Is ACN Really That Lame?
Image by mugley via Flickr
"Ok, so they sell:(a) A product nobody wants (proprietary videophones that don't talk SIP), and
(b) A product so commoditised that there's practically no margin in it (mobile and fixed line phone plans)But the common link between these two products?
They're both new enough that normal people don't understand the market dynamics yet. They think they're getting in "ahead of the curve", when in fact they're taking a sharp turn off a cliff.
I could go on, but I won't. Suffice it to say: They won't be getting my $500 sign-up fee. They won't be convincing me to sell stuff to my friends they don't need.
They won't have a chance to lock me into bizarre non-compete contracts that take any hope of true business initiative away from me (you can't do your own marketing.
You can't cold-call. You can't approach suppliers directly. Etc)."
Does Dan know what he talking about? Who is Dan?
"
Dan (or Daniel) Walmsley is a comedian, musician and programmer currrently living in Melbourne, Australia."
So can a comic really know that much about lame technology? Or is Dan lame himself?
Comments
Dan;
It seems that ACN spins stories that nobody really understands.
If I understand your remarks, anybody searching on "SIP Phones" could come with a free alternative.
I know our law office runs on Skype and one other voip. Reasonably well too.
Hard to believe that any sensible person is selling a product that they have no idea about.
Posted by: michael webster
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June 9, 2008 7:21 PM
Turns out I was definitely wrong about something: their phones DO talk SIP. Which is fascinating, because they claim to us a "proprietary" protocol.
This makes the ACN business model even more confusing, because they're pushing the old we-lease-the-wires/spectrum telecoms model over networks they don't own, using technology they don't own.
In other words, you could talk the same protocols for free using any PC and downloadable software. Or any one of the dozens (hundreds?) of other SIP-talking phones in the marketplace. Many of those support better updated protocols too, like H.264, that dramatically improve picture and sound quality.
Thanks for commenting back on my site. Sorry for the rabid response, I'm ill at the moment and the medication and boredom gave me cabin fever ;-)
Posted by: Dan Walmsley | June 9, 2008 11:56 AM
Way to raise doubts without engaging with any of my criticisms in a constructive way :-P
Fascinating that you would post such a negative (or at least dubious) review of my post given your comment on my site:
"I will shoot you a link from my site because this is a nice and clear business analysis with what is wrong with ACN product."
And now you raise doubts about me personally? Well, I didn't want this to be about me, but since you insist...
It turns out that Dan does know what he's talking about. Despite the modest resume on my site I have over a decade's experience in the telecommunications and programming industry, a degree in Computer Science and Engineering with Honours, am a domain-knowledge expert in podcasting and video-conferencing and co-founder of several tech companies working in telecoms and media.
I co-produced one of the most successful cross-media shows in Australia last year, was Solutions Architect at Sputnik Agency (a digital marketing agency considered one of the best in South East Asia), and in a previous career I was a senior programmer doing global systems integration for the National Group, handling risk management across 5 continents and dozens of major banks.
I've been presented twice this year to mobile phone and social networking industry groups and am participating in the MEGA program for enterprise mobile development.
You could say I know a thing or two about the telecoms industry. I'm not just a comic, and I don't find what ACN is doing particularly funny either. I think it's deceptive - borderline exploitative - and nothing I've heard from them or anyone else so far has convinced me otherwise.
Like I said, I didn't want this to be about me. I think my analysis speaks for itself, and that my arguments can be engaged with on their own terms.
I have taken it upon myself to simply say what I think about ACN online. Because ACN's marketing techniques only work if people aren't exposed to counter-arguments or more detailed technical analysis of the market and the product. They rely on hyperbole and fluff to sell the-idea-that-other-people-want-this-product without presenting a rigorous analysis of the marketplace.
Such an analysis would inevitably show that the pie for resellers is much smaller than it seems at first blush.
And no, I'm not performing the bulk of that analysis. I have a day job, and better things to do. I'm just giving people enough information that they might seek to ask the right questions.
Posted by: Dan Walmsley | June 9, 2008 12:18 AM