Before I left RADVISION, I was asked to leave a reading list behind. A list of RSS feeds I think are important to follow.
Now, the last time such a request was raised, I exported my Google Reader feed, removed all the personal and non-work-essential blogs and emailed it. This time, I understood that this won’t do – that list contains today hundreds of blogs if not more, and even with my current filtering (that can be seen in my non-top VoIP list) that’s a lot more than a person not living in his RSS feed can deal with.
On this round, to make this effective in terms of the legacy I leave at RADVISION, I settled for a shorter list – something that can be counted in two hands easily, with the magic number 7 attached to it. The list doesn’t include aggregators or blogs that report on anything and everything. It includes people who I value their thoughts and opinions – and who write sparingly (no 10-posts-a-day blogs here). It turned out that most of them deal with mobile, but not necessarily.
So after the long introduction, here’s my list of mandatory blogs for the mobile VoIP marketer – in no specific order. Feel free to call them the magnificent seven:
1. VisionMobile
VisionMobile is a market analysis and strategy firm dealing with anything mobile. They have a very interesting blog with professional writers. The posts are rather long, but are well worth the time.
Besides the blog, VisionMobile offers research reports with a new online service called Atlas Interactive that provides a break down of the mobile industry.
I have found the guys of VisionMobile to be personable, approachable and intelligent. If you get a chance, make sure you meet Andreas Constantinou for a chat.
2. asymco
Asymco is a hell of a blog. Written by Horace Dediu, who is an analyst. This blog contains analysis about the Apple, the mobile market, the post-PC era – anything that might affect decision making on where to invest developers’ time.
What is interesting here, is that Horace is capable of putting out the numbers as they are and then offer his own conclusions from them. Something that not many can do.
3. TalkingPointz
TalkingPointz is a rather new initiative led by Dave Michels, an analyst and researcher. I’ve been reading his Pin Drop Soup blog for a few years and it is always a joy to do so. He is focused mainly on unified communications, which makes him a good choice for anyone dealing with VoIP.
4. Disruptive Wireless
Disruptive Wireless is written by Dean Bubley. This one takes a very critical look at what operators are doing. If there is anything to be said about Dean’s writing is that it is sharp and to the point. He should be read by anyone who is following or is affected by the trends of the mobile VoIP market.
5. Alan Quayle WebLog
I don’t even remember how I ended up reading Alan Quayle’s WebLog, but I just had to read him from that moment and on. He writes in a wide spectrum of technology topics – some related to telecommunications, others to entertainment. Always interesting.
Follow him. Read what fits your needs.
6. MobileOpportunity
Mobile Opportunity is one of those blogs where I go when there is time to read something a bit long but insightful. I tend to do my reading of this blog on my Kindle because of that. Michael Mace, who writes this blog has a unique view of the market with a keen ability to look at events and analyze why they happened. For me this is a great resource for understanding and a place to get my brain’s grey cells to work a bit more.
7. VoIP Watch
Andy Abramson is… well… he’s on top of VoIP. In his VoIP Watch blog he provides great analysis of VoIP and video conferencing. His posts are usually short and to the point. He is a great resource for me for some critical views of the ins and outs of the VoIP industry, as well as a place to go to find additional people to read out there.
And then there’s me
Definitely not in my magnificent seven list, but I do hope you like what you’re reading there.
Got any additional people I should be reading? Especially if they fall into the category of less-posts-with-ore-insights…