April 2014

What the Apple wage collusion case says about Silicon Valley’s labor economy

[Commentary] Tens of thousands of software engineers are currently suing Apple, Google and a host of other companies for a shot at reclaiming wages they say the tech firms stole from them.

How? The engineers say Apple's Steve Jobs, Google's Eric Schmidt and other top Silicon Valley executives secretly agreed not to hire away valuable employees from each other. The resulting industry-wide moratorium on talent poaching allegedly resulted in suppressed wages as people who would've been offered higher salaries to work elsewhere never got the opportunity.

The particulars of the case are rather well-trodden at this point, but a settlement is said to be near; going to trial would mean the tech companies could face as much as a $9 billion penalty.

It's interesting to think about Apple and its rivals secretly colluding to keep the price of labor down. But the case is also taking place against the backdrop of several other economic trends. And in some respects, this class-action suit over wage theft actually cuts against the grain.

Inequality. Silicon Valley is beset by a reputation -- earned or otherwise -- for egotism, a growing wealth gap and a lack of self-awareness that the rest of the country mistrusts. Software engineers tend to be extremely well-compensated -- particularly the highest performers -- compared to the rest of us. Driving their wages up even higher would likely have made places such as San Francisco even less livable.
Youth. Silicon Valley has an obsession with youthfulness. The fascination with youth is also somewhat cultural. Thanks to Facebook and Google -- two of what might be dozens of tech companies with compelling coming-of-age stories -- we now find it normal, if not desirable, that college kids build the next great economic empire with a few lines of code.
Immigration. The informal agreement not to poach each other's workers artificially restricts the labor pool and "forces" companies to look elsewhere for talent.

Canadians Differ From Americans in How They Use Their Smartphones

They may be our neighbors to the north, but Canadians' smartphone habits show that they are different from Americans in more than just their abiding love of the French language, hockey and snow.

While Americans are busy checking the weather and sports scores, Canadians are more likely to use their smartphones for emailing.

Google for Education is a technology trend to watch!

[Commentary] There is a tidal wave called Google focused on the education market never seen before. Developers at Google are not only giving Google Apps to K-12 schools, they are supporting schools with the new Google Console, through which anyone can serve as the IT Director.

Google for Education has just partnered with Synnex Global, a super-giant Fortune 500 Company that supports IT procurement through valued-added resellers. Google is making IT deployment easy and affordable in schools so that all education professionals can focus on what matters most–student learning. Here are three reasons to use Google Apps:

Google’s sharing its 10X thinking in schools! The sharing of in-time data, collaborative tool deployment and the rise of one-to-one learning environments makes Google Apps deployed with the Google Management Console the way to go!
There is a NEW role for the IT Director in the education space. With the Google Management Console, Google is ensuring IT can easily set permissions for each of its members, even if you’re running a hybrid of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) mixed with organizational issued devices.
Google with Synnex is positioned well for bridging digital divide! With partners like Edmodo, Google Drive now plugs into the free Learning Management System.

[Grillo, PhD, is a Google Certified Teacher and Technology Deployment Specialist in Government and Education at TBD Partners]

Three critical requirements to transform virtual schools

[Commentary] Full-time, online public schools originated as alternatives to traditional education approaches and were even bandied about as ways to revolutionize the learning paradigm.

Now, they too are in need of transformation, because the results so far are mixed at best. While there are many issues that would need addressing, I want to center in on three of the key, critical elements required for virtual schools to be transformed.

Be a specialist, not a generalist. Virtual schools mirror their brick-and-mortar counterparts too closely by attempting to be all things to all students. Peruse any virtual school web site and you will see they believe they can serve anyone (as long as they live in the state) — gifted, struggling, homebound, etc.
Make the human connection. The learning may be online but the experience should not be virtual. Humans are social beings, and they crave interaction, and shared experiences
Make retention a culture, not a strategy. Far too many virtual schools spend too much time focused on attracting new students instead of taking care of the ones they already have. They wait until March or April to engage in trying to retain students instead of understanding that retention begins the moment a family first says “Yes.”

[Tucker is owner, founder, and Chief Fig of Figment Consulting]

Five new ed-tech innovations for schools

[Commentary] Products that make it easier for teachers to control students’ tablet computers and leave notes within the margins of online lessons are among the latest ed-tech innovations we’re highlighting.

Classroom-based control of tablets. TabPilot sells a program, called Tablet Manager, that offers many of these same features for monitoring, controlling, and provisioning Android-based tablets at the classroom level. It’s a cloud-based management system that “puts teachers in control of classroom tablets,” the company says -- allowing teachers to turn specific apps on or off for individual student devices or groups of devices.
An identity-based alternative to managing devices. Centrify offers schools an identity-based approach to managing who has access to what resources, rather than a device-based approach. The company says its cloud-based identity management system serves as both a platform for single sign-on functionality and an alternative to mobile device management (MDM) software.
Enhanced ‘Notes’ feature helps personalize online/blended learning. A few months after unveiling a new user interface that let teachers leave notes in the margins of online lessons and other course content, Odysseyware has refined this feature based on user feedback to make it more useful for both educators and students.
Self-paced online curriculum for middle school students. Fuel Education has introduced a self-paced online curriculum designed for middle school students as they transition through the challenging “make or break” years in their education, according to the company.
Another cloud hosting option for schools. Cloud server provider Infinitely Virtual has introduced a few cloud-based hosting plans aimed at schools and colleges.

The state of the Internet is under attack (but it’s also faster)

Akamai released data detailing a plethora of attacks against its clients as well as the increase in broadband speeds seen around the world.

Its quarterly State of the Internet report for the fourth quarter of 2013 is chock-full of data about broadband speeds, IPv6 deployment and new types of website attacks. According to the report, the fourth quarter of 2013 saw a rise in the number of denial of service attacks. For the most part these attacks came from inside the US, hit one website and if they didn’t find a weakness, moved on.

The report also gave an update on IPv6 adoption (it’s getting better, but is still not the majority of traffic on any network except Google’s Fiber network).

Overall the global average connection speed reached 3.8 Mbps in the fourth quarter with 5.5 percent quarterly growth and 27 percent growth for the year. The US ranked tenth globally this time around with average connection speeds hitting 10 Mbps, a 25 percent improvement from the year before.

Most notably, the US also saw its fastest broadband get faster, with the average peak broadband speeds hitting 43.7 Mbps.

Finally, on the mobile side speeds are improving and we’re seeing a lot more traffic. Based on traffic data collected by Ericsson, the volume of mobile data traffic increased by 70 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2013, and grew approximately 15 percent between the third and fourth quarters of 2013.

Overall, Akamai is seeing more people on the Internet with faster speeds. And in the US its data is showing that broadband is getting better, even in the areas where it’s relatively slow today.

“Free to air” really means that broadcasters have no case

[Commentary] In the Aereo case, it is very clear what is happening: broadcasters are seeking to keep a rent stream going that was essentially handed to them historically by license agreements with the government.

They are using copyright law to do this where it is clear that the license agreement was intended to restrict those sources of revenue in the first place and to limit their options.

Broadcasters have a simple choice: they can keep to the terms of the license agreement or just stop and give up the licenses and restore to themselves the full range of options under copyright. It is not Aereo who are confused but the broadcasters. And from what I can gather the lawyers are doing a good job of keeping the Justices confused as well.

A technology alliance to attract voters

[Commentary] Apparently one-third of Americans are pessimistic about tech -- and they’re more likely to be poor, less educated, and female. That’s approximately the same percentage of New Zealanders who abstained from voting in the last general election.

There’s a significant cross-over in the demographic as well -- the ‘missing million’ as they have come to be known in New Zealand are thought to be disproportionately poor and less educated, although the other defining characteristic is that they are younger than average.

So why is this demographic cross-over so interesting? Because a potentially curious electoral alliance between a far left political party -- Mana -- and a nascent ‘Internet Party’ led by an expatriate German Internet entrepreneur currently facing extradition to the United States to face breach of copyright charges -- the notorious Kim Dotcom -- might just determine the outcome of New Zealand’s September 20 general election.

At stake are the hearts, minds, and, most importantly, the votes, of the ‘missing million’ -- if only they can be stimulated out of apathy and induced to vote.

[Howell is general manager for the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation]

Why you should be deeply dreading the Comcast-Time Warner merger

[Commentary] In its public interest statement filed with the Federal Communications Commission, Comcast touts the many supposed benefits of its acquisition of Time Warner Cable, even arguing that joining with TWC would be “pro-consumer, pro-competitive, and… generate substantial public interest benefits.”

But a review of the facts shows exactly how wild this claim is:

One Monopoly To Serve Them All. The problem with this argument is that Amazon and Microsoft, as vast as their empires are, don’t control people’s basic access to cable television and broadband (which is more or less a necessity for Internet users in 2014). The Xbox One offering Netflix doesn’t prevent users from accessing the service on dozens of other competing devices, but the same is not the case for access to basic information that TWC and Comcast’s cable networks provide. If the merger were to go through, tens of millions of Americans would be locked into less competitive cable and broadband markets, unable to vote with their feet and choose competitors who offer different services.
Broadcasting Influence. Aside from lobbying efforts in Congress, the biggest possible tool of influence that Comcast has is its own media empire. Following its merger with NBCUniversal, Comcast now owns networks like CNBC and MSNBC, some of the networks that are traditionally turned to for business reporting and corporate accountability. In news discussion about this merger, it goes without saying that these networks will be effectively neutered.
But they’re not unbeatable. When lobbying giant AT&T sought to buy T-Mobile, press freedom and anti-trust activists fought back, successfully killing the $39 billion deal. The campaign against that merger could prove a model for those trying to fight Comcast today, and there are signs there’s already a broad coalition ready to contest the creation of this new monopoly.

[Jilani is a Syracuse University graduate student and freelance writer]

Why the lights have dimmed on LA's film industry

Hollywood is no longer the go-to place for shooting feature films and TV shows.

Just eight percent of big budget Hollywood films were made in LA in 2013, down from 65 percent in 1997. And from 2005 to 2013, California's share of one-hour TV series dropped from 64 percent to 28 percent.

Why the big exodus? States like Georgia, New York and Louisiana -- and countries like the UK and Canada -- are offering attractive tax subsidies to lure filmmakers.

California, by all accounts, hasn’t kept up. The state has a lot else going for it: local talent, sunny weather, and a support system, like caterers and electricians. But documentary filmmaker Deborah Rankin said it ultimately comes down to dollars and cents: “Especially as an independent filmmaker, it’s really, it’s hard. It’s hard raising the money, and you’ve gotta make it go as far as it can,” Rankin said.

Benton

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