Posted by John Patrick on Jul 25, 2003 in
Travels My original return flights were Singapore to London and
then to JFK. However, when I heard about the British Airways labor actions,
I decided to change routes and come back via Tokyo. The United
Airlines 777
left Singapore on time for the seven hour flight. We headed northeast, south
of Vietnam and over Manila in the Philippine Islands — that was the first 1,600
miles. From there we continued northeastward south of Shanghai, and on to Tokyo.
Just another 1,800 miles from the Philippines. Then it will be another 6,700
miles to New York. This is a big world, and Singapore is very far from home.
I was anxious to get a WiFi connection at Narita
Airport — but it was not to be. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 24, 2003 in
Travels The last day in Singapore started very early in order
to get a 6:55 a.m. flight to Tokyo. Check-in was smooth and efficient as most
things in Singapore are. The SATS lounge offered a strong WiFi signal provided
by StarHub and the most selections for payment I have ever seen. They accepted
roaming arrnagements of various kinds, membership with several WiFi providers
and a "walk-in" plan with a credit card. The price was $$6.00 which
is approximately $3.50 in U.S. dollars. There is no reason to expect WiFi to
be free and I think we will see many different pricing models evolve.
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 24, 2003 in
Travels I first met Alonso Carral telecommunications industry
converence in Mexico City in early 2002. He has now moved to Singapore. We met
for dinner at the Mexican
embassy where his brother is ambassador to Singapore.
CIO Insight
hosted a Roundtable conversation on Youth, IT and the Future of the Workplace
at 10 a.m. EST in New York. I participated from Singapore where it was 10 p.m.
This made for a very long day but I am glad I could be part of the roundtable.
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 24, 2003 in
Travels The IBM Forum
2003 is over now but I am continuing to meet with IBM customers to discuss
Internet technology directions including WiFi,
web
services, blogging
and e-business
on demand. My first visit today was at Singapore
Airlines. The airline industry is a difficult one but Singapore Airlines
has claimed a very distinctive place in terms of both their level of service
and their business performance. Their senior IT management is impressive also.
We discussed many dimensions of Internet technology in which they had a keen
interest. The next stop was at the Monetary
Authority of Singapre (MAS). The lobby of the building was typical of a
large office building but the new experience for me was to get my temperature
taken by the security guard. It was 36 degrees. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 23, 2003 in
Travels The IBM Forum
2003 presented a number of excellent speakers on Wednesday morning. I was
not able to hear them because I was meeting with IBM customers, including the
Ministry of Defense, to discuss Internet
technology directions. After lunch it was my turn to give a talk. The audience
was large and there was a lot of interest. I talked about The Future Of The
Internet with emphasis on WiFi,
web
services, and blogging
and did my best to relate these key areas to e-business
on demand. Tomorrow will be another day of meeting with IBM customers. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 23, 2003 in
Travels The IBM Forum
2003 started at 9 AM this morning with an opening talk by Janet Ang, managing
director of IBM Singapore. Next was an
address by Frank
Lavin, the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore. He gave a somewhat positive view
of the U.S. economy and a bullish outlook for the impact of the Singapore
Free Trade Agreement. The keynote talk was given by Dr. Soumitra Dutta,
Dean of Education at INSEAD. As the conference
continued throughout the day, I was honored to meet with various IBM customers,
including the Infocom
Development Authority and Pacific Internet,
to discuss the direction of Internet technology. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 22, 2003 in
Travels 
The
Swissotel was kind
enough to move me to a room with high speed Internet access. That enabled me
to upload pictures from the day into the Singpore
section of the photo gallery. Since I arrived at the hotel before 8 AM and
my first meeting was not until 5 PM I had a choice of taking a nap or taking
a walk. I took the latter. This is my third time to viisit Singapore but there
are many things I had not had time to visit in the past. Funan
The IT Mall is Singapore’s largest shopping area dedicated to IT. The six
story building houses 178 retail outlets. I visited many of them — like a child
in a candy store. I picked up a few essentials that were on my list including
a Smart Media PCMCIA
adapter and a USB hub. Speaking of USB, I have never seen so many USB
accessories before. The most unique was the USB
fan. I could not resist. As I type this story, the new USB fan is keeping
me cool. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 20, 2003 in
Travels As we disembarked the airplane and walked up a ramp to the main terminal, there was a thermal imaging system. I could not see where the sensor was but the video
display showed all of our faces in a light green. I am sure if any of us had
a fever, that our faces would have been red and something would have been beeping.
Each passenger on the flight was given a helpful brochure about SARS
and also a thermometer with instructions. I feel confident in dealing with the
SARS issue. If any country knows how to instill discipline and handle things
efficiently, it is Singapore. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 20, 2003 in
Travels II have been fortunate to have made quite a few
trips to Southeast Asisa. In every case, until now, the route of flight had
been from east to west — New York to Tokyo and then south southwest from Japan
to the South China Sea. This trip was west to east. After departing from Frankfurt,
Germany we headed South of Prague, north of Vienna, north of Istanbul across
the Black Sea toward the Caspian Sea with Baghdad to the south. From there north
of Tehran and then south of Delhi and acorss the Bay of Bengal to pass over
the Andaman Sea toward Phuket, Thailand which is on the west side of the South
China Sea. The final leg was near Penang west of the Strait of Malacca and then
south over Malaysia. Singapore is south of Kuala Lumpur and north of Jakarta,
Indonesia. (read
more)
Posted by John Patrick on Jul 20, 2003 in
Travels,
WiFi This is going to be a
very long flight but, if you have to spend a lot of time on an airplane,
Singapore Airlines is the one to be with. The Boeing 747 departed late from JFK but
strong tailwinds got us into Frankfurt, Germany ahead of schedule. For security
reasons, everyone had to depart the plane. We will be re-boarding the same plane
in an hour for the final, and longest, leg of the trip. The Lufthansa
lounge was full of people and a number of them were using their laptops. A very
strong WiFi signal was present, and upon starting a browser, the following
message appeared. “Try out the new innovative technology and enjoy the comfort
of a mobile high-speed office. The catch: during the trial period this service
is free of cost.” The service was being provided by Vodaphone. It remains to be
seen where WiFi pricing will settle. There are interoperabililty issues too, but
one thing is certain. WiFi is extending the reach of the Internet to more
people in more places more often.
