I need help thinking through this scenario.
Digital file sharing via wired Internet is big,
particularly in the US. Mobile Internet is big (well,
i-mode in Japan for now), and some version of i-mode
probably will take off in the U.S. soon.
I am not the first person to imagine this, but it
seems likely that one of the next Really Big Things
will be a convergence of these two forces, enabling
digital music access and file sharing via
Internet-enabled keitai. A real plus would be the
ability to beam music files (e.g., mp3) from keitai
to keitai quickly and easily.
Samsung has released a GSM phone that can store and
playback mp3 files, the SGH-M100, with IrDA interface
built in. But it only has 32MB of storage (holds 8
song files on average), weighs 97 grams (my N209i
weighs 86) and transmits data at 14.4 kbps. The
promotional literature talks about sharing document
files between mobile and pc, but nothing about keitai
to keitai music file transfers, and nothing about
downloading mp3 files directly to the phone.
http://www.samsungelectronics.com/mobile/products/gsm/sgh-m100/index.html
My take on some problems to overcome before music
over mobile will catch on: (1) Data rate speeds
presently are too low for (mp3) file downloading to
keitai; (2) Network congestion; (3) Viable pricing
structure(s). Per packet is not likely to work, but
all-you-can-download subscriptions might; (4) Mobile
units (phones seem most likely) will need to be
light; (5) keitai to keitai music file transfer needs
to be quick, compatible, and easy.
Some questions I have:
Is sharing music files between keitais a likely
scenario via existing protocols such as IrDA or
bluetooth? In the case of mp3 what transfer speeds
and times are likely for an average size song file?
I'm sure there are other important considerations.
Any obvious technical hurdles, or general thoughts or
corrections?
--dan dolan
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Thu Oct 26 05:46:02 2000