Are You Ready For Cell-Phone TV?
by
Randy Mears
Here we go again, another grand experiment in cell-phone technology and a new crop of cell-phones to match. Mobile TV, in the cell-phone space, needs to be inexpensive if it is to succeed in the current US market. I am usually excited by the advance of mobile technologies, when I can see the benefit; I am however puzzled by the perception that there is a need for Mobile TV to be implemented on cell-phones, at this point in time. I do get that cell-phone TV is ultimately in the cards, what I don't get is why now? In today's mobile landscape, is this just technology for technology’s sake?
There is a difference between listening to mp3s while you are otherwise engaged and watching a hand-held television, a feat that requires visual as well as auditory focus. Although I do use my iPod to watch TV programs and movies that I download from iTunes (I only watch while traveling on an airplane), I don’t pay a monthly fee for the privilege or rely on connectivity which is tenuous at best and non-existent at worst. Just because a device has a display screen, it doesn't necessarily follow that it has to be a TV. The bottom line, I am a hopeless consumer of new mobile technologies, but I’m not even slightly enticed by the cell-phone TV idea, particularly as it stumbles, and it will; through its early adopter stages.
This is just my two cents, but wouldn’t it be great if the big cell-phone service providers were to focus on improving their overall service? I may be taking a leap here but I think that most of us would prefer better coverage, clearer signals and fewer dropped calls over another new bleeding edge, add-on feature.
Sorry about the rant, I feel much better now!
