Posted by
ryuzaki0
on from the but-the-megacorps-punch-back dept.
Krimsen writes: "It's nice to see we still have some stories like we used to hear all the time in the mid-late 90's of the little guy beating the mega-corporations to the punch."
We Had Mom & Pop ISPs Too...
by
puppetman
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
and where are they now... eaten up by the big guys. Of course, lots of those big guys are out of business, on their way out of business, or just scraping by.
Good for the little guy - might dream big, but starts with a small realistic plan, and doesn't lose billions if it doesn't work.
The problem with big companies is that they can't see small. Every market they want to enter, they do so by spending millions of dollars. They try to hang a picture on the wall with a railroad spike, and are amazed at the size of the hole they create.
do the division
by
call+-151
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
From the article (speaking about Metricom):
Its network cost $1 billion to build, but it had just 51,000 customers.
That's almost $20k of capital investment per user-
what a business plan that turned out to be!
For that much per user, I could arrange a pretty impressive setup for the 10 apartments on my floor-
$200k= $2000 in setup and 802.11b equipment plus
many many months of T1 service to share...
-- It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw.
Building infrastructure for AOL
by
el_doop
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
the little guy beating the mega-corporations to the punch is really nothing more than the little guy building a customer base for AOL/Earthlink/MSN to buy out.
It happened with dialup; I can't see how this will be any different. I'm getting flashbacks of my 2 mid/late 90s layoffs as a result of small ISPs "merging" with the mega-corporations.
The Myth of Big VS Small
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
You speak of evil big companies and good little companies, but all those big companies started out small.
In fact, most of the small companies wish they became the evil big guys you people always bitch about.
I don't think CNET get it...
by
rmckeethen
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
It not really fair to compare wireless service from companies like Odessa Office Supply with Metricom's Ricochet. The two markets they serve are vastly different.
Odessa, as I understand it, is mainly in the business of being a high-bandwidth ISP to their local customers, most of which are either too far out for DSL or cable modems or not in an area that is easily served by other types of carriers. As such, they do provide a pretty valuable service to the communities they serve, communities that would not have anything better then dial-up service otherwise. It's really pretty much intended to do only point-to-point service, they're not really intending that you will be running around the neighborhood with the equipment. They do support some mobile applications but nothing like what Ricochet did. From what I hear most of the wireless ISPs like Odessa use Breezecom equipment and 802.11 stuff for their networks, again a lot less expensive then the proprietary Ricochet stuff. And Odessa serves a rural market, not a metropolitan one.
Metricom, on the other hand, was in the business of providing a true mobile wireless service within metropolitan areas. Unfortunately, this is a lot harder to do then point-to-point service. To ensure that everyone will have service wherever they happen to be within the area you have to build the network to provide service even to areas that may not have any customers in them. That means that a fair fraction of the network, at any given time, isn't generating any revenue at all, even though it's still got to be operational. Of course, until you have good coverage, customers aren't interested in paying for your service, so it's something of the old chicken or egg situation. No in-place network, no customers. But the costs to build that kind of network can be staggering. Is it really any wonder that Merticom failed?
Looking at it this way, it's easy to see why companies like Odessa survive while Metricom went under. The markets are simply different and it's unfortunate that CNET appears to have missed this point. Oh well.
If anyone is interested, you can find more information on Odessa at http://www.odessaoffice.com/wireless/
Additionally, Marlon's a frequent contributor on the ISP wireless e-mail list. See http://isp-lists.isp-planet.com/subscribe/
Small Isp advantage
by
jchawk
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I have a couple friends that just launched a small ISP about 9 months ago and they are finding success in the market because of the poor service provided by the other large ISP's.
They also have the advantage of being able to roll out small wireless mesh networks in areas that are overlooked by the MegaISPs.
These guys will probably never become multi-millionaires, but they will probably make a really nice living. Plus they work for themselves and make their own hours. As long as you keep the network running smoothly there is no way for a customer to tell that you are out on the golf course or on the couch at home, as opposed to a server room.
Plus look at it this way, eventually when the economy turns around (6 months, 1 year, 5 years, whenever), they stand to make a really nice chunk of change if they are bought out.
The little guy is only going to get bigger.
by
cosmosis
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Ok, I'm going to break from the pack and say that we have not seen the end of the little guy. And by little, I mean every one of us - you, me, your nextdoor neighbor. The dot-com failure wasn't becuase of the technology, it was stupidity plain and simple. Their really is a new economy and it is going to change everything, depsite EVERYTHING you keep hearing to the contrary after the dot-com crash. The only reasons it crashed in the first place, is becuase what has always been obvious to me since the beginning of all this (pre-1994) is that the internet revolution isn't about the big guys - that is the who fricking point! It is about the little guy.
Think 802.11a, b, g, z? Everyone will have one on their house talking to everyone else on their houses. A wireless P2P 'gnutella', 'freenet' Neighboorhood LAN (NAN).
While the rest of the idiots continue to get more depressed at the the rediculous dot-com crash, I'm celebrating the birth of individuality that is emerging quietly between the cracks. Ha ha ha ha haaa!
Re:Nice Business Plan...
by
boopus
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Well, he also owns his own business and is his own boss. He also has the rights to any future profits that his company may make. If the network is up and he feels like taking the day off, he can. Being one's own boss is priceless, especialy when his busienss has definite growth potential. And of course he can be the first in line to sell his company for thousands per cutomer once wireless becomes the Next Big Thing again.
And, more importantly, he probably has the busienss T1 terminiated in his house.
Small can be relatively sucessful.
by
RazzleFrog
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
A lot of the comments have focused on "only $42K," "when will he sell out," etc. I personally think that everybody is so obsessed with money here that they automatically assume that he is going to behave in a way like they would. I know several small business owners (including myself and some of them my clients) who have no interest in making it big. They want to find their niche and make a comfortable living.
I personally have a full time job at a money grubbing corporation that pays very well. I also, on my spare time (and sometimes at work), maintain a low maintenance small business. My girlfriend also lives at home full time and has her own small business. Now I don't put in the 80 hour weeks at my real job to ever make senior management and my small business is never going to bring in more than a few grand every year but I am very comfortable.
This gentlemen is probably good friends with his 70 customers. He probably makes support house calls for just a cup of coffee. They probably bake him cookies at christmas. Who knows? To me his business is really a joint venture between him and all of his customers. It actually reminds me of the good how set up the T1 network is his neighborhood.
Slashdot Mirror
and where are they now... eaten up by the big guys. Of course, lots of those big guys are out of business, on their way out of business, or just scraping by.
Good for the little guy - might dream big, but starts with a small realistic plan, and doesn't lose billions if it doesn't work.
The problem with big companies is that they can't see small. Every market they want to enter, they do so by spending millions of dollars. They try to hang a picture on the wall with a railroad spike, and are amazed at the size of the hole they create.
It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw.
the little guy beating the mega-corporations to the punch is really nothing more than the little guy building a customer base for AOL/Earthlink/MSN to buy out.
It happened with dialup; I can't see how this will be any different. I'm getting flashbacks of my 2 mid/late 90s layoffs as a result of small ISPs "merging" with the mega-corporations.
In fact, most of the small companies wish they became the evil big guys you people always bitch about.
It not really fair to compare wireless service from companies like Odessa Office Supply with Metricom's Ricochet. The two markets they serve are vastly different.
Odessa, as I understand it, is mainly in the business of being a high-bandwidth ISP to their local customers, most of which are either too far out for DSL or cable modems or not in an area that is easily served by other types of carriers. As such, they do provide a pretty valuable service to the communities they serve, communities that would not have anything better then dial-up service otherwise. It's really pretty much intended to do only point-to-point service, they're not really intending that you will be running around the neighborhood with the equipment. They do support some mobile applications but nothing like what Ricochet did. From what I hear most of the wireless ISPs like Odessa use Breezecom equipment and 802.11 stuff for their networks, again a lot less expensive then the proprietary Ricochet stuff. And Odessa serves a rural market, not a metropolitan one.
Metricom, on the other hand, was in the business of providing a true mobile wireless service within metropolitan areas. Unfortunately, this is a lot harder to do then point-to-point service. To ensure that everyone will have service wherever they happen to be within the area you have to build the network to provide service even to areas that may not have any customers in them. That means that a fair fraction of the network, at any given time, isn't generating any revenue at all, even though it's still got to be operational. Of course, until you have good coverage, customers aren't interested in paying for your service, so it's something of the old chicken or egg situation. No in-place network, no customers. But the costs to build that kind of network can be staggering. Is it really any wonder that Merticom failed?
Looking at it this way, it's easy to see why companies like Odessa survive while Metricom went under. The markets are simply different and it's unfortunate that CNET appears to have missed this point. Oh well.
If anyone is interested, you can find more information on Odessa at http://www.odessaoffice.com/wireless/
Additionally, Marlon's a frequent contributor on the ISP wireless e-mail list. See http://isp-lists.isp-planet.com/subscribe/
I have a couple friends that just launched a small ISP about 9 months ago and they are finding success in the market because of the poor service provided by the other large ISP's.
They also have the advantage of being able to roll out small wireless mesh networks in areas that are overlooked by the MegaISPs.
These guys will probably never become multi-millionaires, but they will probably make a really nice living. Plus they work for themselves and make their own hours. As long as you keep the network running smoothly there is no way for a customer to tell that you are out on the golf course or on the couch at home, as opposed to a server room.
Plus look at it this way, eventually when the economy turns around (6 months, 1 year, 5 years, whenever), they stand to make a really nice chunk of change if they are bought out.
Ok, I'm going to break from the pack and say that we have not seen the end of the little guy. And by little, I mean every one of us - you, me, your nextdoor neighbor. The dot-com failure wasn't becuase of the technology, it was stupidity plain and simple. Their really is a new economy and it is going to change everything, depsite EVERYTHING you keep hearing to the contrary after the dot-com crash. The only reasons it crashed in the first place, is becuase what has always been obvious to me since the beginning of all this (pre-1994) is that the internet revolution isn't about the big guys - that is the who fricking point! It is about the little guy.
Think 802.11a, b, g, z? Everyone will have one on their house talking to everyone else on their houses. A wireless P2P 'gnutella', 'freenet' Neighboorhood LAN (NAN).
While the rest of the idiots continue to get more depressed at the the rediculous dot-com crash, I'm celebrating the birth of individuality that is emerging quietly between the cracks. Ha ha ha ha haaa!
www.enthea.org
Well, he also owns his own business and is his own boss. He also has the rights to any future profits that his company may make. If the network is up and he feels like taking the day off, he can. Being one's own boss is priceless, especialy when his busienss has definite growth potential. And of course he can be the first in line to sell his company for thousands per cutomer once wireless becomes the Next Big Thing again.
And, more importantly, he probably has the busienss T1 terminiated in his house.
A lot of the comments have focused on "only $42K," "when will he sell out," etc. I personally think that everybody is so obsessed with money here that they automatically assume that he is going to behave in a way like they would. I know several small business owners (including myself and some of them my clients) who have no interest in making it big. They want to find their niche and make a comfortable living.
I personally have a full time job at a money grubbing corporation that pays very well. I also, on my spare time (and sometimes at work), maintain a low maintenance small business. My girlfriend also lives at home full time and has her own small business. Now I don't put in the 80 hour weeks at my real job to ever make senior management and my small business is never going to bring in more than a few grand every year but I am very comfortable.
This gentlemen is probably good friends with his 70 customers. He probably makes support house calls for just a cup of coffee. They probably bake him cookies at christmas. Who knows? To me his business is really a joint venture between him and all of his customers. It actually reminds me of the good how set up the T1 network is his neighborhood.