Re: Iridium's bankruptcy filing.
The writing was on the wall. Motorola doesn't know how to market stuff. How can a global satellite telco compete against PCS systems when one is charging megabucks and the other is "giving it away for free".
For a look at how badly Iridium screwed up, see J. C. Dvorak's Inside Track, PC Magazine Sept. 1, 1999, pg 89 or online at: http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/opinions/0,7802,410270,00.html
Read it and weep. You have to wonder what goes through the minds of the marketing guys when the price a 75-ohm to 300-ohm connector for 85 dollars. They must be thinking that people who work all over the world are either (a) completely stupid or (b) have absolutely no price sensitivity. Of course they may be forgetting that the reason you *do* work all over the world is because you have a great awareness of prices and cost containment...
Sigh. I had hoped that global communications might be a bridge to cheaper/better/faster launch vehicles but it doesn't look like that is going to be the case.
Robert