Mobile Experience

Open Content...Open Choice...Open Wallet

The recent WSJ.com article, "Cellphone Carriers Let Others Sell Mobile Content to Users" (11/30/2006) piqued my interest.  Have we not had a number of examples where opening access and choice leads to a wider opening of the customer wallet. 

The failure of AOL's restrictive approach to content is the example highlighted in the article.  There are other examples of the revenue growth benefits that accrue to open choice.  ATM usage is one I think we can all relate to.  ATM usage expanded almost 11% per year when consumer restrictions on access, location and choice were eliminated.  And, in more recent days, do we not look in awe at Skype's business model to stimulate pervasive use in order to build long-term trust and business success?  Skype calls are offered for pennies to get people "skyping".  Through opening its interfaces, developers will undoubtedly create a number of "skype-centric" applications, thereby expanding Skype share of experience. 

Less "Tarketing" ... More Serving

The title of an article on mobile advertising on November 30th WSJ.com, "Vodafone Gives Mobile Advertising a Push", made me hopeful that indeed Vodafone and Yahoo were on to something.  With "push" in the title, I enthusiastically expected to learn how they were going to "push to preferences and activities".  In the on-the-run consumer space this equates to serving.  However, this seems to be another effort to apply traditional advertising techniques and metrics to the mobile device screen.