Now it gets interesting: Australia has its first digitally literate Prime Minister
Australia has never before in its history had a digitally literate Prime Minister of the likes of Malcolm Turnbull.
Why wasn’t Maxine McKew Labor’s Old Spice guy?
It was clear from the result that the people where not buying the messages either major party was selling. Social media as a network is the cheapest network to utilise, and by failing to tap into the social media users’ goodwill, both parties made themselves look inept and outsiders.
Australia Post digital delivery may yield few returns to spender
The big question is whether digital mail is a solution looking for a problem that hasn’t already been solved. Here, I am not convinced. The technology to achieve a digital mailbox using ordinary email with digital signatures and encryption has been around for a very long time.
NBN: Sorry Mr Hockey, you’re still wrong
Yesterday Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey issued an extensive statement attempting to show that comments he had made about 4G mobile broadband having the potential to be "far superior" to the National Broadband Network's fibre had been taken out of context. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in digging himself a bigger hole.
R18+ rating added for videogames … but are children protected?
New guidelines for the classification of videogames have been released by Federal Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare and, despite being a step in the right direction, the revisions are largely disappointing and a missed opportunity.
Will Telstra give iiNet one 4G ring to rule Optus?
Like a cluster of ancient elves residing deep within the sheltered enclaves of evergreen forest glades, the worthy folk of SingTel subsidiary Optus have long focused their gaze to the far north, where the dark lords of mighty Telstra have ruled Australia's telecommunications sector from their fiery thrones.
Oh dear: Telstra exec banter and Yes, Minister
At Delimiter we're big fans of iTnews weekly video the Crunch. This week's episode refers to the bantering we reported on between Telstra chief information officer John McInerney and chief technology officer Hugh Bradlow, as well as some rather unusual footage of NSW Education Minister Verity Firth at an Adobe event.
The Change Program is a failure … and that’s not all
There is absolutely no question that the Change Program is a failure. It's over budget by hundreds of millions of dollars, it's late, and by late I mean publicly announced "delayed" so many times that it's hard to remember what decade it's meant to be delivered. And now we hear that the first instalment of the software has miserably failed the very customers who paid for it.
NBN plans trapped in an ADSL framework
From the quota included to shaping speeds, from what is considered 'on-net' traffic and even the inclusion of dial-up backups, the release of NBN pricing plans by iiNet, Internode and Exetel betrays nothing so much as that thinking on NBN pricing is still trapped in a paradigm where ADSL broadband is the norm.
Mod chip or freedom to choose?
Sony’s legal case to stop a handful of tiny Australian retailers distributing a device – known as a ‘mod chip’ – which would allow consumers a much higher level of control of the PlayStation 3 hardware is only one example of the dominance which this approach is gaining.
Telstra has finally sealed its own doom
Telstra's management will come to regret its $11 billion deal with NBN Co signed this afternoon as the most disastrous decision it has ever made in the telco's long and tortured history in Australia's telecommunications sector.
Internet control: Conroy’s not fooling anyone
Today, Senator Conroy has was asked about the crisis in Egypt, where a desperate government cut internet access in order to hinder protestors. The minister in response declared his undying love for an Internet free of government control and assured us that such a thing could never happen in Australia.
Is Nintendo being too harsh?
All I’m saying, Nintendo, is that the law and order thing is fine … but maybe your princess is in another castle?
Why Michael Harte is worth $4.2 million
Harte is paid millions of dollars each year not because they run IT infrastructure and make technology strategy decisions. The truth is the modern CIO role is evolving to become more akin to the head of operations in many organisations -- with broad responsibility for ensuring that all aspects of a company's systems meet operational outcomes.
For whom the Whirlpool trolls? Stephen Conroy and the NBN
Is Whirlpool or the Financial Review more accurate when it comes to reporting on the National Broadband Network? Two Canberra journalism professors analyse the situation.
Oh dear: Serkowski’s fighting words
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey might have come out swinging against the Federal Government's internet filtering plans last week, but not everybody was impressed. Pirate Party Australia secretary Rodney Serkowski apparently thought Hockey's enlightened stance hadn't had the full force of conversion.
Delimiter (draft) Statement of Principles
As regular Delimiter readers will know, I have made mistakes in the past. Not all of the articles I have written have been on...
Laptops for schools should have been iPads
Let's not kid ourselves that this was the right choice. Had the politicians waited several years and spent its money on tablets instead, Australia's education system would have been the envy of the entire world.
Australia’s blue collar ICT challenge
The bottom line is that Australia lacks call centres, cloud computing hubs, ICT hardware and software manufacturing capability not because we don't have high-speed broadband. Rather it is the lack of a definable understanding of how ICT services and their supporting labour force will take its place in the roll-out, development and economic benefit of the NBN that represents the real issue needing to be addressed.
Weighing the environmental costs: Buy an eReader, or a shelf of books?
Bookshelves towering floor to ceiling filled with weighty tomes, or one book-sized device holding hundreds of “books” in electronic form: which one of these options for the voracious reader creates the least damaging environmental footprint?
Once more into the data breach: the LivingSocial hack and you
News of the LivingSocial breach coincides with debate within the privacy and information technology communities about Commonwealth proposals for data-breach legislation.
How do Labor and the Coalition differ on NBN policy?
The NBN has been a key issue in the past two elections, so will Labor’s new policy be a vote winner? The policy to move back to FTTP provides a clear differentiation from the Coalition’s FTTN-centric strategy.
We like e-readers – but library users are still borrowing books
What place do e-readers – and in particular ebooks – hold in the reading behaviour of Australia’s 10 million public library borrowers? There are some 181 million items loaned every year by the nation’s 1,500 public libraries, branches, mobile libraries and other service points but, according to the latest survey-based report from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), for the majority of these libraries, ebook loans represent less than 1% of the total.
Hypocrisy: Turnbull’s NBN board choices belie his Labor criticism
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has spent much of the past year telling anybody who will listen that NBN Co's board needs more directors with actual telco network construction experience. Yet the candidates he's appointed or been reported to have approached so far for board positions cannot claim that background, and several have close ties to Turnbull's own Liberal Party.
Australia Post, Telstra and the ‘dying business’ dilemma
Who would run a former government-owned monopoly these days? In the last week, Australia Post’s Ahmed Fahour announced 900 administration jobs were to go from its Melbourne operations, while last week Telstra’s David Thodey recounted discussions from his recent trip to the US, where he was told his “business model is dead”.
Power plays: Vendors court Thodey
If you watched closely, you could see a thousand naked power plays being performed yesterday during Telstra chief executive David Thodey's speech to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle.
Public ownership of the NBN is just crazy talk
Put simply, committing to public ownership for the sake of public ownership is a backward step that nobody should be seriously considering at this stage of the NBN's deployment. It is just crazy talk.
Labor and Coalition broadband policies: What’s the difference?
The Coalition’s broadband policy offers a lower-cost network that will provide customers with modest improvements in broadband services in the shorter term; whereas the Coalition’s network will create a new digital divide and require major upgrades soon after it is completed. Labor promises a more future-proof solution that will cost more at the outset, but will stimulate broadband developments in government, business, and entertainment, and has potential to serve Australia beyond 2050.
Dirty dealings: Suddenly, corruption is an issue in Australia’s technology sector
It's something which nobody wants to talk about, but which everybody knows is going on. A number of very high profile cases have starkly demonstrated over the past several years that dishonest and unethical behaviour in some cases extending as far as corrupt practice is on the rise in Australia’s technology sector.
The rage building over Telstra
At some point, Telstra shareholders are going to have to decide whether the cost of not doing a deal with Conroy and Rudd is too high, or, alternatively, whether the cost of doing a deal is too high. Either way, compared to the current situation, they lose.
Save the NBN Kevin, you’re our only hope
The fate of the National Broadband Network now rests squarely in the hands of Kevin Rudd. If the former Prime Minister wins power back from Julia Gillard, Labor has a chance of retaining power at the next election and continuing the NBN rollout. If he fails to do so, most commentators agree, Gillard will be annihilated and Abbott will scrap the project wholesale.
Conroy is right to question Google’s privacy record
Google should not expect to be beyond international criticism while it offers the US Government access to its data on request but lambasts other governments for interfering with the rights of online users.
Sir Humphrey Appleby on the internet filter
To understand the situation that we find ourselves in regarding the internet filter, we need to refer to the great political textbook of our age: Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister.
Oh dear: “Unlimited” doesn’t mean “Unlimited”
The Delimiter office was a little surprised this afternoon when a courier appeared and handed us a copy of The Little Oxford English Ditcionary & Thesaurus. But what was inside?
Australia needs a cloud computing regulator
It is time that the Australian ICT Industry created an appropriate regulatory model for cloud computing and once again showed the world its ability to create resilient and innovative environments for effective business -- just as was done when the G8 turned to the APRA model as the basis for global financial regulation.
Did AGIMO censor Reinecke’s Gershon review?
When a Government entity blacks out a portion of a public document, it always sparks intense speculation as to what has been censored and why. Is the hidden information dangerous for Australia's enemies to know? Commercial in confidence? Or simply slightly embarassing?
In defence of limited govt IT purchasing
It should be obvious at this point that it is not the Government's ability to follow its own tendering processes which is broken, but rather the tendering processes itself.
Emperor Rupert’s not at war with the NBN: It’s democracy he has a problem...
Rupert Murdoch has not sent a political assassin Down Under specifically to kill Labor’s evil National Broadband Network project so it doesn’t wipe out Foxtel’s revenues. No, it’s the people’s right to choose which frustrates Murdoch, not Labor’s little side project.
Kim Carr’s eBook working group is a joke
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read the list of industry luminaries who have earned a spot on Industry Minister Kim Carr’s illustrious strategy group to solve all of Australia’s electronic book problems.
Watching the detectives: the case for restricting access to your social media data
Let’s hasten slowly in considering calls to free the state from administrative inconveniences such as warrants and rules of evidence.
Could Internode buy iiNet? On paper … maybe.
Could Internode buy iiNet, now that Amcom is divesting its 23 percent stake in the Perth-based Internet service provider? On Monday I said no, but some readers questioned that view. So let's take a closer look at the possibility. Hell, it's likely still a pipe dream, but it's fun to speculate!
News Corp Australia vs the NBN: Is it really all about Foxtel?
In its arguments against the NBN, it would seem News Corp Australia’s campaign is less than wholly transparent in representing its own interests.
Memo to Minister Turnbull: NBN dissent is “democracy”
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull needs to stop engaging in attacks on those who support a Fibre to the Premises model for the NBN and commit to an open and transparent review process for the network, according to telecommunications blogger and IT technician James Archer.
Coalition NBN will suffer in the long term: Experts
The federal Coalition’s new A$30 billion plan for “fast, affordable” broadband is a quick-fix strategy, which is likely to cost more and be less reliable long-term, according to experts.
Fact Check: Is ridesharing no safer than hitchhiking?
The claim that ridesharing is no safer than hitchhiking is not supported by empirical data. Much of the data used by critics of Uber rely on anecdotal data and media reports to support their view ridesharing puts passengers at personal risk.
It’ll always be Quigley’s NBN
Mike Quigley last week exited the role of NBN Co chief executive the way he held it: With a relentless, implacable dignity. But the executive will leave more behind him than just a memory; like Steve Jobs with Apple, Quigley's legacy will be the company and project that grew from infancy around him. Australia's greatest ever infrastructure rollout will forever bear his mark; and NBN Co's culture will forever be coloured with his impeccable personal integrity.
New NBN policy galvanised Coalition voters
The release of the Coalition's new National Broadband Network policy had a dramatic effect upon support for Labor's existing policy, analysis of polling data shows, with a large chunk of Coalition voters abandoning their previous long-term support for Labor's existing NBN policy in favour of the new Coalition alternative.
Abandoning the “National” Broadband Network label
It is no longer appropriate in 2014 for Australians to refer to the Coalition's radically watered down version of Labor's pet telecommunications initiative as the "National" Broadband Network project, given the fact that it will leave the long-term future of up to a third of Australians' broadband services in doubt.
Why Delimiter is launching a forum
We have decided to keep the Delimiter forum and attempt to post content in it to attract users so that many more topics and many more Australian voices are heard. As always, it'll be a work in progress -- let us know what you think and what you want from it!
Why the Apple iPad will change the face of healthcare
In the healthcare setting, and no doubt numerous other settings also, those added inches make a significant difference.
Chrome OS, like Tux, will never fly
Chrome OS may be all shiny and new now, but Google is taking a lot for granted in hoping that it can turn Australia Chrome overnight. Without some killer apps that you can't get by loading the Chrome browser on the computer you already have, I suspect the world will quickly realise that a kilogram of Chrome OS carries exactly the same weight as a kilogram of penguin feathers -- which is to say, not very much at all.
Can wireless replace fixed broadband? Yes … and no.
Over the past week, I’ve been conducting a little experiment with respect to my household broadband situation.
So we have an NBN … where’s my television 2.0?
Righto. So. Now we're getting our 21st century internet (thank Messrs Oakshott, Windsor and Wilkie). Can we also get our 21st century television?
Anti-NBN junkies need to go to rehab
Like the junkie who can't quite quit their harmful habit, the haters of the NBN project just refuse to give up the object of their fervent hatred, fumbling around in the dark continuously for their next fix; the next flawed argument that might just prove once and for all that the project is a dud.
R18+ game classification: The quest continues
The battle for an R18+ classification for videogames in Australia has been something of an epic, but the journey’s not over yet. There are still plenty more rocks and potholes to navigate before we start seeing R18+ games in local stores.
Online retailers yet to harness big social data
A large volume of social media data gets created on a daily basis from these customer service interactions. Companies need to be examining both the volumes of unstructured social media data created by their own processes as well as by their competitors for a better understanding of necessary process improvements.
A prince in his prime: Why Simon Hackett should be on the NBN board
If Malcolm Turnbull is serious about making sure all Australians quickly get access to affordable, high-speed broadband, there is one man he must consider appointing to the board of NBN Co: The entrepreneur who was instrumental in bringing Australians broadband in the first place. Internode founder Simon Hackett.
Tasmanian NBN pricing so far is horrible
The proposed National Broadband Network prices released this week by iiNet are simply way too expensive for the promised 100Mbps speeds and will need to be reduced significantly to drive customer uptake.
Please accept my apologies: I was wrong about Malcolm Turnbull
I am here today to formally apologise. I was wrong to have faith in Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition on this issue. You were all right. Turnbull does indeed appear to be attempting to "demolish" the NBN.
Election rant 3: Prevailing wisdom
Many telcos and industry pundits don't like to admit it, but if you examine the past 15 years of history in Australia's telecommunciations sector, you will find a stark picture: Faster speeds, billions of dollars spent on successful infrastructure, strong degrees of competition and better consumer outcomes.
Why Vodafone customers are a pack of lazy whingers
Don’t whinge about the company which is providing you with poor service, then sue them, and finally, demand the Government do something about their security problems. It’s an open, competitive market, people. DUMP THEIR ASS AND PICK ANOTHER PROVIDER. How hard can it be? Really, Vodafone customers, how long will it take you to realise you can go elsewhere?
Time to kill paper ballots? First, let’s look at the alternatives
The loss of the West Australian ballots is a serious breach of electoral integrity, and one that must be thoroughly investigated to identify what went wrong. But amidst all the party-driven hysteria, it’s important to remember that no system is entirely fail-safe, and the risks posed by electronic or internet voting are potentially far more serious than this isolated incident.
Why NBN ISPs won’t all perform the same
opinion This week, Exetel chief executive John Linton made the audacious claim that all ISPs reselling National Broadband Network services would deliver the exact same performance to customers. However, I believe the claim to be broadly wrong – and in this article I’ll attempt to demonstrate why.
TPG’s $69.99 unlimited plan shows the NBN future
The $69.99 unlimited plan revealed by cut-rate ISP TPG yesterday shows what the future of broadband plans on the National Broadband Network will look like, and it's not good news for premium ISPs such as Telstra, Optus and iiNet.
Electoral silence on digital rights from both politicians and journalists
We’ve had #stopthenotes, #suppositories, and #sexappeal to keep us amused, but since the election campaign period began there has been very limited reporting in the mainstream media (MSM) of the electoral relevance of the digital rights issues faced by Australian citizens.
How high-speed broadband will be the death of Telstra
The opposition is doing the government a favour by blocking the legislation that will allow Telstra to be broken up.
Scoping the NBN cost crater
NBN Co’s Mike Quigley has confirmed what most rational analysts have long taken for granted by telling a Senate committee yesterday that it would probably take decades for the new National Broadband Network to generate a satisfactory return on the capital invested by the Federal Government.
Why touchscreens matter for laptops (Or, review of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch)
Over the past several years I've had the somewhat unique experience of reviewing almost exactly the same laptop three times. What the process has taught me is that the new wave of touchscreens making their way into laptops aren't just a fad; they're part of a subtle revolution in the way we interact with out portable devices.
Turnbull needs evidence for FTTN claims
A consensus is developing amongst National Broadband Network commentators that Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull needs to provide more evidence that Fibre to the Node is the best style of broadband infrastructure rollout for Australia's long-term telecommunications needs.
What will the National Broadband Network really cost?
It’s worth looking more closely at cost difference between FTTP and FTTN to see if the claimed A$84 billion to A$56 billion maximum cost comparison stacks up, and see where Labor’s new half-way solution sits.
How to lose a cyber war without really trying
Australia is among at least 20 countries which are not just preparing to fight a cyber war, but are already at war, day in day out, defending against incursions by both foreign states and non-state actors, and preparing its own offensive capabilities to deploy against the power grids, telecommunications services, financial networks and the wider digital infrastructure of potential adversaries.
Will smart meters benefit consumers?
There are pros and cons of all forms of roll-outs. Network led geographic roll-outs may offer economies of scale but retailer led roll-outs may allow for more effective targeting of smart meters (for example, large users could get meters first). Whoever rolls out smart meters however, it is the consumer who will pay the costs. Consumers, therefore, should see some benefits.
CommBank’s deep innovation is redefining our notion of what a bank is
The remarkable wave of technological innovation emanating from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is forcing Australians to redefine their fundamental concept of what a bank is, and reimagine what their basic relationship to such an institution should be.
Conroy’s implied Lundy ‘child porn’ slur is astounding
Last week one senator from Canberra made the astounding accusation that another senator for Canberra wanted to “opt into child porn.” The antagonistic parties are former Daramalarn student and current Minister for Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy and current ACT Senator, Kate Lundy, both members of the Australian Labor Party.
NBN Co paying lobbyists to woo the Coalition? This madness must stop.
If NBN Co's board has indeed hired political lobbying firm Bespoke to represent itself to the Coalition ahead of the Federal Election ... then that represents an extraordinary move, and one which I, for one, and no doubt countless others, simply cannot approve of.
Conroy’s filter: To be or not to be?
Two and a half years ago, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced a significant delay to Labor's controversial mandatory Internet filter project, pending a review into the Refused Classification category of content which the filter was to block.The results of that review were published yesterday and contain very little guidance for the Minister. What will Conroy do now?
Multi-dwelling units a major issue for the NBN
The experiencein Hong Kong and Singapore suggests that NBN Co. in Australia will ultimately be able to gain access to most – but maybe not all – multi-dwelling units with recalcitrant owners to complete its network rollout, but doing so will require the patience of Job and might take a lot longer than anyone thought.
Caption contest: What is David Thodey doing?
We couldn't help but wonder what precisely David Thodey is doing here at Telstra's half-yearly financial results conference this morning. It looks like he's either planning to throttle someone, or is holding some kind of invisible ball. Or is it a new Xbox 360 Kinect move? Let us know in the comments.
Get it right, Twitter: Conroy’s not the ACTA minister
To what extent should Senator Conroy should be aware of the ACTA negotiations? Only partially.
Gillard is ripping up Labor’s NBN credibility
No matter how hard the Australian Labor Party tries, when it comes to the telecommunications sector it just keeps on shooting itself in the foot -- a fact demonstrated starkly by Prime Minister Julia Gillard's appalling comments on the NBN over the past week.
Oh dear: David Thodey finds out about the iPad
Telstra chief executive David Thodey wasn't happy when he found out that the Apple iPad launched in Australia six months before Telstra's T-Touch Android tablet.
Virgin’s internet porn sackings somewhat hypocritical
I couldn’t help but feel amused by the irony on Friday when the news broke that Virgin Blue had sacked 20 staff for what the Sydney Morning Herald reported was the dastardly offence of swapping porn on the airline’s computers.
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore. Let’s fix...
For far too long, Australia's political sector has gotten technology policy completely wrong. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore. Let's take Delimiter into the Canberra Press Gallery and literally write the book on tech policy while we're there.
Premises passed the only useful NBN measurement
The National Broadband Network Company and the Federal Government should standardise on the "premises passed" statistic to measure the network's progress and stop using the confusing and amorphous "premises commenced or completed" measurement to provide concrete detail on how well it is progressing against its network rollout targets.
Google has lost its startup culture … and its mojo
The departure of high-profile and long-serving senior managers Kate Vale and Lars Rasmussen from Google Australia this month represents more than just the typical losses of a couple of mid-level employees to greener pastures.
Big “Legacy” ERP being ripped apart and is almost dead, says Gartner
Enterprise IT analyst firm Gartner has warned that large, monolithic and heavily customised in-house enterprise resource planning systems will be relegated to the status of "legacy ERP" over the next several years, as smaller, nimbler and often cloud computing-based alternatives eat the lunch of this old mainstay of the IT application portfolio.
Oh dear: Pollenizer’s pie in the face
We always knew the guys at Australian IT startup consultancy Pollenizer were fun, but we never knew quite how fun. They are so fun, it turns out, that they’re willing to take a pie in the face for charity. Kudos, Mick Liubinskas and team.
It’s too soon for Windows 8
Many organisations upgrading to Windows 7 probably clandestinely expect their new desktop operating system to last as long as the last one -- a decade or so.
Give poor Huawei a break
Australians should stop making up stories about mythical back doors in Huawei code and let the company get on with selling its products to customers who clearly want to buy them.
Voice from the outer world: Five questions Simon Hackett should be asking NBN Co
That moment which many Australian technologists fervently hoped for but never expected to see has come to pass: Simon Hackett has been appointed to the board of the National Broadband Network Company. But what questions should the Internode founder be asking NBN Co's executive management team? Here's five ideas to start with.
Private cloud ball is now in IBM’s court
There is one factor which IBM's cloud computing strategy appears to be lacking at the moment.
How bad are things at IBM Australia?
Just for right now, I would like to entreat IBM to stop and think about several things. Is it treating its staff the right way? Are its processes for evaluating new work – such as Queensland Health's payroll system – adequate? And most of all … will it learn from its mistakes?
Cost benefit rationality of the false NBN dichotomy
The truth is -- as Malcolm Turnbull has been at pains to point out, to his peril -- that the private sector has stood willing and able to replace and upgrade vast chunks of Australia's ageing yet still very functional telecommunications infrastructure for some time– as long as that ever tricky requirement falls into place – regulatory certainty.
Google shouldn’t stop collecting Wi-Fi data
Google's decision to stop its Street View cars collecting harmless data on the location of Wi-Fi hotspots (including in Australia) is an over-reaction to the baseless concerns of a few privacy experts and should be reversed.
No, Minister: The Tasmanian NBN rollout has not stopped
Amidst the ramping up of the new Australian government, and with reviews of just about everything under the sun underway, we see yet more incorrect statements from incoming federal Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull in regards to the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
KPMG waffle obscures Qld’s payroll disaster
It reminds me of Franz Kafka's classic satire The Trial. Reading KPMG's report released today is more or less an exercise of letting your mind run around and around in circles and reading out words that have no context and no meaning.
Relax: Conroy’s filter can be safely ignored
The government does not care, in the least, whether you reconfigure your system to bypass the filter, or teach a hundred people to each teach a hundred others to do it.
Caretaker mode? No. NBN Co should go hog wild.
Not only should NBN Co ignore Malcolm Turnbull's spurious claim that it's in some form of 'virtual caretaker mode' ahead of the upcoming Federal Election, it should intentionally sign as many long-term construction and equipment contracts as possible before September, in case the Coalition wins government and tries to shut it down.
Prediction: Groupon will buy Jump On It
All of this adds up to a clear picture: If Groupon is planning to expand into Australia, acquiring Jump On It would give it an instant presence, staff on the ground and established contacts with business -- not to mention the company's not-inconsiderable revenue.
Innovation is key in the Asian Century
If we are to fully capitalise on the benefits of the Asian Century, we need to fully embrace Chinese innovation and R&D in exactly the same way we would with any other country. To do anything else would risk Australia not being ‘on the right side of history’.
Using SurveyMonkey? Be careful … if you’re an Australian Govt organisation
I've had an interesting and robust conversation online in the last day regarding how Australian councils and governments are using overseas services like SurveyMonkey to collect information from citizens and residents.
Picking apart the Coalition’s NBN misinformation
Whether or not any of us is a supporter of the NBN, I think we as the Australian people would be much better served by some fair and reasonable debate based on facts, rather than the spewing out of inaccurate, and misinformed spin! Where do they get such dumb ideas?
Telstra should build the NBN, under the Coalition or under Labor
A growing body of evidence is mounting that NBN Co should seriously consider contracting the nation's incumbent telco Telstra to build large sections of the National Broadband Network infrastructure.
Does IT matter … in Australian supermarkets?
But leading with technology doesn’t mean throwing technology at the problem. You need to do something different with it. That’s the challenge for Woolworths.
Is there any future for Telstra at all?
I couldn't help but get the impression that these negotiations, whichever way they come out, give every sign of being Telstra's "last hurrah" as a relevancy in Australian communications.
Mr Jobs, thanks for the iPads
My wife asked me the other day how much iPads would cost in Australia. "Don't worry," I said. "Just let Steve handle it. Steve knows what's best."
Turnbull: NBN is a business, not a public good
Dealing as they are with other people’s money, trustees as they are for the financial security of generations to come, Governments must be rigorously transparent and accountable in their investment decisions.
Freelancer’s IPO and the new tech millionaires
Freelancer, the online freelance and labour market site has issued its prospectus ahead of a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Lock down cybersecurity or face another Heartbleed – or worse
The recently released Commission of Audit report recommends that the Australian government needs to become “digital by default”. The continued shift to digital service delivery is intended to reduce costs, improve quality of service and provide greater transparency. But it will also open up new vulnerabilities to cyber attacks that could be used to access secure and confidential data, compromise the integrity of trusted authorities and disrupt critical services.
Wake up and smell the democracy, Stilgherrian
I couldn’t help but laugh when I read Stilgherrian’s rant on ABC Unleashed yesterday about how Australia’s “digital elites” may understand technology but somehow don’t get how the apparently unbelievably complicated world of Federal politics works.
Oh dear: Conroy’s like a boss
It looks like some enterprising souls on YouTube have taken The Lonely Island’s already hilarious satirical video “Like a Boss” and applied it to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. We’re sure many people have already seen this video, as it aired on January 23rd this year. We recommend you watch both videos, the original first, to get the full effect.
‘Cloud protectionism’? How about ‘consumer choice’?
The reality is, a huge proportion of Australians do not know they are using the cloud when they use services such as social networking, and do not know that much of their personal data is being stored overseas as a result. When they find out, they are not happy about it.
Oh dear: Meter Maids heat up Tech.Ed
Meter Maids attend Tech.Ed.
Retail service providers an endangered species
When the NBN rollout comes past your premise, you will have a choice of which retail service provider you sign up with. But that choice may be limited -- and the plans not as broad as you would like.
The only way to fix copyright is to make it fair
Everyone knows there’s a problem with copyright. Artists get paid very little for their work, and legitimate consumers aren’t getting a very fair deal either. Unfortunately, nobody agrees about how we should fix it.
Customers dumping fibre for 4G in Japan
There is now serious evidence emerging that the arrival of high-speed LTE (4G) mobile networks coupled with the smartphone and tablet boom is creating serious problems for fibre to the home operators in some markets such as Japan.
Five reasons the iPad needs to succeed in Australia
Let's take a different tack, five reasons we NEED the iPad to succeed in Australia!
When Agile doesn’t work
I am a huge fan of Agile software development and since becoming Elcom's Technical Director I have made it my business to push us to become more Agile at every step. But a few months ago I realised I was pushing a square block into a round hole.
Opinion: The Roy/BlueChilli policy hack is a great concept, but poorly executed
I hope that the guys at Blue Chilli can pull together something valuable, with outcomes that encourage further policy hacks and a more inclusive approach that reflects the broader community- however I don't expect it.
Electronic voting may be risky, but what about vote counting?
The right technologies, deployed in the right way, can assist with speeding up vote counts without putting the integrity of our voting system at risk. The place for that technology is not as a replacement for the paper ballot.
Apple and the enterprise – Are you ready?
Apple isn't ready for the enterprise. Apple has been ready for years. Now, the enterprise is ready for Apple.
Breaking the rules: How NBN Co’s spat with Turnbull breaches all convention
Under extreme provocation by a hostile Opposition, the National Broadband Network Company appears to have broken convention and possibly regulations regarding the behaviour of government business enterprises. The question now is: How will its shareholder ministers deal with its clearly aberrant behaviour?
Has Gov 2.0 in Australia gotten too boring too fast?
So has Gov 2.0 become boring too fast in Australia? Shouldn't we see more conversation, more voices, more blogs, more tweets, more people packing out events seeking the latest information in what is one of the most rapidly changing environments in history - the internet?
The sorry story of Finance’s Windows Vista fail
A month before Windows 7 is released, the Federal Department of Finance and Deregulation upgrades to Vista. Fail.
Dear Stephen, your site is broken
Someone -- probably someone in your IT department that is left over from when Helen Coonan was the minister -- has put this bit of code that will remove the word "ISP filtering" from your list of most popular tags.
Mental shift: The way Australians buy and upgrade smartphones is changing
The end of two year mobile contracts; the end of smartphones on contracts at all; the rise of phablets; domination of the market by just two vendors; domination by only a handful of models: All of these are constituent parts of a revolutionary shift sweeping the nation's smartphone market at the moment. Get ready to upgrade your thinking: The way Australians buy and use mobile devices is about to change massively, and it's a wonderful thing indeed.
Without civil liberties, government is just a criminal racket
Even if we choose to believe Senator Stephen Conroy's claim that this is only about protecting us from inadvertent access to child abuse material, once the system is in place, could a government resist the temptation not to extent the scope just a little bit? And a little bit more?
Five reasons Australians shouldn’t buy an iPad 2
Here's five reasons why Australians, specifically, shouldn't buy the iPad 2. Treat it as an antidote to the mega-hype that will be circulating today in Australia's media-sphere about Steve Jobs' latest masterpiece. We're calling it anti-marketing.
Better public Wi-Fi in Australia? Let’s send a signal
If you can’t get a satisfactory mobile signal in Martin Place or Collins Street during peak hour, perhaps you should lobby the Sydney or Melbourne city councils, as well as your mobile phone provider.
Oh dear: Phil Burgess is … totally a bikie
We knew that former Telstra group managing director of public policy and communications Phil Burgess -- one of former CEO Sol Trujillo's team of 'amigos' had taken a trip with his son on Harleys during a US spring break. But we didn't have the evidence, until now.
Delimiter’s curious response to UK Superfast report
Delimiter has published a curious response to a UK House of Lords report on broadband policy released this week. Strange days indeed. Perhaps Delimiter read a different report to everyone else.
Oh dear: Mario gets jiggy with it
When Nintendo invited us to a harbour cruise to celebrate the launch of its flagship new game Super Mario Galaxy 2, we knew it was going to be big. After all, the Japanese gaming giant pulled out all the stops and organised Ministry of Sound's DJ Goodwill to "mash a mix of Mario tunes".
How can Australia build a great technology sector?
If we can get a consensus about a solution as strong as the one that existed yesterday in reaction to my initial piece on Atlassian's situation, that might be a starting point to take Australia forward and help it to become a real technology powerhouse.
Will Telstra will be forced to wholesale 4G?
Telstra’s aggressive moves to wind back competition in Australia’s mobile sector, coupled with the rapid decline of Vodafone and the stagnation of Optus, has re-opened a conversation about whether the telco should be forced to offer wholesale access to its Next G mobile network – including the new 4G components of it.
How does fibre over powerlines stack up against other potential NBN technologies?
Tasmania’s assertive push to keep up deployment of optical fibre, and make it cost effective by using overhead rollout, makes a lot of sense. In urban areas, no other technology has a feasible lifetime beyond 2025, and many of the existing broadband technologies are already obsolete with no hope of evolution. It will work for the vast majority of urban areas.
Datacentre strategy a big downer
When I read the summary of the government's datacentre strategy for the next 15 years, the first thing I wondered was how it could have taken the government months to come up with this document.
NBN Co’s senior hiring process now completely politicised
The rapid replacement of respected NBN Co chief operating officer Ralph Steffens with a Telstra executive who appears less experienced with fibre rollouts but better politically connected represents a key signal that NBN Co's senior executive hiring process has now become completely politicised and is no longer independent from the Federal Government.
iPad telco plans will sting Australians
Steve Jobs may have created a new category of electronic device. But he’s also created a new category of wireless broadband plan to go with it.
Oh dear: Conroy gets mashed up
In the absence of any statement from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy about yesterday's Prime Ministerial leadership spill, iTNews.com.au has mashed up a bunch of existing Conroy statements into this intriguing video.
What the hell is going on at NAB?
The Westpac experience has delivered Australia's banking sector a stern lesson when it comes to reducing Severity 1 incidents in banks. You can cut down the problems; but it will take time, serious investment, strong leadership and a commitment to change. I'm not sure that the NAB has all the elements it needs right now; it may take a change of CEO for the bank to understand that, as it did at CommBank and Westpac before.
Why tax breaks are not the answer to encourage Australian startups
Using the tax system in an attempt to foster innovation may not be the sensible policy choice.
Turnbull’s first 100 days: Tough times ahead for a new Minister
If the Coalition wins, the first 100 days of Malcolm Turnbull’s tenure as Communications Minister will be incredibly gruelling, with a laundry list of tough action items a mile long.
Conroy’s time as Comms Minister is coming to an end
There are very good reasons to suspect that Stephen Conroy's reign of fire and blood as Australia's Communications Minister is rapidly coming to an end; with the nation to receive new talent in this crucial portfolio at the next Federal Election -- or even substantially before it.
I tried to buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab … but failed
The scene: Deep in the dungeon of a Federal Government agency. Our protagonist, a mild mannered government worker by day, intrepid reporter at night, sees the Delimiter article on Vodafone releasing the Samsung Galaxy Tab on this date! Hallelujah!
Progressive thinkers: Greens the best option for tech voters
The Greens generally have their major competitors beat when it comes to technology policy, and their parliamentary experience gives them an edge on minor party rivals.
On folly, freedom and filters
Hannah has been using the Internet since she was four ... When Hannah uses the Internet, she uses a connection at home that is completely unfiltered, neither by the router we use nor by activating the fairly comprehensive parental controls that come as a standard part of modern operating systems. She has administrator access to the machine she uses and she also knows and understands how to access and manage the home network.
Australia desperately needs a good technology policy think tank
The past decade or so of failed technology policy in Australia sharply demonstrates the need for an independent think tank that would focus on developing viable, sustainable and popular technology policy and feeding it into the political process.
Open government: By the people, for the people
What I would like to see is the public service standing up for itself and taking accountability for Open Government itself.
Conroy must apologise to Google for appalling attack
Stephen Conroy must immediately stop his vicious public attacks on Google and apologise for his clear lack of understanding of the technical details of the recent potential privacy breach in the collection of Wi-Fi data by the search giant’s Street View cars.
Five things to like about the Coalition’s NBN policy
The Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy has copped a lot of flak over the past several weeks. Business Spectator commentator Alan Kohler described it as "madness" and analyst Paul Budde described the UK model it's based on as "unconvincing". But there's still a lot of reasons to like the policy -- and here's five.
Double standards: When filtering is not always mandatory
Two completely separate policies, both designed to protect children from "bad stuff", but with completely different implications.
Orgies of self-interest leave no room for sober justice
This week, I have become increasingly embarassed at the incredible callousness with which our society has seized upon an unproven crime to further its own diverse naked self-interest, with scant regard for apparent defunct concepts such as 'truth', 'justice' and that archaic concept which was once labelled 'the presumption of innocence'.
WA shared services disaster a warning to others
The decision by the West Australian (WA) government to abandon its shared corporate services is a salutary reminder of the governance realities of the Westminster system of government. Portfolio and agency autonomy is the dominant force whatever the desires of central agencies and the grand plans cooked up for them by consultants. Just because benefits appear compelling in a spreadsheet does not mean that they can be realised in practice.
Turnbull’s FTTP on demand plan is slipping away from his grasp
Malcolm Turnbull's plan to offer Australians full fibre extensions to their premises on demand was already on extremely shaky ground, and several new developments over the past several months have made it increasingly clear that this is a concept which is extremely unlikely to see any traction in the short to medium term.
FttX chaos: NBN Co won’t be able to price everything the same
If the Coalition orders NBN Co to pursue a heterogenuous National Broadband Network rollout which features different rollout styles from Fibre to the Premises, to the Node and to the Basement, the company will face a fundamentally new challenge: How to fairly set wholesale prices on technologies which are fundamentally different?
How high-speed wireless compares to cable in boosting our internet speeds
What’s needed is bipartisan commitment to accelerating NBN deployment along with modernising the infrastructure in the core network that will have to support increased access to broadband.
Please Father Steve, unlock Telstra iPhone video calling
There was one thing that stood out from the iPhone 4 launch like a rotten blood orange smouldering at the bottom of the fruit bin full of of shiny golden delicious chunks of goodness.
Aaron’s Army fights the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The case of Aaron Swartz highlights the need for a reconsideration of punitive and excessive intellectual property enforcement provisions in trade agreements.
I don’t know how to cover the NBN anymore
Australia's National Broadband Network project is now in uncharted territory. Beyond a joke, beyond a politicised mess, and even beyond farce, the incredibly inconsistent handling of the project by Liberal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has led it far outside the bounds of rational discourse or intelligent consideration.
Election rant 2: NBN Co’s outrageous Labor favour
During an election, public servants had better keep their head down -- unless they want it to be chopped off.
Correction: NBN wireless isn’t ‘replacing’ ADSL
Calm down, everyone. The fact that the National Broadband Network is rolling out wireless broadband services in your area doesn't mean that your existing ADSL broadband service will be shut down. You won't be left in the lurch with inferior speeds and latency.
Optus’ NBN deal gives it an unfair advantage
Optus' $800 million National Broadband Network deal is an unnecessary and unsavoury sweetheart arrangement which smacks of favouritism and will deliver Optus a war chest with which to attack smaller rivals like iiNet, TPG and Internode; rivals which will not be paid to migrate their customers onto the NBN.
They did it
From this day on, whenever Australian engineers are facing a tough task, they should look up into the skies and remind themselves of the power of the Australian mind. If Australian ingenuity can put such a hunk of incredibly complex communications infrastructure into orbit to serve our broadband needs, purely on the strength of some clear thinking and a lot of hard work, then we truly can do anything. And we will.
Clueless Telstra iPhone buyers get what they deserve
Take some responsibility, people. It's only common sense to know what you're buying and what you're signing. It's not Telstra's fault that you're an idiot. So shut the frack up. OK?
How Australia created the technology election
This election, online issues finally got the attention they deserve. And the situation is here to stay.
On Conroy’s information byway, there’s some roadkill
If you care about democracy, follow the worm. This worm has a name: Stephen Conroy. While Australians were distracted by another worm this week -- top of the screen for Rudd, bottom for Abbott – few bothered to watch the more insidious wormling, Conroy.
History repeating: Five ways data retention is like Conroy’s filter
Like history repeating, the Australian Government just keeps on coming up with disturbing new ways it wants to control and censor the Internet. Here's five ways the current controversial data retention proposal is similar to its predecessor in infamy: Senator Conroy's mandatory ISP-based Internet filter, which was shot down in flames in 2010.
At least two web browsers for every Australian desktop: It should be mandatory
In mid-2008, a government staffer at an employee town hall meeting being held by the US State Department got up to ask Secretary of State Hilary Clinton what appeared to be a rather unusual question for the venue. "Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox?" asked public affairs officer Jim Finkle.
How long can Atlassian stay Australian?
We're not going to build a great Australian technology sector if we constantly have our eyes tuned towards the Silicon Valley stars and our hearts tuned towards the pages of the Wall St Journal and TechCrunch. That can only be done if we reinvest constantly in the Australian market, base our companies here, refuse to be acquired by US multinationals and maintain the Australian rage.
10 reasons the iPad will be a huge success in Australia
Apple has just sold its millionth iPad -- not bad for a product that's only been out for a month. Here are 10 reasons why the iPad – due here later this month – will be a success.
Tick tock, NBN Co. Where are the rollout stats?
By continually declining to release hard statistics about how the rollout and uptake of its network are proceeding, the National Broadband Network Company risks portraying itself as exactly the kind of negligent and overly bureaucratic monopoly which the Federal Opposition has long accused it of being.
It’s just plain wrong: A full refutation of the Coalition’s $94 billion Labor NBN...
Malcolm Turnbull has claimed on a number of occasions that nobody has stepped forward to refute the Coalition's $94 billion NBN costings. Well, Mr Turnbull: Challenge accepted. This article is that refutation.
Atkinson: Are gamers celebrating too soon?
It may take another couple of elections before those in favour of game censorship run out of credits.
Is Exetel’s NBN pricing for real?
As we've previously noted, John Linton is not (that) crazy. And in fact, if you examine the logic behind Exetel's NBN pricing plans, you'll find they actually make a strange kind of sense.
eHealth — Where is the duty of care?
After watching the failure of the Government Home Insulation Scheme and the Payroll issues with Queensland Health unfold its clear that the eHealth issues in Australia are part of a much bigger problem.
Why the drop in illegal movie downloads in Australia?
This article is by Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria University. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
analysis There has been a decline in...
Wi-Fi patent has driven CSIRO money mad
The CSIRO should give up its pointless chase of global technology giants and telcos, and let sleeping laptops lie.
Australian CS5 pricing: Adobe responds
Delimiter invited Adobe to respond in a letter to the editor on the issue of the disparity in pricing between the US and Australia regarding its new Creative Suite 5.
Lack of NBN detail now outrageous
The Rudd Government's 'trust me' approach to spending on its $43 billion National Broadband Network is starting to appear genuinely ridiculous.
The Department for ACTA
A key player in Australia’s negotiations to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) revealed itself last Monday and surprisingly it wasn’t News Ltd, the US Embassy in Canberra or even a reigning political party. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade emerged as ACTA’s cheerleader-in-chief in Australia, trumpeting the benefits of the treaty before a rare open federal parliamentary committee.
Why major IT projects fail: A basic primer
New South Wales' outgoing auditor-general has published a brief whitepaper outlining the major causes of project failure in the state government and what can be done to address the issue, specifically calling out IT projects as having a bad track record in the area.
When the price is not right: Technology price gouging in Australia
Since Federation, Australian consumers have suffered the indignity and the tragedy of price discrimination. From the time of imperial publishing networks, Australia has been suffered from cultural colonialism.
Explainer: what is 4G?
If you’re looking to buy a new smartphone or computer you’ve probably seen advertisements and offers for 4G-compatible devices. You might even own a 4G-compatible device already. But just what is 4G? How does it compare to existing 3G networks? And what is the current availability of 4G networks in Australia?
The NBN must have a cost/benefit analysis
The Gillard Government must urgently undertake a thorough cost-benefit analysis of the network. Its stubborn failure to do so can only lead us to conclude that it does not want to know what that analysis will reveal.
We’re running out of wireless spectrum … so what can we do?
Australia is in a prime position to address the challenges and develop world-leading applications for ubiquitous wireless connectivity. The pedigree of our wireless laboratories and researchers in all parts of the country is second to none.
NBN: Where do we go from here?
The National Broadband initiative is an opportunity to see if we can manage a more evolved form of government where people can elect the representatives that represent their ideological views, but with the knowledge that the country will be governed in a non-dogmatic way and with greater participation.
Senate run must be more than a get-out-of-jail card for Assange
What could a man like Julian Assange achieve within the orthodox structures of parliament?
Firemint – success or sell-out?
But I can’t help feel the way I have always felt when seeing something amazing that Australians have built with their own blood, sweat and tears being snatched up by a massive, impersonal, multinational. Like so many Australian companies before it, Firemint has now missed its chance to become something truly great – it has cashed in its chips and joined the mothership.
Help us fact-check Conroy’s NBN comments
Delimiter invites readers to help us fact-check an important NBN media release by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and Finance Minister Penny Wong. Let's get to the truth of the matter, together.
Wardriving & surviving: Who’s using your Wi-Fi?
The Queensland Police wardriving effort is certainly not the first of its kind. In fact, wardriving has been occurring since the inception of Wi-Fi in the 1990s.
Reality check: ISPs do not understand content
Australian ISPs, regulators and the Government need to take a step back and stop fooling themselves that future telecommunications competition will rest on ISPs' ability to provide bundled video content services to users. The reality is that ISPs aren't good at this task and customers don't want them to do it.
Reality check: Appointing “Dr Ziggy” to run NBN Co is a terrible idea
Communications Minister-elect Malcolm Turnbull reportedly thinks Ziggy Switkowski would make a great choice to run the National Broadband Network Company. Can I please have some of what he's smoking?
Opinion: Internode must slash its horrible NBN pricing
The release of iiNet's highly affordable National Broadband Network pricing this morning makes it as crystal clear as the view from Simon Hackett's glider that fellow ISP Internode must drastically slash its own prices or be left out of the NBN race altogether.
A cashless society and the five forms of mobile payment that will get us...
Visions of a cashless society started being portrayed from the 1950’s along with other aspects of a future waiting to be transformed by technology. That future has not yet arrived but it is now possible to exist without using cash on a daily basis. In fact, in a survey released this week, 25% of Australians claim not to use cash in a given month. In the US, 50% of Americans carry less than $20 in cash at any time.
Oh dear: Optus didn’t learn from Telstra’s mistake
If there’s one thing that Delimiter finds amusing, it’s when history repeats itself. As it so often does in Australia’s fickle telecommunications industry.
Despite bumps in the rollout, households show strong support for the NBN
The NBN is emerging as one of the key issues in the lead-up to this year’s federal election. But the project has been fraught with challenges: planning issues and a shortage of skilled labour have delayed the rollout process.Today it was reported that NBN Co is now set to downgrade rollout targets by up to half of those initially forecast.
Why I’m starting Delimiter
The reason that I'm starting Delimiter (and may launch other sites in the future) is that like that 25 per cent, I love Australia. While I do follow international news, what I'm really fascinated with is Australia's technology sector in all its facets (IT, telco, gaming, consumer gadgets and so on). I've worked in that sector myself. I wanted to found a site that would cover that sector in minute detail. A site that would tell the stories of Australians, for an Australian audience.
Foxtel is becoming a content monopolist
The decline in power of Australia's free to air television networks and the failure of IPTV players to enter or grow substantially in the local market have left pay TV giant Foxtel with an incredibly strong position in the nation's content landscape. As some industry executives have feared for years, the company is now on the verge of becoming a content monopolist.
In secret piracy talks, iiNet risks losing its integrity
By participating in a series of highly secret, closed door negotiations with the Government and the content industry over the future of Internet piracy in Australia, national broadband provider iiNet risks losing its integrity and the trust of its customers that it will represent their best interests on the issue.
Oh dear: Kogan’s all-out war on Harvey Norman
Not content to have successfully lampooned Labor's mandatory internet filtering project, the bad boys at Australian electronics manufacturer Kogan have taken aim squarely at Harvey Norman. Mumbrella points out the company is planning a satirical advertisement aimed at the retailer.
Intelligence apologists fast running out of excuses
Politicians from Australia's major parties need to stop issuing ludicrous blanket pardons for the intelligence community's ongoing misdemeanours and start applying a basic modicum of transparency and accountability to this important national security function.
Sorry Mr Turnbull: We’re not convinced
Last week Malcolm Turnbull delivered a series of very strong, evidence-based answers to key questions about his rival NBN policy, demonstrating that he would be a safe pair of hands to steward the nation’s broadband future. But, despite his eloquence and depth of knowledge, the Liberal MP has still failed to convince Australia’s technical community that his policy is better than Labor’s.
Five ways NZ is smarter than Australia on broadband
In Australia, poking fun at our New Zealand cousins has become more than just a hobby over the years; these days it enjoys the status of a national sport. However, when it becomes to broadband, the situation has been turned on its head: New Zealand is doing everything right that we are doing wrong. Here's five ways the Kiwis are smarter than us in this critical area.
Software is officially a rip-off in Australia, So what can you do?
It’s official: Australia isn’t the “lucky country” in the IT sector. Consumers, government and industry down under are charged typically 50% more for software and hardware compared to their American counterparts. Why is this the case and, more importantly, what can affected customers do about it?
It will take more than being ‘bouncy’ to fix Australia’s innovation system
It is a good sign that Turnbull is upbeat about innovation; but he appears not to understand that innovation is not a matter of pressing the right button and expecting that change will happen.
Oh dear: One for the ladies …
Now it's time for Delimiter's female audience to enjoy themselves ... courtesy of a promotion of some kind by Virgin Mobile in Martin Place yesterday, involving the telco's "big cap" plan and chocolate enticements to break up with your current mobile provider. "In less than 24 hours you could be out of an unhappy relationship, and into a brand new phomance with someone who really cares," says Virgin head of customer narketing Dan Woodall. We bet.
Telstra NBN negotiations nothing to worry about
Don't take too much notice of the waffle going on around Telstra and the NBN at the moment.
Telstra’s ticking clock
NBN Co is trying to negotiate a deal based on a conviction that Telstra's copper network has already been massively devalued, while Telstra is trying to negotiate an outcome that salvages some of that value.
Turnbull’s MTM CBN should not be a monopoly
The only way for Labor's all-fibre National Broadband Network to sensibly function was for it to be a legislated infrastructure monopoly. But the Coalition's watered-down, multi-technology alternative is a very different kettle of fish, and consumers will clearly benefit if rival telcos such as Telstra, Optus and TPG are allowed to overbuild portions of the network.
The ACCC has killed off Australia’s broadband competition
The ACCC’s move to allow TPG’s buyout of iiNet is an appalling decision which will finally complete the long-running, gradual death of actual competition in Australia’s broadband market. The tragedy of the situation is that the well-meaning regulator has nevertheless contributed to the process at several key points along the way.
The NBN Company is boring … and deliberately so
Let's not pretend the NBN Co is not tuning its own message for public consumption, or that its deliberately boring exterior shell represents reality.
It’s the internet, stupid: WikiLeaks and the modern state
Many have speculated that the internet, fully realised, would bring forward an era of global citizenship and the permanent fracturing of the nation-state. Whether this is folly or fact will only be understood in hindsight, but for now, we'll have to be content with watching the world's governments grappling with more immediate questions of what they have tried to hide, and what they now have to fear.
Optus and TV Now: Will copyright law catch up to the cloud?
A legal decision which forced Optus to shut down its time shifting service TV Now may eventually lead to reform of existing copyright law to cater for cloud technology.
Surviving the zombie apocalypse: the DayZ experiment
Amid the resurgent popularity of zombies in recent years – think The Walking Dead, I Am Legend, Shaun of the Dead and so on – the 2011 publication of Dan Drezner’s Theories of International Politics and Zombies showed we might be able to learn something useful from the lumbering horde. In short, Drezner poses the question: how would we deal with a zombie outbreak?
Quigley was right: NBN Strategic Review shows FTTP still cost-effective, viable
A close reading of NBN Co's Strategic Review report published last week shows the former chief executive of the company was overwhelmingly correct: A predominantly Fibre to the Premises National Broadband Network can still be rolled out with only modest cost and timeframe implications. But that's a truth that nobody currently involved in the process seems to want to hear.
Election rant 7: Labor’s arrogance hamstrung NBN policy
Labor’s broadband policy is better than the Coalition’s. But Australia may not choose what is best for it. Australia may choose the leaders it feels more comfortable with instead.
Five reasons Australians should quit Facebook
Is this a company that Australia should be supporting? Not in my book.
Foxtel’s bundle of pain could come sooner than it thinks
This whole business model is now under challenge; for newspapers, TV channels and for pay TV. The share prices of media companies are in decline, and in the US in sharp decline.
BigPond broadband is cheap as chips
I stumbled upon a shocking and unbelievable truth when casually browsing around the websites of several of Australia's top internet service providers this afternoon.
Oh dear: Conroy claims “nude DSL” is taking off
Biting wit proved the flavour of the night at a Senate Estimates Committee hearing in Canberra tonight as Communications Minister Stephen Conroy faced off against the acid tongue of Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher and and that of others, in an caustic five-hour marathon question and answer session in which Conroy referred to the popular new phenomenon of "nude DSL".
NBN war: Is The Australian out of line?
Conroy’s arrogant attitude towards criticism of his prize project will need to change drastically — and soon — if he truly wants to drive the project forward and to success. Otherwise, he may find it’s not just The Australian on his back about the issue — but much of the rest of the media as well.
Forget it: Turnbull won’t return the NBN to a FTTP model
Prime Minister or not, there is simply no way that Malcolm Turnbull is going to reverse five years of bitter campaigning and return the National Broadband Network to its previous near-universal Fibre to the Premises model. So let’s give up hope on that misguided delusion right now and save ourselves a great deal of painful mental anguish.
Why Modern Warfare 3 needs Australians
A good name would be something ocker like "Dazza", because that’s pretty Australian, or even better, "Budgie", which kinda says he likes to take the piss.
NBN petition and the backlash: When does democracy speak?
Malcolm Turnbull may believe that democracy has spoken; but now is the time for democracy to shout back.
Was the Coalition’s Huawei debate just political theatre?
If you believe everything you read, over the past several weeks a ferocious debate took place between senior Government Ministers about whether Huawei should be allowed to bid for National Broadband Network contracts. But the discipline and unity historically displayed by Tony Abbott's Cabinet hints at a more nuanced process, and one that may have all just been for show.
Will Android kill Australia’s iPhone obsession?
The question that I and a number of other people are asking at the moment is: Is the tide starting to turn on Apple's flagship iPhone in Australia? Is it time to dump the iPhone and join the other camp?
Coalition reveals new FTTN broadband policy
The Federal Opposition today released a comprehensive new broadband policy to rival Labor's big-spending National Broadband Network project, describing its own initiative as a landmark 'Fibre to the Nothing' (FTTN) proposal.
Twitter, newspapers + new media: Some observations
The winners online will not be those with the best technology, but with the best technological imagination. Very little that has happened online in the last ten years would have been predicted ten years before, so be bold and dream big dreams. They are more likely to be realised than you think.
Salesforce needs a more anti-social approach
As it continues its mega-push into what it has described as "social enterprise" technologies, Salesforce.com risks losing its focus on its core CRM products, particularly as its software as a service model has failed to prove itself in several key markets in Australia.
A code of ethics in IT: just lip service or something with bite?
The emissions scandal that has rocked the car maker Volkswagen has again raised the issue of ethical standards in the tech industry. Reports so far say the company is pointing finger at the “unlawful behaviour of engineers and technicians involved in engine development”. But that’s led to questions about the strength of any codes or practice or ethics that such operators are supposed to comply with. So are such codes any good or are they just words? Here two software experts present both sides of the argument.
Stop the personal attacks, now (by Mike Quigley)
The past week has seen the debate over the National Broadband Network take a disappointing turn. It has moved away from arguments over the pros and cons of building a ubiquitous network available to every premise in Australia to an unfounded attack on the integrity of myself as the chief executive of NBN Co and on my chief financial officer, Jean-Pascal Beaufret.
Watching Media Watch’s iPad coverage
In its criticism of the media coverage of the launch of Apple's new iPad in Australia this week, the ABC's normally stellar Media Watch program went too far, alleging journalistic impropriety where there was none, and unfairly targeting media outlets for legitimately covering an important news story which the public was interested in.
First impressions of the new Realestate.com.au
Certainly they could have done more, and I am not a fan of everything that they have changed but with the number one site in the space you have to be mindful of the "If it ain't broke don’t fix it" rule.
Oh dear: Microsoft Twitterer doesn’t know who’s who
You have to hand it to whoever was running Microsoft Australia's official Twitter account today during the launch of Redmond's latest and greatest Office 2008 suite.
Why I didn’t expect AFACT to appeal
The plot of AFACT vs iiNet is very similar to that of gritty Baltimore drama The Wire -- only without so many guns.
Is our SAP user group too close to SAP?
I’d love to hear from some IT managers and CIOs out there about what they think of SAUG’s latest moves. Is it just me, or this one vendor relationship that is a little too close?
Enough with the NBN pricing hysteria, already
Everyone feverishly slamming early National Broadband Network pricing plans needs to sit the hell down, take a chill pill and stop engaging in an orgy of self-congratulatory rage over pricing which is actually very reasonable and wholly expected when you remove your head from the media hype machine and examine it in detail.
The NBN will not kill your “way of life”
Some ideas are so bad that they deserve to be ignored and cast back into the wilderness from whence they came. The ideas that the National Broadband Network will somehow destroy someone's way of life is one of them.
“Technology-neutral policy” can be a dangerous fallacy
"Technology-neutral policy" is a useful but treacherous concept that has led many Australian politicians into making poor decisions about important technology issues over the past decade. It's still a very useful framework, but it's time this theory was re-examined by our policymakers in light of those failures and the importance of learning from the past to better inform the future.
In the game of iPhone pricing, consumers are the losers
Up until this morning the telcos were only offering the pricing structures for the iPhone 5C. Why not the 5S? It turns out that they are playing a strategic game of cat-and-mouse with each other.
Dark day for the ACCC as it abandons competition
The Government and the NBN Co have decided to use our taxes to buy out Optus' competition just as they have done with Telstra’s HFC. A black day indeed for the ACCC and competition in Australia.
Decentralised NBN key to unlocking bush potential
Decentralisation is the key to unlocking the potential of our regions while making life in both "Sydney and the Bush" just that little more bearable.
Why NBN prices will be higher (by Malcolm Turnbull)
In this post, Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull responds to the claim that broadband pricing will not increase under Labor's National Broadband Network plan.
How can small booksellers get ahead with eBooks?
If B&T and Blio can work out a format and DRM regime that won’t annoy the long-suffering consumers already overburdened with DRM, incompatible devices and numerous apps required to read a book, having friendly local sellers onside may be the secret ingredient in winning the format wars!
Um, HP? You might want to kill the TouchPad ads
Um, HP? You might want to stop advertising the TouchPad, seeing as your exclusive Australian partner Harvey Norman has now run out of stock following the $98 fire sale and you’re not planning to make any more. I know it’s short notice, but surely something can be done about this series of ads plastered around the country?
Telstra Health will hold Australians’ cancer details, so we need to ensure their privacy...
Clearly, the cancer screening registry contract is only the first of the potential outsourcing of health programs. It creates a precedent that needs to be right.
Burned by their own hubris: Every party to the Kogan Mobile fiasco brought their...
There are no victims in this complete debacle: Like the fated heroes of the Greek tragedies, every party involved in the Kogan Mobile catastrophe brought their own injury on themselves.
iiNet’s BoB Lite: Insecure by design
While testing iiNet's new Bob Lite integrated ADSL router yesterday, I became aware that it ships with an extremely insecure default Wi-Fi setup.
Five questions about the Coalition’s new NBN policy
Yesterday Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull had a big splash in the media, announcing what many described as a new Coalition National Broadband Network policy. But while it has its merits, we’re not so sure the policy has been fleshed out very far; So here’s five questions for the member for Wentworth to answer at his leisure.
Myer fail displays appalling IT, business incompetency
The week-long outage of Myer's website starkly displays the fact that the company and its outsourcing partner IBM had failed to properly develop and test their infrastructure or put in place the most basic disaster recovery and business continuity plan, as well as highlighting the incredible immaturity of online retailing in Australia.
Oh dear: ACMA chief’s broadband “nightmare”
Chris Chapman, the chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, yesterday went into a fair amount of detail about his personal household broadband connection.
The need for speed: there’s still time to fix Australia’s NBN
A National Broadband Network (NBN) based on Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) was, and still is, the right answer for Australia’s broadband needs.
Five reasons Australian email belongs in the cloud
If your company or organisation is not currently considering migrating its email systems onto a cloud computing platform, then you're in danger of being left behind.
BlackBerry tablet too little, too late for corporate Australia
This is the reality that Blackberry maker is currently facing in the Australian marketplace. Its products are no longer considered hot in the minds of executives in either the business or government sectors.
Australian Amazon datacentre? Or just a CDN node?
There's simply no way that Australia will see an Amazon datacentre presence consisting of anything like the same scale that the company has deployed in the US, Europe, or even Japan. What we will see is likely something like Amazon Edge, plus a little bit on the side. Datacentre rollouts are more complex than headlines would make them out to be -- and so are commercial decisions for a company as big as Amazon Web Services.
Turnbull again misleads public on NBN
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has this week made a number of misleading and factually inaccurate statements in a series of interviews and comments about the Government's National Broadband Network project, on topics ranging from the technology used in the project to its cost and retail broadband prices.
If Nicola Roxon doesn’t believe in her own policy, why should we?
Contrary to utopians such as Julian Assange, there is a place for secrecy in national security. But we need to be able to trust the spooks and police. Proposals that are vague, extraordinary and unsubstantiated do not induce trust. Neither does an Attorney-General who confuses kite-flying with an own goal.
The datacentres that ate NSW
Cloud computing: Surely it is time for some fresh thinking in NSW government procurement – as taxpayers, don’t we deserve it?
Election FactCheck Q&A: has the NBN been delayed?
Christopher Pyne’s assertion that there have been “no delays” in the implementation of the NBN is inaccurate.
Paying a high price for embarrassing the government
This article is by Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne. It originally appeared on The Conversation....
Why DRM hurts eBook sales: A piracy analysis
Piracy of eBooks is real. It is also an element of the marketplace and is market forces at work.
Linux to dominate Australia through T-Box and Android
In only a couple of years, millions of Australians will directly be using the open source Linux operating system in their everyday personal and professional lives.
We must determine how the $15bn NBN cost blow-out occurred
The full resources of the Federal Parliament and other Government accountability mechanisms must be deployed to determine how a cost blowout of between $5 billion and $15 billion was allowed to occur in the National Broadband Network, and how to stop a similar situation from occurring again in future.
US Chinese military charges a smokescreen for its own spying
In a surprising move, a US District Court has charged five members of the Chinese military with hacking six US companies to obtain commercial secrets over the last eight years. The move has been denounced by the Chinese government and the US Ambassador has been called to Beijing as a result.
The end of the Wii era
Nintendo's Wii is dead. OK, hyperbole check. It's still kicking mass-market butt, actually. But that's not going to last much longer. So allow me to rephrase: Nintendo's Wii will be dead by the end of this year.
Has Apple’s iPhone jumped the shark?
Apple only has a brief interval of time in which to attract our middle class attention with shiny new toys before we start to feel guilty for not joining the faster, broader and increasingly more innovative and open Android upgrade cycle.
What it means: Five key points from the Senate’s Digital Currency report
Last week the Senate Standing Committee on Economics handed down a detailed report following its inquiry into Australia’s emerging digital or crypto-currency sector. The release was hailed as a “watershed” moment for this financial technology — here’s why it matters, in five succinct points.
FTTN or FTTP? Both. The NBN should be hybrid.
It's time to get away from the Fibre to the Premises/Fibre to the Node debate, writes Progressive Democratic Party director and IT consultant Michael Berry, and acknowledge that Australia's National Broadband Network should include elements of both.
NBN Co must consider more aerial fibre deployments
NBN Co's Strategic Review process gives the company an unmissable opportunity to re-evaluate the early decision to deploy its FTTP network primarily through Telstra's underground ducts. The company and its new Coalition masters must now seriously consider deploying more fibre aerially on power poles in an effort to speed up its rollout substantially.
Red underpants? Yes, Minister, says Hackett
It looks as if Internode founder Simon Hackett has taken Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s infamous “red underpants” comments a little seriously, if this photo from CommsDay’s Melbourne Congress this morning is any indication. Oh, dear.
Monitor, Police, Control: Australian Attorney-Generals’ war on the Internet
Australia's two most recent Attorneys-General distinguished themselves during their tenure by demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of the dynamics of the modern Internet; seeking to monitor, control and contain it at all costs. Now they've both announced plans to quit politics. Will our next chief lawmaker do any better?
Snowden report calls out Australia’s inadequate privacy law
The revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have altered the way we think about accountability, transparency and the rule of law with regard to both the activities of security agencies and the value of privacy, according to a detailed report released this week. But this change in thinking has not led to practical reform, according to the report.
O’Sullivan and Dews: Leaders in exile
In scale and tone, Paul O'Sullivan's reluctance to enter the limelight of the Australian telecommunications industry is currently only matched by one man: VHA chief executive Nigel Dews.
NBN: Is $109 the magic triple play price?
Most of Australia's major fixed-line telcos have standardised their pricing on mid-range bundled broadband, telephone and IPTV plans around the $109 mark.
Towards a more complex NBN argument
The furious debate which took place over the weekend over National Broadband Network applications highlights the fact that the project raises fundamental questions about what the role of Government should be in our complex and multi-layered society ... and just what needs it should attempt to address.
Election rant 1: Who’s greediest?
As many pigs have discovered over time – heading straight for the feeding trough without keeping a watchful eye out for the farmer's axe can lead one to feeling that they're high on the hog when they're actually a pig in a poke.
Help us fact-check Turnbull’s NBN comments
Delimiter invites readers to help us fact-check an important and lengthy policy statement by Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Let's get to the truth of the matter, together.
Australians still overwhelmingly support the NBN
Research from the University of Melbourne shows that Australians still overwhelmingly support Labor's National Broadband Network project, despite the fact that the same research shows newspapers have been overwhelmingly negative about the project.
The Australian public cares about privacy: Do politicians?
Two documents released this week highlight divergent views among the community and politicians.
Opening Pandora’s box: secret treaty threatens human rights
The Australian Parliament should reject ACTA because of its impact on human rights – particularly taking into account health care, access to medicines, and development.
Analysis: Liberal MP Fletcher cherrypicks NBN facts
Liberal MP and former Optus executive Paul Fletcher's highly critical article about the new corporate plan released last week by the National Broadband Network Company contained a number of generally factually accurate but contextually misleading statements about the project, analysis has shown.
A voice in mainstream media on NBN
Senior Victorian IT professional George Fong encourages fellow technologists to get involved in commenting on the National Broadband Network, after the success of a segment he was involved with on 3AW last week.
Why AGIMO’s open source policy will change nothing
Open source does not fit the framework which proprietary vendors have painstakingly installed in the minds of organisations like AGIMO over the decades. It's taken time, but Microsoft already won that war.
Oh dear: Twitter.com.au’s great Australian web design
Australia has a long-running history of sheltering cybersquatters. Various international giants such as YouTube and Facebook have, over the years, been forced into action on our shores to retrieve the .au versions of their domain names.
The NBN must have a cost/benefit analysis (October 2010 re-print)
This article by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull first appeared on Delimiter in October 2010, shortly after Turnbull was appointed Shadow Communications Minister. Delimiter re-prints this article today for the edification of readers, in light of the news that Turnbull has approved NBN Co to go ahead with the controversial ‘Multi-Technology Mix’ option for its broadband rollout, despite the fact that the cost/benefit analysis being conducted into the project will not be completed until the middle of 2014.
Basic Govt IT needs a fundamental rethink
Government systems could be redesigned from the ground-up to make it easy to reorganise, merge and demerge departments, so that a person's email system can be rapidly and easily moved from one agency to another, or the HR information of two departments can be consolidated in a merger at low cost.
Deconstructing morality and Labor’s internet filter
What exactly is a moral question?
The politics of unshackling the NBN from politics
A long-term industry has been shackled to three-year political terms for far too long. The only way to unshackle NBN from politics is to get government out of the marketplace where it exists. Of course, the legacy of sunk costs will make this difficult. But by the time we stop bickering about the latest lot of reports, it will be time to deal with the next communications technology problem.
Australian court holds Google responsible for linking to defamatory websites
The South Australian Supreme Court this week found that Google is legally responsible when its search results link to defamatory content on the web.
Blowouts? No. The NBN is very much on track
Last week the majority of Australia's media reported that the National Broadband Network Company's corporate plan showed it had blown its budget and was running late. But the truth is that the document actually paints a picture of a sensible and mature operation which is hitting almost all of its targets.
iiNet’s Hollywood ending: what does its court victory mean for copyright law?
In what is being billed as iiNet versus Hollywood, the Australian internet service provider has come out an apparent winner after the High Court dismissed a copyright infringement case brought by industry movie studios. Nicolas Suzor, lecturer, Faculty of Law at Queensland University of Technology, explains the decision and what it means.
FactCheck: Will the NBN take another 20 years to complete?
The 20-year time to completion quoted by Tony Abbott seems to be some kind of rough estimate or guess, based on unclear assumptions. It is unlikely to be correct.
Aussie Govts don’t know how to buy open source
There is huge potential for governments to reduce costs and increase community value by embracing the collaborative technologies of Open Source and Open Standards. But in order to achieve this, governments need to make fundamental changes to funding practices in order to recognise the cross-agency value of collaborative technologies.
Turnbull’s NBN: Why it’s slow, expensive and obsolete
The Coalition sold the Australian public a product that was supposed to be fast, one-third the cost and arrive sooner than what Labor was offering us. Instead the Coalition’s NBN will be so slow that it is obsolete by the time it’s in place, it will cost about the same as Labor’s fibre-to-the-premises NBN, and it won’t arrive on our doorsteps much sooner.
Optus’ stagnation begs leadership change
After seven years of leading Optus and many more in senior leadership positions at the telco before his ascension, O'Sullivan obviously still relishes his role and has a passion for the telecommunications industry. But he no longer has the energy to stay on the bleeding edge which the sector habitually operates on.
Devil in the details: Tasmania’s 12-year FTTP failure demonstrates political incompetence
Politicians in Tasmania and in Canberra have been promising residents of the Apple Isle fibre broadband for at least 12 years. The abject failure to deliver almost any improvement to the state's basic telecommunications infrastructure in that time starkly demonstrates the rank incompetence of Australia's political class in setting and deliverying broadband policy.
Disappointing: Turnbull hasn’t fleshed out his NBN plan
In one of the greatest disappointments of Australia's telecommunications debate this year, Malcolm Turnbull has done virtually nothing to flesh out the details or address criticisms of his rival draft National Broadband Network policy since it was unveiled in August.
As Labor and the Coalition duel over the NBN, the real winner is Telstra
The real winner out of the National Broadband Network process is Telstra, writes Gennadi Kazakevitch, Deputy Head, Department of Economics at Monash University.
Hospital attack shows the risk of still running Windows XP
A virus attack on the computer system of one of Melbourne’s largest hospital networks is cause for concern because it affected machines running Microsoft’s Windows XP, an operating system no longer supported by the software giant.
Back off, AFACT: Changing the law is not the answer
The Federal Government should ignore the pathetic demands of the film and TV industry for new legislation to "exterminate" Internet piracy and fix the blatantly obvious problems with its commercial model, following its latest loss in Australia's High Court. Australia's copyright law works well as it stands, and does not need changing.