Talking Tech, Friday, June 8th

0.32 - It’s just Mark and Kevin this week as Duncan is away at a television engagement.

0.47 - Mark is excited to hear Kevin’s take on the big tech news of the week; the official launch of Apple’s iPhone.

1.01 - Kevin really wants one, but disappointed to know it will be locked to which ever network Apple deals with and while it can be used on other networks, a lot of the features would not be enabled.

1.45 - Kevin reminds us the issue with Apple is always supply and demand, they’re great at building hype, but never have enough.

2.20 - Mark asks about the high price and if it will affect consumer interest. 

2.50 – The guys discuss why consumers are willing to pay higher prices.  Kevin thinks the real trend in IT right now is in design, and people will pay a premium for functionality advantages. 

3.58 – A few more concerns with the iPhone to mention, Kevin isn’t sold on the touch screen and thinks it will take some getting used to.

4.15 – The big question, when will Canadians be able to get it? Kevin foresees it on the market before Christmas if Rogers and Apple can strike a deal.  But Mac has a history of holding back products from Canada, such as the iTunes store.

5.12 – Talk that Telus will hook up with W-CDMA network.  It could have leverage in negotiations with Rogers giving them the advantage on the wireless front.

6.14 - Mark talks about his lack of excitement over the eminent $30 Billion dollar take over of BCE and the recent involvement of the Teachers.

7.40 - Kevin talks about private equity firms going after telecom companies.

8.51 – Mark wonders what the new owners will do with it? 

9.26 - Mark thinks private equity firms might also go after Telus and thinks it is a much more exciting story because of the inclusion of Telus Mobility. Kevin thinks it’s a possibility.

10.27 – Kevin wonders about the future if there are changes to the Foreign Ownership Restrictions and the inclusion of big US carriers.

11.10 - Mark talks about his weekend blog post about banning the internet at work in response to several companies including TD and the City of Toronto’s move to ban employees from using Facebook.  Is Facebook the problem or is the problem employers not trusting their employees?

12.40 - Kevin suggests that companies could ban personal web surfing at work but people would still find a way to waste time.  The onus is on the employer to engage their employees.

13.35 - Mark sums it up, it all comes down to whether you get the job done or not.

15.57 - Mark asks Kevin for his impressions of the MESH Conference which happened in Toronto last week.

16.35 - Kevin thought the sessions were well run and a great bang for his buck. 

17.38 - Mark talks about why they tried to keep the price reasonable in order to reach young entrepreneurs and give them the chance to network.

18.10 - Mark mentions reading on Start Up North that the Toronto Venture Group has filed for bankruptcy protection and wonders if there is enough of an ecosystem in Toronto to support the tech start up world?

19.00 - Kevin points out there is smaller pool to draw from in Canada, there are still great entrepreneurs that need to be spotted, and it’s important to keep them with in Canada.

Audio or text comments for Mark, Kevin and Duncan can be emailed to [e-mail].

Our announcer is the lovely Amber Mac and the music is No Mojo by Anthony Stauffer and Holy Smoke which is available on the pod safe music network.