Lots of good quotes from the show...
VIEWPOINT
By Tracy Ford
I guess there is no use longing for yesterdays when wireless trade shows
were somewhat sane.
Today's conventions are full of new twists as last-minute press
conferences are called to announce deals signed at 3 a.m. the previous
day, and phones that were supposed to be introduced aren't (a Sony
handset). As if there isn't enough going on within the industry to keep
people hopping, we get added surprises from Mother Nature and
corporate America—two environs beyond anyone's control. At PCS
'98, convention-goers had to deal with the threat of Hurricane Georges.
At Wireless '99, it was the all-too-true American Airlines slowdown.
Somehow it only makes sense to have a trade show at the same time
and in the same city where they organize a parade to show off animals
dressed like people and people dressed like animals ...
In the midst of all the chaos, however, trade shows are still pretty fun.
Here are just a few of the gems I heard at the show:
‘‘You can do it today, but you'll still be doing it tomorrow.''—Bell
Atlantic's Dick Lynch, on wireless Internet browsing.
‘‘The pace of Internet growth is making wireless look like a
modest-growth industry.''—John Roth, chief executive officer for Nortel
Networks.
‘‘As I recall, Irwin Jacobs called me and said, ‘This is big. You have a
new assignment.' ''—John Major, chief executive at Wireless
Knowledge, on why he left his position at Qualcomm to start work at
the Microsoft-Qualcomm joint venture.
‘‘From this day forward, it's going to be a lot different.''—Motorola
Inc.'s Merle Gilmore, on the wireless industry as carriers begin to
embrace data applications.
‘‘There are no armored cars in a funeral procession. There are no
pockets on a shroud.''—New Orleans taxi driver telling me why I
shouldn't save any money.
‘‘Of course, there's always a price in any business...''—Irwin Jacobs,
after telling me that Qualcomm is not selling its handset business.
‘‘We think the day will come when people will advertise that the phone
also does voice.''—Tom Clarkson III, vice president of sales and
marketing at Wireless Knowledge
‘‘I think the industry is lucky to have that Tom Wheeler.''—Woman in
the bathroom after Day 2 general session.
‘‘Colly, what did he say?''—Tom Wheeler to Colly Myers, Symbian
CEO, after watching a video recording from the previous day when
Microsoft's Paul Maritz eluded questions from Wheeler about whether
Microsoft would work with the WAP Forum and Symbian.
‘‘We've made it very difficult for our customers to understand
wireless.''—AirTouch's Sam Ginn at opening session.
‘‘Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent.''—George Bush imitating
Dana Carvey's imitation of George Bush.
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