Proving you can’t win ‘em all.

Jeffrey Citron did some revolutionary things for online trading, but the luck isn’t coming for upending landline phone service and the spin isn’t too hot either:

First, Vonage loses their appeal in the Verizon patent case; the company’s weak response follows.

Then they lose another patent case to Sprint. The response is even weaker…they appeal.

I guess you have to give them credit for trying, although the remaining customers would probably benefit most if they just handed the incumbents the keys and called it a day.

Adobe and BellSouth are each laying off a whole bunch of people, but for different reasons. In the first case, it is about managing new technologies (and keeping it in sync with the old); in the latter it is about not managing old technology (and separating it from the new). Both serve their purpose.

In Adobe’s case, they picked up Macromedia, and now they have Flash and Dreamweaver to deal with. Both have become de-facto standards for web development; Dreamweaver will supplement Adobe’s strong presence in “hardcopy” publishing, and Flash will provide the web pizzazz the company has long needed. The acquisition created complimentary lines, and Adobe should have no problem bundling them up, and pricing them appropriately for all the publishers, designers, and tinkerers out there who were buying pieces/parts of the original offerings anyway. Many line managers, sales personnel, and a few engineers simply have to go. But I think Adobe can maintain a one-of-a-kind image for some time to come. For them, it is about positioning and growth.

BellSouth, like many other traditional local exchange carriers, has been slow to move. Yes, they have DSL and mobile service, but I hardly call that progress. All I hear is “package of these services,” “package of those services.” Meanwhile, if you talk to someone working at one of these places, you shouldn’t be surprised if they haven’t heard of disrupters such as Skype or Vonage. Add to that list a newfangled product (according to them) called the voice-enabled instant messaging client (including ones being offered by very big guys), and maybe toss in a pinch of WiMAX, and you have a recipe for trouble. Of course, I’m not going to completely blame the organizations themselves; if the folks on the chopping block had the motivation to improve instead of going about happily cashing those fat (but wasteful) paychecks for the last few years, they would have seen the train’s headlight coming long ago. The result would have been a lot of screaming for change, instead of what’s going to happen now - a lot of pinkslips. Many line managers, sales personnel, and more than a few engineers simply have to go. BellSouth isn’t a one-of-a-kind either. For them (and their counterparts) it has been about holding onto “the last mile” - now it is about simply surviving.

It seems Verizon has been a bit aggressive with its spam filters. In fact, they are tweaked so tightly that a lot of small businesses and legitimate consumers are finding their email bouncing like beach balls.

So in come the lawyers, and out come the details.

I suspect this is going to be an interesting fight. On one hand, you have Verizon customers with a potentially legitimate complaint, and on the other you have Verizon’s need (in fact, responsibility) to stop spam from hitting the inbox. Add the fact that Verizon’s customer service department is less than friendly, and you have a receipe for a great drama.

Stay tuned.

***UPDATE***

Ethan Preston has delved a little deeper in to the Verizon issue, with some legal analysis of the class action lawsuit. Check it out.

Karen Schwartz of eWeek was kind enough to set my confusion over the Verizon/MCI deal straight (see Verizon Makes Good Move with MCI Purchase).

I did not know that MCI was so strong in the government contracts arena, but that makes total sense. One, they have a big presence in DC, which means they get plenty of cocktail time with the politicos. Two, they are most well known for massive fraud and executives enriching themselves with shareholders’ money, which understandably makes politicians eager to join forces with them.

Nice.

The eWeek article did point out that MCI’s billing system is garbage, while Verizon’s is superb. So I guess I am on target with the notion that the combined customer base will see some upfront pain as end-user support is integrated. And big customers will likely see no pain, and great gain, much as I previously suggested.

Unlike Karen, I have no crystal ball, so I will not make any predictions on which/what merger will happen next.

Click here for my previous comments on this matter.