Been in the market for a new cell phone these days and so I've looking in the stores, in the catalogues and online. What amazes me is what they are coming out with now. Phones and PDAs combined. Phones with cameras built-in. Phones with colour screens. This got me thinking, with SMS billing getting off the ground and North Americans starting to get hip to mobile phone billing, and with phones that can now show pictures, how far are we from cell phone porn?
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"...with most cell phones being cheaper than a computer and web access, it might just open up a whole new market for us porn peddlers." |
Now I know a lot of us, those professional geeks that are tied to technology, we have every single gizmo imaginable. From cell phones to pagers to text messaging devices to laptops and so on. This kind of makes us a little immune to the latest and the greatest in consumer toys. But for the average schmoe, who only has one device and might be looking to upgrade, these new phones just might start taking off. Once the price point gets low enough, people will buy them in droves. And when the cost gets low enough, you will start to see them for free, with an X month contract.
So, what are we purveyors of smut going to do about it? I guess one of the first questions we must ask is whether or not it is worth our time to start working on this potential new market. The real issue is whether or not people will start using their phones as internet browsers and multimedia devices? Will they change their usage habits? It really comes down to will your average person look at titties on their phones?
Many people did not think that cell phones would take off at all when they first came out. But here they are, as much a part of our lives as landlines. In certain Scandinavian countries, they have well over 90% penetration of the market. So, cell phones are here to stay. Look at what they are coming out with in Europe, and never mind what Asia has. They have some wild and amazing products that are still years from making it this side of the pond.
We may even get lucky and have the Europeans and Asians test the market for us, work out how to deliver content and what sort of content to deliver to such small screens. Europe already nailed the SMS billing issue for us here in North America, now all we have to do is jump on that wagon and go along for the ride.
Now a lot of naysayers are going to start raising the spam flag and warn me of the potential abuses of this new system. Yeah, so what? I get bombarded with crap in my email, I get enough flyers in my mailbox to wallpaper my living room. Add to that the telemarketers that interrupt my dinner every night and you start to get the picture. Marketers are a savvy bunch, I know, I'm one of them. If there is a way for me to get my message in front of you, I will find it and I will use it. Will I be a "spamhole" about it? No, but I will use every tool at my disposal to get you to part with your money.
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I have been working on this idea on my own for a little over a year now. Not necessarily cell porn, but a way to use cell phones for messaging. You've seen the "free" internet deals, where you get access for free, but have to stare at a border of ads around your browser while online, right? What about "free" cell service where you have to listen to a 15 second audio ad before you make a call? Or 30 seconds every time you turn it on? Expand that to a phone with a screen and all of a sudden, you're in the theatre district and your phone rings and a full-colour clip comes across the screen promoting the latest summer blockbuster. The food district runs restaurant ads. Wallstreet has mutual fund ads.
This ain't exactly new folks.
Sure, it would be open to abuse, as are all communications mediums, from television with its terrible infomercials to spam emails to websites themselves with their blinking banner hells. Seen the hubcaps on taxis? Remember when AskJeeves put stickers on apples in grocery stores? Advertising is here to stay.
But, back to cell phone porn. As the newer phones get better and better, and the features get more impressive, it is bound to happen. Have you seen that new Sony phone with the built-in camera? How's that for live access or true amateur content? You could almost run a site from one of those puppies. Just think of what is coming in the next few months, never mind a year from now.
And with most cell phones being cheaper than a computer and web access, it might just open up a whole new market for us porn peddlers. Soon there will be more consumers we can go after. Sure, the screen is small, but we could make the fees small as well. And for many people, the ability to get jiggy with some pix whenever and wherever they want, that is what is going to drive this next stage in the evolution of online porn.
I would say that it is starting to look like it is time to start WAPing your sites. Starting testing and playing with low res and low bandwidth content. Start tinkering now so that you are ready when the floodgates open!