09/2 The mobile phone: a wonderful example of a "leapfrog technology"Hugh Pickens (found via Slashdot) writes:
"CBC News has up an article by Peace Corps volunteer Heidi Vogt, a woman who served in the small village of Gono in Mali five years ago and remembers letters dictated and hand-carried by donkey cart or bicycle to the next town. Vogt recently returned to see the changes that cellphone communications have made in a village that still doesn't have electricity or decent drinking water. 'Gono's elders say the phones can keep them in touch with their village diaspora,' writes Vogt. 'Villagers depend on far-off relatives to send money in time of crisis — if someone is sick, if a house has caught fire, if there's been too little or too much rain and the harvest is poor. There's a new sense of connection to a larger world. In a village where most people can't read or write, they can now communicate directly with far-off relatives.'"
See also:
This week's economist about Technologies in emerging economies. In the intro The limits of leapfrogging the mobile phone turned out to be a wonderful example of a "leapfrog technology". 29/1 Mobile Services 2008, Technopark Zurich, May 15, 200815/1 Addendum: Media vs OperatorsAs an addendum to this post:
The Operators vs. the Media Brands by Chetan Sharma
[...] If we look at the strategic canvas of the mobile data industry, it’s clear that operators currently have a huge advantage over media brands. Mobile operators’ advantage in the current landscape comes from their superior reach, as well as the capability they have to segment and profile users. Their current influence over the ecosystem is a magnitude ahead of media brands. However, in other areas, such as user experience, content, and the ability to be quick to market — media brands have a stronger strategic footing, and they will use it to close the gap in the other areas.
[...] Operators and media companies sit at the exact opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of cultural and media savviness. Mobile operators are very engineering focused and extremely conservative in their approach to the critical operational aspects of running a cellular network. Media companies, on the other hand, come up with the most creative ways to express a brand message in a landscape that would burst the brains of the very brightest network operators with all of its consumer nuances and related myriad creative intricacies.
[...] To be successful over the long term, operators need to focus on the unique elements that only they can provide — such as location, presence, user profiles and platforms for applications; as well as device and network APIs — and build business models around abstracting this information so that the ecosystem can utilize them to enhance user experience and usage. Such an approach will enhance their competitiveness in the media ecosystem, keep the usage and ARPU levels up, and get more entrepreneurs and users involved in moving the industry to its next milestone.
As for the last paragraph, operators are no longer the only ones who can provide location, presence, user platforms for applications. However operators are certainly the ones who could provide device and network API's. But that would mean that most operators have to change their ways of doing by 180 degrees.
Another angle from John Hockenberry
Networks are built on the assumption that audience size is what matters most. Content is secondary; it exists to attract passive viewers who will sit still for advertisements. For a while, that assumption served the industry well. But the TV news business has been blind to the revolution that made the viewer blink: the digital organization of communities that are anything but passive. Traditional market-driven media always attempt to treat devices, audiences, and content as bulk commodities, while users instead view all three as ways of creating and maintaining smaller-scale communities. As users acquire the means of producing and distributing content, the authority and profit potential of large traditional networks are directly challenged. 13/1 The old model will work for the next two, three years, but then it's overIt's an old article (18.12.2007) from the Financial Times Germany, but I think it is a relevant one (thanks Timo).
Basically it comes down to this: E-Plus CEO Thorsten Dirks initiates a strategy change. They no longer believe in the walled garden strategy doing everything by themselves, but they see that they have to cooperate with creative internet companies.
The portal strategy (T-Zones, Vodafone Live or iMode...) has failed. For clients these portals are not attractive enough: they are too expensive and not user friendly.
And there is no time to loose. The incumbents do not have more than two, three years, then their current business will be dead.
Quotes from FTD's E-Plus bricht mit altem Geschäftsmodell
Selbst mit eigenen Angeboten wie den multimedialen Kurznachrichten MMS, Handyportalen wie T-Zones, Vodafone live oder gar dem Schmalspur-Internet iMode erlitten die Netzbetreiber Schiffbruch: Sie sind für Nutzer zu umständlich, zu teuer, zu unattraktiv.
[...] Statt alles in Eigenregie anzubieten, will sich E-Plus lieber an externe Dienstleister halten - und an deren Umsätzen teilhaben. Wie stark, steht noch in den Sternen. "Noch sind wir in einer guten Position, mit den attraktivsten Internet-Unternehmen Partnerschaften einzugehen. Noch haben wir Technik, Wissen, Kunden und Kanäle zu bieten, die sich andere erst mühsam erarbeiten müssten", sagte Dirks.
Die Zeit drängt. Allenfalls zwei bis drei Jahre könnten die Netzbetreiber noch von ihrem heutigen Geschäft leben, analysierten die Düsseldorfer intern.
[...] "Im Mobilfunkwettbewerb geht es um Ideen, Geld und Tempo. E-Plus hat seine Schwächen offenbar treffend analysiert - und zieht die richtigen Schlüsse", sagte Arndt Rautenberg, Telekomexperte der Strategieberatung OC&C, zu den Plänen. Defizite sieht er hingegen bei Marktführern - weltweit: "Gerade die Ex-Monopolisten wollen noch zu häufig alles selbst machen. Das kann nicht funktionieren."
Die Mehrzahl der Netzbetreiber sei weiterhin davon überzeugt, neben dem Zugang zum Mobilfunk auch künftig noch die Inhalte und Dienste bestimmen zu können. Dafür fehle ihnen oft nicht nur die Kompetenz, sondern auch die entsprechende Kultur und das passende Personal. "Es ist schwer abzuschätzen, was der Markt morgen oder übermorgen verlangt. Breite Partnerschaften mit einer Vielzahl kreativer Unternehmen sind daher die bessere Strategie als der Versuch, alles in Eigenregie entwickeln zu wollen", sagte Rautenberg. 14/12 Mobile Revenue Share and Expenditure Share Business ModelRevenue Share Model over Content Business Value Chain
In the Mobile Content Business value chain there are several parties (ie. Telecom Operator, Platform Vendor, Content Aggregator, Content Owner or Creator, Content Sponsor etc) involved nowadays. Everyone is involved here for their own benefits. From my experience I have seen that the operator tries to lower their CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) as well as the OPEX (Operational Expenditure). Hence Revenue Share business model came in the scene to satisfy all the related parties. Here in this article I will not just try to describe on the Revenue Share Business Model but also will try explore some concept on the Expenditure share model.
Didn't read it yet, so I am not sure if I will agree;) 08/11 Mobile Social Networking Course by Tomi and Steve Jones, Oxford, December 10Interesting course:
Mobile Social Networking, the Financial Saviour of the Mobile Sector
The smart guys working in 3G now accept that the one-to-many broadcast of mobile content is a broken business model. So what now? The passion of connected people to socialise words, voice, media and digital possessions around their personal networks never went away - it just went mobile. Mobile Social Networking. It's time is right now. 08/11 The clash between wireless carriers and internet companiesFrom The Impact of the Mobile Internet by Stuart Carlaw.
This clash is only just beginning and is being fuelled by the dual forces of fear and greed. The wireless carriers are fearful, while the large internet companies such as Google and Yahoo! see expansion into the mobile domain as a logical extension of their current businesses. The internet companies’ open approach to internet is diametrically opposed to the traditional telecoms attitude. Of course, disruptive elements in the telecoms market will advocate change, but on the whole, conflict will continue. Remember, these internet companies are in a very good financial position — especially Google. Their dollars could resolve this conflict through the artificial dissemination of disruptive approaches such as the ad-funded model, which could spread like wildfire in highly competitive and churn-susceptible markets.
It looks like Stuart wrote the article dated November 6, before the announcement of the Open Handset Alliance (this concerns mostly the end of the article and not the part quoted here). 05/11 Open Handset Alliance Announcement
After OpenSocial now the Open Handset Alliance
Welcome to the Open Handset Alliance™, a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies who have come together to accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience. Together we have developed Android™, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform.
We are committed to commercially deploy handsets and services using the Android Platform in the second half of 2008. An early look at the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) will be available on November 12th.
Android
Android™ will deliver a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. On November 12, we will release an early look at the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) to allow developers to build rich mobile applications.
Open
Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It is built to be truly open. For example, an application could call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that has been designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications. 31/10 Japan: 47.1% often or sometimes use QR Codes / Decline of PC usage
Q2: Do you use your mobile phone’s QR code or bar code reader? (Sample size=mobile phone users)
| Often use |
4.9% |
| Sometimes use |
42.2% |
| Have used it before |
14.6% |
| Know what QR codes are, but don’t use them |
27.7% |
| Just heard the name |
2.9% |
| Not even heard of them |
7.6% |
| No answer |
0.1% |
This question was rather badly worded as it confuses awareness of QR codes with usage of them; the number of people aware of QR codes but not owning phones with decoding facilities is not determined.
Also worthy of note:
Declining PC/Mac Internet usage in Japan among the 20 to 39 age group (2000-2006). Accessing the internet through the keitai (mobile phone) becomes predominant.
Sources:
パソコン見放す20代「下流」携帯族
The Second Digital Divide in Japanese Society
Update: article from November 5: In Japan, PCs are becoming sooo version 1.0 27/9 EMEA Mobile Advertising GuidelinesEMEA Mobile Advertising Guidelines Now Available
Aimed to enhance consumer experience and make mobile advertising campaigns a lot easier, The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has recently released its Mobile Advertising Guidelines specifically designed for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region (pdf*). Info included deals on how to use Mobile Web Banner, recommended file sizes, and other technical specifications.
Via The Mobile Weblog
* After a short visit to the EMEA site, it looks like these Guidelines are from June 2007. | |
