Comment Re:I don't want a phone with apps (Score 3, Insightful) 162
In my opinion, a phone is a tool. I don't ask screwdriver makers to make blank drivers so I can whittle my own philips head. If I need a tool with more features I will buy it, I don't want to worry about installing or developing my own tools. Meet me. Joe Consumer.
Fair enough, there is always going to be a portion of the population who want the no frills version of any given tool. However, in the case of mobile technology think about the fundamental difference between Apple and Microsoft in the early days. Apple offered a 'rolled', end-to-end solution with all the hardware and software you needed. That suits the basic user as they can go in and explore what the technology offers, etc.
Then Microsoft came out with a 'roll your own' solution where you could grab a processor from one company, a screen from another, the keyboard from yet another, etc and wack good old Windows on the system. Far more versatile and appropriate for a market that had started to understand the technologies potential.
The second example came with the internet. Applying the same terms in the Apple-Microsoft analogy AOL, for example, offered a rolled solution where you could access a certain amount of information and get a feel for what this internet thingy is all about. Then along came the portal/search engines, Yahoo!, Altavista and of course Google - the 'roll your own' version that allowed you to reach the internet at large.
So, this brings us to the point - mobile. Carrier portals such as the various i-mode deployments, Vodafone Live!, etc are the mobile versions of rolled solutions. As history has shown us, these rolled solutions are awesome while the market learns about a technologies potential, but invariably consumers will come to want to personalise their experience (Look at ringtones sales worldwide). Thats why companies such as http://www.bluepulse.com/ are appearing and giving people to ability to have roll-your-own mobile content regardless of carrier, handset manufacturer or what country they're in... freedom baby =)
Incase anyone is about to jump on and post that browsing content on an XHTML browser is not installing an appliction, yes, that's true, which is why I used bluepulse as an example - their product is not a browser but a remote desktop from which you can launch mobile applications.
Fair enough, there is always going to be a portion of the population who want the no frills version of any given tool. However, in the case of mobile technology think about the fundamental difference between Apple and Microsoft in the early days. Apple offered a 'rolled', end-to-end solution with all the hardware and software you needed. That suits the basic user as they can go in and explore what the technology offers, etc.
Then Microsoft came out with a 'roll your own' solution where you could grab a processor from one company, a screen from another, the keyboard from yet another, etc and wack good old Windows on the system. Far more versatile and appropriate for a market that had started to understand the technologies potential.
The second example came with the internet. Applying the same terms in the Apple-Microsoft analogy AOL, for example, offered a rolled solution where you could access a certain amount of information and get a feel for what this internet thingy is all about. Then along came the portal/search engines, Yahoo!, Altavista and of course Google - the 'roll your own' version that allowed you to reach the internet at large.
So, this brings us to the point - mobile. Carrier portals such as the various i-mode deployments, Vodafone Live!, etc are the mobile versions of rolled solutions. As history has shown us, these rolled solutions are awesome while the market learns about a technologies potential, but invariably consumers will come to want to personalise their experience (Look at ringtones sales worldwide). Thats why companies such as http://www.bluepulse.com/ are appearing and giving people to ability to have roll-your-own mobile content regardless of carrier, handset manufacturer or what country they're in... freedom baby =)
Incase anyone is about to jump on and post that browsing content on an XHTML browser is not installing an appliction, yes, that's true, which is why I used bluepulse as an example - their product is not a browser but a remote desktop from which you can launch mobile applications.
