How many times have you read an article in one publication making a claim about the “next big thing” that will change the way we will communicate in the future, only to read a completely contradictory story in another publication the very next day? Reuters just published a piece describing Nokia’s claim that Television viewing on mobile phones will reach the masses by 2008. Dozens of trials in the last year have shown the mobile industry that consumers enjoy mobile TV and, more importantly, that they are willing to pay from 5 to 10 euros a month for it. Obviously excited by this possible cash cow, the mobile and broadcast industries are keen to launch commercial services in Europe and the United States. Hmmm… Why am I not sharing Nokia’s enthusiasm here? Could it be because this glowing report is sponsored by the company who will benefit the most from its results? Or, was it the item I read the next day in The Wall Street Journal about another report on exactly this subject from the Royal Bank of Canada’s Capital Markets division (who I assume are not in the cell phone business.) In it, more than ¾ of the US consumers surveyed said they aren’t interested in watching TV programs, or listening to music on their cell phones, and they certainly wouldn’t want to pay extra for such services. Maybe they think cell phones as something to make phone calls with!
Can you imagine how much money we're going to make with this thing?
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