Apparently the rumors are flying around that Facebook is next in line to roll out their own branded mobile phone. Per usual, Techcrunch is out front with the info that Facebook is working on the software (not the hardware, nobody takes that on these days) to power a mobile device that would give iPhone and all those Android wannabes a run for their money.
Now we’ve heard this story before. Big brand thinks they can go direct to consumer, bypass the mobile Carriers (e.g. Verizon et al) and become the gatekeeper to all revenues that flow in from said consumers. Well, turns out it’s a little harder than that — just ask ESPN, Google or even the well funded upstarts Amp’d Mobile and Boost Mobile. So why in the world would Facebook even have a chance to pull it off?
Couple reasons…or say 500 million reasons to start.
Talk about an amazing low cost promotional platform to upsell from, Facebook just has to get every marketer’s favorite “1%” conversion and all of a sudden they’re in the game. Then there’s the not so small fact that a whole generation of digital users have shunned traditional email accounts for the Facebook inbox. If this batch of Internet users is fine with the FB stream, wall and inbox as their communication threads, then a Facebook mobile phone will feel like an obvious extension.
And then of course there’s the insatiable appetite that marketers have to get social and be on the Facebook platform. Imagine how Facebook can leverage this influence to pump out all kinds of co-marketing, cross-marketing deals with big brands to push the FB phone while at the same time seeding the FB Mobile Ad Network. AdMob and Quattro what?
Ok, so the Facebook phone seems like it’s got a real shot, even if it’s not officially on the Facebook “to do” list. Now how long until we get the specifications for the Twitter mobile phone?
Here I am, late night, on the couch watching Matt Cassell’s amazing last second TD pass to Moss. Oh, I think I have Matty on the bench in one of my fantasy leagues…oops.
But this isn’t about fantasy football. This is about the fact that I am writing on my blog, checking email across three email accounts, reading about today’s wild stock market session and doing about six other things on my computer, er uh, my iPhone.
As an EIR, I have half my mind in “investor” mode and half my brain in “operator” mode, and in both cases I become more convinced that mobile is where computing power (usage) is headed.
Seriously, what does your computer have that the iPhone doesn’t? Bigger screen, Office software and high-end gaming. Maybe, but the only one of those that lasts long-term is the bigger screen.
Think about your next business trip. Do you really need to lug your laptop with you? Think about your weekend and evening work. Do you really need to boot up your PC?
The answers are “no” and “not really”.
Remember the days when you looked forward to a SFO or LAX to JFK trip simply for the 5 hours of solitude?
Well the folks at GoGo are on a mission to make sure that peaceful time is turned in to just another 5 hours of being tethered to the office via email!
(Note: I haven’t signed up for the service, so this isn’t a real product review – just a bit of a rant)
As I boarded my flight tonight in NY the smiling young man in a green GoGo shirt and black slacks geeted me warmly – expecting I presume that signing up for his Internet access service was going to be nirvana for me.
No thanks!
I mean, c’mon. When do I get to read a magazine anymore (in the bathroom doesn’t really count)? When do I get to watch an edited version of a movie I wouldn’t even rent from Blockbuster (Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, are they serious?)? When do I get to chat up the stranger next to me and learn about the latest Botox techniques (“wow, it looks so…natural”).
No, I am going to pass on GoGo for now – no offense, of course, to the kid in the green shirt and his unbridled enthusiasm for wi-fi at 30,000 feet.
“Is Search the Best User Interface for Mobile?” …I say YES!
Search is the new “distribution” in the ongoing battle for value between content and distribution. As content development proliferates and becomes theoretically available across multiple UIs, the only real way for consumers to find it is through search.
Long term, search (particularly good, relevant search) gets more valuable…as does (and always will) really good content (or at least good content that doesn’t cost too much to produce relative to the size and engagement of its audience).
If don’t buy this — go get an iPhone and ask yourself how much more searching you do than you did before when the carriers laid out your content choices on the front screen.
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