Actual business thread...

[Dravyk]

The T-Mobile sidekick ad with Snoop Dog, Paris Hilton, Wayne Newton and whatever was actually the best demonstration -- and most memorable -- of any text messaging ad I've seen.

[JR]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

I haven't tried it, but I'd think for me it would be the exact opposite -- take five mintues to type out what I can say in 30 seconds.

JR, not to put all of your very good post into a few words -- appreciate everything you said -- but to hone in: the lack of walkie-talkie feature and the higher cost per minute. That's what I thought was probably the difference.

As for "there is a number to call to get the ringtone, sms to vote on the song etc etc" absolute fascinating! I appreciate that insight!

i think price and technology are factors. i think that the EU and Asia are also consistently ahead on the technology curve as well. phones have also been more effectively marketed as fashion accessories and personal fashion statements outside the US, while we are still excited that our phone actually has a camera. i noticed this in Korea in the mid-late 90's when everyone had little phones around their necks, countless colors and designs and all the cool accessories. if you want a mobile phone in the US, the options are really limited from any provider.

as far as technology... the 3G stuff for example, has been happening in EU and Asia for a few years now... like always, it will hit critical mass outside the US probably before it is being used in the US... and it will seem like something that came comepletely out of nowhere, when in reality, it has been on the market and gaining steam for years outside the US.

[Nickatilynx]

I wonder if I am an Average Joe.

We had the walkie talkies , were constantly bleeping each other , text messaging , etc etc.

In the end it was easier to call.

Had the siemens web phone thingy. Wasn't compatable with site i need to visit whilst mobile. ie banks.

gave it back in the end.

maybe its just me...

[JR]

Originally Posted by Nickatilynx

I wonder if I am an Average Joe.

We had the walkie talkies , were constantly bleeping each other , text messaging , etc etc.

In the end it was easier to call.

Had the siemens web phone thingy. Wasn't compatable with site i need to visit whilst mobile. ie banks.

gave it back in the end.

maybe its just me...

for me - easier to send a quick message "is the server down" or "are you into anal sex" or whatever, from anywhere in the world and get an answer in a few seconds.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/i/z/rv/20...50-300x500.gif

[Dravyk]

Nick, I think you (and I) are "North American Joe Average".

JR, the gif of your cell is sweet!

I agree the rest of the world is so ahead of us here, as consumers, that it's plain scary.

Ditto RDIF and "contactless payments". CJ told me six months ago about paying her parking meter in Brisbane with her cell. Japan has been doing the vending machine payment through cell phones since, I dunno when.

I know when it does hit N.A. it is going to be a tsunami. The change will be very quick and it will be everywhere. It will be like Rip Van Winkle, especially for those of us over 24. We'll wake up and kids will be waving their credit cards and phones in the air and taking their MickyD meals away, and we'll be going "huh? what happened?"

... They'll be stopping at a vending machine, face it, do something with something in their hand and take out the can of soda and continue walking, and we'll be "did you see that? how did she get a soda without putting any money in the machine? did you see her put money in the machine"?

The major problem is as you said ten companies competing, no standards yet. I'm sure a lot of ushere in N.A. want badly to get into the crest of the wave and make money off of this. I sure would love to as well. The major problem is, we still don't know which wave. Which technology will be adopted, which of dozens of competing methodologies to back, how to do the integration.

Thing is, giant companies here with mega funding are having the same problem. It's not only which horse to back in the race, it's also which race are they running in and on what day at what track.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by Peaches

It takes me 30 seconds to type out a text message for a conversation that would seriously be 5 minutes from start to finish.

It takes me five minutes to type a thirty second response on a laptop keyboard.

Can you imagine what would happen with a cell phone? I'd be typing for hours.

[Nickatilynx]

today I was in a car park advertising "Don't get wet,pay us with yr cellphone"

It seems you text message when arrive and when you leave

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by JR

for me - easier to send a quick message "is the server down" or "are you into anal sex" or whatever, from anywhere in the world and get an answer in a few seconds.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/i/z/rv/20...50-300x500.gif

http://www.tmobile.com/promos/sidekickII.asp

[Nickatilynx]

Originally Posted by Nickatilynx

today I was in a car park advertising "Don't get wet,pay us with yr cellphone"

It seems you text message when arrive and when you leave

or of course you can just not pay and risk the ticket.

So far I'm well ahead of the game ;-)))

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by JR

for me - easier to send a quick message "is the server down" or "are you into anal sex" or whatever, from anywhere in the world and get an answer in a few seconds.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/i/z/rv/20...50-300x500.gif

We use SMS alot in our group. Funny enough, we all have TREO 650's.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by gonzo

http://www.tmobile.com/promos/sidekickII.asp

TREO' were in the top ten products for 2005. Sidekicks were nowhere on the list.

[Hell Puppy]

SMS used properly is a fast way to deliver a short message. If I just wanna tell someone breakfast is at 3AM at Steak 'n Shake, I can do it in 30 seconds or less. If I do the same thing voice it would be considered rude as fuck.

ring
ring
ring

"hello"

"breakfast at steak 'n shake at 3AM"

click

Doesn't work that way, you gotta have the obligatory chit chat.

People who insist upon voice calls suck the hours right out of the day. Most of the people who are "voice people" are also the ones who are a royal pain in the ass to get off the phone, and also prone to call you at the most inconvenient times.

SMS is much like ICQ or email, much less intrusive. You can read the message, prioritize and reply when appropriate.

[JR]

Originally Posted by Anthony

We use SMS alot in our group. Funny enough, we all have TREO 650's.

i love the treo. i had a 600 and bought a 650. i have an ipaq as well. er... had. i threw it out the window of my car when it froze up for the umpteenth time. in a word, they are worthless. its not a good phone, not a good pda - which defeats the purpose of either type of user buying it.

i think Hellpuppy completely... its less intrusive and quicker.

[The Other Steve]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

I haven't tried it, but I'd think for me it would be the exact opposite -- take five mintues to type out what I can say in 30 seconds.

JR, not to put all of your very good post into a few words -- appreciate everything you said -- but to hone in: the lack of walkie-talkie feature and the higher cost per minute. That's what I thought was probably the difference.

As for "there is a number to call to get the ringtone, sms to vote on the song etc etc" absolute fascinating! I appreciate that insight!

There is another point to this too - they can be having 5 or 6 sms conversations all at the same time. It can't be done if they're using voice communications.

[The Other Steve]

Dravyk - there's a tollway down in Melbourne where you can pay your toll online or via your cellphone.

I'm sure it won't be long before your car can talk to you via SMS to remind you that it needs a service - or you'll be able to quiz your car via SMS to check on possible problems that that might arise in the days ahead.

The level of AI in cars today is amazing and it's only a matter of time before we will be communicating with them.

There is already a degree of that happening with modern railroad locos. The maintentance department can look into the computer files of a loco that's out on the road and have it tell them what things they need to look at at the next service.

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by The Other Steve

There is another point to this too - they can be having 5 or 6 sms conversations all at the same time. It can't be done if they're using voice communications.

Hand held ICQ, in other words.

Yeah, I agree with you about the car. So does MicroSoft unfortunately. So help me if Windows ever gets into autos like they want -- well the Blue Screen of Death could become all too real.

[slavdogg]

with the bluetooth ads, i cant imagine it working well
Do people actually keep their bluetooth ON most of the time ??
I've always found it draining my batteries like crazy on any phone i've had.

bluetooth sucks IMO

[Raven]

Originally Posted by slavdogg

with the bluetooth ads, i cant imagine it working well
Do people actually keep their bluetooth ON most of the time ??
I've always found it draining my batteries like crazy on any phone i've had.

bluetooth sucks IMO

Bluetooth has been berry berry good to me for shows...when I don't hear my phone ring..and when I'm driving.

Other than that...I never use it.

But, I do like it, even though it sucks the life out of the phone battery...it's lightweight...and I can hear my phone ringing....

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by Anthony

TREO' were in the top ten products for 2005. Sidekicks were nowhere on the list.

Now aint that some shit? Me and Snoop like ours.

[Peaches]

I was talking to a guy last week who was in the process of moving all his info from his Treo to a Razr. He didn't like the size of the Treo. I think I would be the same, even though it had a much easier way to SMS. I don't need all the calendar stuff - I have a pug calendar for that

[EroticySteve]

Branding has a value. That's for sure. However, to rely on branding as the success metric of a business isn't what Wall St. or even net investors are looking for when they are hedging their bets on the success of an entity. Branding is an asset when you're already a market leader and seek to maintain a competitive lead in your industry. However, as marketer who's worked on an independent basis with some very large mainstream companies, offline corporations and online corporations I can say that branding was a side effect of good marketing for me, not the goal.

I have been involved in $50 million dollar upstart marketing and branding budgets. Oh how I miss the dot com frenzy at times.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by EroticySteve

I have been involved in $50 million dollar upstart marketing and branding budgets. Oh how I miss the dot com frenzy at times.

Dont we all! SPend all the budget so you can get twice the next time!

[EroticySteve]

Ain't that the truth. I remember how I kept saying. "Look we need a revenue model, otherwise we'll be out of business in a year." Well, I was right. The goal back then was only to build free membership, Wall Street is looking for a marketable base of members.

Those guys were partially right. Mostly wrong though.

[CyberAge-Dave]

I am impressed. An actual Business thread.
Good job aeon.

Thanks guys for the props on the commercial.

Thanks aeon for pointing me in this direction.

-=Dave

[PornoDoggy]

My middle daughter has a phone with a mini-keyboard.

She told me the reason I don't text is simple - I'm old.

[Hell Puppy]

I leave bluetooth on all the time. And yes, it does munch on the battery pretty hard by doing so. But fuck it, i'll charge more often in exchange for the convenience of not having to go into settings and turn it on and off when I want to use it. Now I just need a new car with bluetooth built in....

[Hell Puppy]

Handhelds are almost a religious issue. People tend to defend their own favorite vigorously or diss the ones they're jealous of.

There are really only 3 worth considering at the moment IMO, and each has it's own strengths and weaknesses...

Blackberry -- If email is your thing, it's the best at handling it. Keyboard is very usable. However, it's weak on the IM and web surfing side. The 7100 is the size of a typical phone.

Treo -- If you're a PIM lover, this is the absolute best choice. Also good for the ability to add pocket apps to do just about anything. Decent web rendering and usability and good messaging if you can handle the tiny keyboard. Works great if you stick with WAP enabled sites. Single tasks though due to nature of Palm OS. Very pricey though still.

Sidekick II -- By far the best all around balance of messaging, email and surfing. The device was built specifically for wireless internet access, and the OS backgrounds very very well, far better than the other two. Renders pages well regardless of formatting and deals admirably with things like web forms. The first generation was not very durable, but they got it right with the second generation. Very cool form factor with the largest screen and keyboard of the bunch. However, it sucks as a PIM, and if you use a wireless for 90% or more email and rarely surf, the email features of the blackberry are superior. But if you want to surf and do all of the above, hard to beat.

Now the downside to all of the above is you greatly compromise the phone features. Of the 3, the blackberry has the best phone functionality. Sidekick II is usable as a phone, Treo tests most people's patience.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by PornoDoggy

My middle daughter has a phone with a mini-keyboard.

She told me the reason I don't text is simple - I'm old.

I do enough text with messenging services. Not that I'm a great fan of humanity; but, you can hear inflection and tone when you actually speak to one of them.

[aeon]

Originally Posted by CyberAge-Dave

Thanks aeon for pointing me in this direction.

-=Dave

Welcome to the clusterfuck that is oprano buddy.

Grab some metamucil, put on some depends, and enjoy the show.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by aeon

Welcome to the clusterfuck that is oprano buddy.

Grab some metamucil, put on some depends, and enjoy the show.

Metamucil?

We dont need no stinking metamucil.

We have sushi and seafood buffets!

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by Hell Puppy

Metamucil?

We dont need no stinking metamucil.

We have sushi and seafood buffets!

Rub it the fuck in. I been puking and shitting all day long.
FUCK SHELLFISH!

[DollarManSteve]

I dont think anyone read my posts.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by gonzo

Rub it the fuck in. I been puking and shitting all day long.
FUCK SHELLFISH!

Candy Ass

[Rolo]

Originally Posted by DollarManSteve

I dont think anyone read my posts.

I did... I think you are right regarding the speed of things, and that the internet will continue to evolve with "lifelike" chaos as the fuel. No major corp (including google) will be able to "buy" or "control" the internet, which might explain the need to build or buy "brands", since it gives them a sense of control, however truth is that the internet evolution seldom leaves room for a positive ROI on these type of ventures.

One of my next projects (still on the drawing board) is to take a already established phenomena, and build an environment where it can excel from where it is today - not by providing or developing new costly technologies, but simply by connecting the dots. The revenue model is spread on several levels, where the main mechanism will be supply and demand - giving it a almost life of its own. This is not a "build it and they will come" situation, there are going to be invested alot of money into getting the eyeballs, but nowhere near $580 million (price for myspace).

Having a visionary business model on the internet usual means doing things 500+ days before everyone else, so that doesn´t leave alot of time to get your ROI, if your only way to make money is to be the only one in the market. Therefore you need an "arsenal" of flexible parameters, and not just a "brand" or a "first mover advantage", because things change/evolve faster than ever before.