I think the pocket TV - mobile phone comparison is not a very good one,
simply because pocket TV has no other function but to show TV-programs, a
concept which obviously didn't work, whereas the concept of mobile phones
has already been accepted by majority of people. You don't have to sell the
device, you just have to get consumers to "watch the programs." And they
will.
The situation will escalate at the end of this year, when most of the phones
sold worldwide will hava Java. Some indication of this can be taken from the
case In-Fusio-D2 in Germany, where their low-quality downloadable games are
already generating more revenue than ring tones and icons combined. Real
revenue. Why Riot-E failed, is because SMS/WAP just wasn't enough to create
consumer experience, brands or no brands.
Wait for the Nokia-Siemens-Motorola-SonyEricsson low-end mass-market Java
phones, and you'll have your... well, mass-market.
Btw. ever wondered how a snack shop of twenty people like In-Fusio gets
Vodafone/D2 and device manufacturers (Sagem and Siemens) to implement their
technology? If their marketing people ever publish a book, I'll be first to
order!
With best regards,
Sampo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phillip Zadarnowski" <fanjet@iinet.com.au>
To: <keitai-l@appelsiini.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 6:40 AM
Subject: (keitai-l) Re: RIOT-E goes belly up
>
> >That seems a bit of a harsh characterisation. Riot-e were certainly
taking
> a
> >gamble on plopping down big license advances - I heard they paid $1M
> advance
> >for LOTR - but I also heard they were going round europe operator by
> >operator and getting big advances for territory exclusives against that
> >property.
>
> >just got caught by the market taking longer to arrive...
>
> I don't think there really was a significant market at all. There are just
> some things that ultimately aren't worth the big money. Mobile devices
> simply can never be the dumping ground for every kind of diversion known
> to man at a premium price. It may offer good alternatives in entertainment
> and new ground to break, but there are those of us who pay for many of
> those services already (pay TV, premium internet, video games/consoles)
> who aren't going to pay yet more to extend what amounts to a rather nasty
> subset (small pics, fractured games) into a mobile device.
>
> When pocket TVs came out in the early 1980's (I still have my monochrome
> Casio pocket TV) I really thought that people would spend time watching
> them at work (at lunch, even in the toilets!) or on the bus and they would
> become some sort of modern-day social problem. As it turned out, besides
> the TV content being quite awful during work hours, people just didn't
care,
> and still don't.
>
> My boss nixed Riot-E at their first appearance and I wasn't so sure at the
> time, but it looks to be a pattern for the future. The line between
> profit and loss is ever creeping away over the horizon, especially for a
> large number of companies who place bets and themselves on the line far in
> advance of user sentiment and technology.
>
> SteveZ
> trackhq.com
>
>
> This mail was sent to address keitai@mrgoodliving.com
> Need archives? How to unsubscribe? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/
>
>
Received on Wed Mar 20 11:43:01 2002