that may make the iPad a success has nothing to do with applications or ease of use, but has to do with the rather mundane topic of battery life. In this interview at the MTA 2010 Convention, Ryan Dutton of Cronin Communications suggests that the 10-hour battery life of the iPad may be the thing that makes the device a constant companion for the average person. Dutton discusses the iPad as well as other “gadgets and gizmos” in this video interview shot at the MTA 2010 Convention.

A unique partnership between several independent telephone companies and a municipal entity spurred competition in a rural Minnesota burg. In this video interview, filmed at the 2010 MTA Annual Convention, Representative Al Juhnke of Minnesota discusses this success case and how Minnesota’s high-speed infrastructure enables the creation of jobs in rural areas of the state. Juhnke was a recipient of a 2010 MTA Friend of the Industry award.

Program sponsored by MTA Associate Members and HEM Productions

Robert Eddy, an industry icon and chairman of NECA and, at the time of this video interview chairman of MTA, suggests the importance of a level regulatory playing field.  Randy Young of MTA discusses some of the legislative and regulatory issues that rural telecoms face.   Eddy makes no predictions about the upcoming FCC broadband plan, although this topic is top of mind for Eddy and his colleagues in their respective associations.   

MTA Associate Members and HEM Productions

Talking about and understanding needs of utilities will be critical in order for telecom companies to be able to serve utilities in developing the so-called smart-grid. In this video interview, Randy Young, the Minnesota Telecom Alliance president, suggests that it is incumbent on telephone companies and their associations to proactively open discussions with electric utilities and make the case that it is more efficient for utilities to collaborate with telecom providers.

In this interview, he also gives ideas on what we will see concerning the future of telecom, particularly as it relates to rural telcos and broadband. He also stresses the challenges of continuing the important efforts of the MTA in the face of industry consolidation. 

Program sponsored by MTA Associate Members and HEM Productions

ViodiTV event coverage from Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) 2010 Annual Convention. From Batter to Cliff to Video World we cover the MTA Associate Member's baseball theme with Cliff Albertson to Planning for an All Video World. In the middle are video copyright issues, similar in difference with ACA, Gadgets, Torches, Electric Grids, MoCA, political friends, and testimonials that make it even more rewarding for Ken and Roger.

ViodiTV at MTA was sponsored by the MTA Associate Members.

The MTA Associate Committee hit a homerun by selecting baseball as the theme for its 2010 exhibits. In this brief video, Cliff Albertson explains some of the clever things the MTA Associate Committee devised to draw people to the show floor. This approach worked as seen in this brief video. One of the other things the Associate Committee did is to bring ViodiTV to the convention and sponsor coverage on the hotel channels – Thanks MTA Associate Committee! 

Brent Christensen, Vice President of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance, brings a fresh perspective to telecommunications. Although born of a telecom family, he followed his father’s footsteps in that his first career was outside of telecom. Starting at the birth of the 1996 deregulation, Brent started as a technician and progressed to the role of general manager at Christensen Communications.

His recent appointment as Vice President of the MTA comes at a time as the industry continues its transition to an all IP world. Judging by the record setting number of attendees (approximately 1,400) at the 2010 MTA Convention, there is a great deal of interest from telcos in the upper Midwest regarding how they remain, “One step up on the road ahead.”

Brent explains in the following video how his experience as a customer gave him an appreciation for what is required to serve. Similarly, his previous vocation gave him plenty of experience serving the public. Brent spent 14 years as a deputy sheriff in the Austin, Texas area. Surprisingly, he draws four parallels between his role in law enforcement and his work as a technician at a telecommunications company. You will have to watch the video to hear his comparison of these vocations.

In this interview shot at MTA’s Convention, Brian Potter of Gardonville Telephone cooperative discusses their rollout of WiMax services in rural Minnesota and their use of both 700 MHz and 3.7 GHz to provide fixed wireless Internet.

A video from our MTA Convention coverage that was very special to me is my interview with Ron Laqua of Halstad Telephone.  Ron chaired the MTA Centennial committee.  In this interview, I was struck with how we were part of a living history that in some way might be part of a 200th anniversary.  I caught up with Ron, via email, this week regarding the historic flooding along the Red River.  He indicated that his town was relatively safe given the high dike walls and the standby generator that has been providing back up power this past week. 

He explained that his town helped out by stuffing and distributing sandbags to farms and other towns.  He pointed out that 90% of the Fargo-Moorhead population was somehow involved in the fighting the flood.  As Ron said, this sort of volunteerism is inspiring.

If you haven’t seen it, "it’s new to you." That was the approximate tag line that NBC used about a decade ago to promote its summer rerun season. Similarly, what is news to one person may be an old story to another. The demise of the print newspaper is quickly becoming an old news story, as every week we are hearing of the demise of another print daily (the Seattle Post-Intellingcer conversion to online being the most recent to fall).

This brief video, shot at the Minnesota Telecom Alliance’s Convention, features brief interviews with Lynn Schofield Clark Professor of Mass Communications and Journalism of the University of Denver and author and former CNN correspondent, Dave Kenney, regarding the future of the newspapers. Kenney suggests the telecommunications industry may be able to help fill the gap left due to the loss of the print newspapers.