tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post3623702925537328444..comments2024-03-25T21:41:06.801-07:00Comments on Mobile Opportunity: What we're learning from Web apps, part 3: Breeding new types of mediaMichael Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-16682108243479661922007-08-14T15:23:00.000-07:002007-08-14T15:23:00.000-07:00Re: virtual networks on mobilesHere is an example ...Re: virtual networks on mobiles<BR/>Here is an example how it works in Japan:<BR/>http://analytica1st.com/analytica1st/2007/08/mobile-virtual-hangout-chipuya-town.html<BR/>Obviously, you don't need high-end graphics processors to implement the concept on mobile phones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-56585621759498823252007-07-20T16:57:00.000-07:002007-07-20T16:57:00.000-07:00I see the internet as a medium for digital transfe...I see the internet as a medium for digital transfer in the same way as pipe is a medium for liquid transfer (or gas and even solids). In the same way the digital information can also be transferred on a disk, the liquid can be transferred in buckets. The liquid does not need to be specified, and can therefore be anything from drinking water to sulphuric acid, and thus will serve totally different uses and purposes. What you are discussing is *what* exactly is to be transferred, and from whom and to whom and also for what purpose. The point is that the internet viewed as a medium can only be a medium for *unspecified* digital transfer, and as soon as you start to define a purpose other than merely pumping bits and bytes, the internet becomes a transport mechanism in the same manner as blood is a transport mechanism for oxygen, nutrients and everything else that need to be transported in the body. This of course means that there are no limits to what exactly can be transferred, as long as it can be coded in zeroes and ones. So, the internet is definitely a meta-medium, it can be used to create/transfer any new types of media.<BR/><BR/>I think there is one key difference between the internet (as we usually know it, and the way it traditionally is) and the mobile networks. The internet is anonymous, while the mobile network is not. You can participate or enter the internet with any PC from anywhere, and there is no way your activities can be tied to you personally. On the other hand, when entering the internet from your phone, your activities can be tied directly to your phone number and directly to you personally. This is crucial, because without identification of individuals, anarchy exist. And where anarchy exist, it is impossible to create a viable self sustained economy. The new high speed mobile networks will very soon change things, and I don’t think there are many years until all purchases we do on the net will show up on the phone bill. This is the way it works already today when purchasing music for our walkman phones and for a lot of other things as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-4318285684866715902007-07-20T00:27:00.000-07:002007-07-20T00:27:00.000-07:00Great comments, folks. Thanks very much for sendi...Great comments, folks. Thanks very much for sending them.<BR/><BR/><BR/><B>alex wrote:</B><BR/><BR/><I>>>Aren't "minipayments" in fact established already - in the mobile world?</I><BR/><BR/>They are indeed. I thought about going into that subject, but the post was too long already.<BR/><BR/>The problem is that to make the process work, you need both an open garden with an easy content discovery mechanism (a la YouTube) and an easy minipayment mechanism. The wired Internet lacks the latter, the wireless world generally lacks the former. The system that got both of them (mostly) right is DoCoMo's iMode, and it has done very well.<BR/><BR/><I>>> that operator's mobile billing is the most promising contender for "minipayments".</I><BR/><BR/>If it's managed right, and if the operator doesn't take too big a cut.<BR/><BR/><BR/><B>Rob Mientjes wrote:</B><BR/><BR/><I>>> Hey Michael, just to get back to the medium thing: yes, that was a wrong choice of words on my part.... Websites, however, I perceive as a medium, and an interactive one at that (if you so choose), and that's mostly what my article was about.</I><BR/><BR/>Makes sense, and I'm sorry if I misconstrued your post. For what it's worth, I wasn't trying to pick on you -- I was just looking for examples of different takes on the Internet as a medium, and your post showed up high on the search.<BR/><BR/><BR/><B>Tamas wrote:</B><BR/><BR/><I>>> I think it would be interesting to play with the idea of paying for web content with the mobile phone.</I><BR/><BR/>It's an excellent idea. I wish more operators were trying to think of the unique value-added roles they could play in the ecosystem. I think if you're truly worried about becoming a dumb pipe, the best way to avoid it is to provide a critically needed part of the ecosystem.<BR/><BR/>There's a lot of opportunity for adding value without overcharging or strangling your other partners, if you think creatively.<BR/><BR/><BR/><B>Steve Smith wrote:</B><BR/><BR/><I>>>I just thought it would be useful to point out that a medium supports many things. Take a telephone call, for example....</I><BR/><BR/>Sorry, but that doesn't work for me. I think a phone call is a medium for two-way spoken conversation between two or more human beings. That's all, and that's the way most people think of it. For a while it was also used as a medium for electronic information exchange via dial-up modems, but they're now generally gone, and good riddance.<BR/><BR/>The difference is that the Internet is being talked up very seriously by a lot of people as a medium for all sorts of different things, which is one of the symptoms of a meta-medium.<BR/><BR/><I>>>The Internet is infrastructure; the web is a platform. So when we say medium, maybe we mean platform in that complete sense of stacking all the pieces necessary to connect one person to another so that they can interact.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm not sure that we're disagreeing, Steve. What I'm calling a medium is that stack, with all of the pieces necessary for full delivery (including the business model). If you want to call that a platform instead, fine. But my point is still that the Internet is enabling the creation of a whole bunch of these platforms/media, far more rapidly than they appeared in the past. That's the important change -- a fundamental acceleration in the creation of new types of media.<BR/><BR/>I think most of us kind of take that for granted, but it's<BR/>incredibly impactful when you compare it to the pace of change even 50 years ago.Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-83292957372955483302007-07-19T16:15:00.000-07:002007-07-19T16:15:00.000-07:00There's something intellectually... not dishonest,...There's something intellectually... not dishonest, but misleading... about your argument that the Internet is not a medium. Now, perhaps the Internet is not a medium, but the world wide web is a medium; I'll get to that in a minute. First, I just thought it would be useful to point out that a medium supports many things. Take a telephone call, for example.<BR/><BR/><BR/>--[a telephone call] is a medium for mixed-media communication.<BR/>--It's a medium for... music broadcasting.<BR/>--It's a medium for making politically-motivated attacks. (And an unregulated medium at that. Heaven forbid we should practice unregulated politics.)<BR/>--It's "a perfect medium for the sale of software and other digital products."<BR/>--It's a medium for interactive, moving content.<BR/>--It's a "new medium for business communication."<BR/>--It's "a medium of news dissemination."<BR/>--It's "a new medium for design."<BR/>--It's a new medium for video.<BR/>--It's a new medium for communication by individuals.<BR/>--It's a new medium for socializing.<BR/><BR/>Telephone calls are everything these people are saying the Internet or the web is... and you accept the telephone call as a medium. So there's something that's at least incomplete about this argument. <BR/><BR/>The Internet may not be a medium because the internet (with a small "i") is the network minus the "last mile" of sensory representation and personal interaction provided by the web on videophones, laptops, desktops, hiptops and cellphones of all kinds, through browsers and other interactive applications. The Internet is infrastructure; the web is a platform. So when we say medium, maybe we mean platform in that complete sense of stacking all the pieces necessary to connect one person to another so that they can interact.Steve Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09767084098157868138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-48707901275402160682007-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:002007-07-12T16:46:00.000-07:00I think Alex is right.Mobile phone service provide...I think Alex is right.<BR/>Mobile phone service providers already have the billing infrastructure that can effectively deal with small amounts and they can benefit from using prepaid accounts for mobile payments. They'd basically enter the banks domain...<BR/><BR/>I used to work for a mobile phone service provider - recently they became T-mobile Hungary - on creating the company's mobile payment platform.<BR/>The obvious question came up: nice, so what are we gonna use this for?<BR/>Except for obvious services like buying movie tickets and paying for parking is proved to be a good way to pay for digital content. That time we were thinking of content coming onto the mobile device but I think it would be interesting to play with the idea of paying for web content with the mobile phone.Tamas Simon (Sic)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03314377040325037822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-79160237081626453162007-07-12T02:38:00.000-07:002007-07-12T02:38:00.000-07:00Hey Michael, just to get back to the medium thing:...Hey Michael, just to get back to the medium thing: yes, that was a wrong choice of words on my part. This <A HREF="http://zooibaai.nl/2005/04/internet-as-the-medium/#comment-2055" REL="nofollow">was pointed out</A> in the comment section, but I didn't feel it would significantly change the points I make for anyone who actually read the content. It's absolutely true that the internet as such is not a medium, neither is the copper wire for telephony. Websites, however, I perceive as a medium, and an interactive one at that (if you so choose), and that's mostly what my article was about.<BR/><BR/>Cut me some slack, though. That's over two years ago. That's like a century in internet time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-91883306745328882922007-07-12T02:08:00.000-07:002007-07-12T02:08:00.000-07:00Aren't "minipayments" in fact established already ...Aren't "minipayments" in fact established already - in the mobile world?<BR/>Ringtone business is a few B$ annually (worldwide), and mobile music download is emerging strong in some countries.<BR/>The "universal system" are the mobile billing systems of the operators (carriers).<BR/><BR/>Ok, it is not huge and dominant at the moment, and some popular mobile services rely on their own coupon systems for payment rather than operator billing, but still I think that operator's mobile billing is the most promising contender for "minipayments".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com