Google's opening salvo in the battle to dominate mobile connectivity--hinging on its control of user data across its own ecosystem and the branded sites of marketers--highlights the tradeoff between user privacy and information.

Time Warner Cable and Cablevision are engaged in an old-fashioned fee stranglehold that feels dysfunctional in these times. The companies should take a page out of John Malone's playbook.

2012 will be a tipping point as exploding mobile-connected consumer adoption reshapes all business structure, process and economics. The chasm will deepen between companies integrating anywhere connections into every level of their operations and those that don't.