So, sometimes I’m wrong (not very wrong actually) and sometimes stuff I’ve been saying for ages (long before anyone else) seems to be coming true.
A couple of themes I’ve been writing about over the years is that Location Based Services, if done right, are a winner and that mobile TV is a bit of a dog – certainly in the short term. Sure, I think video clips will be big, especially User Generated, but TV on the mobile doesn’t yet have mass appeal.
And then along comes a survey from In-Stat that says pretty much the same thing.
1,000 early adopters and business people were interviewed and while 15% expressed strong interest in Mobile TV, 53% wanted their phone to help them find their way around and find local services, like restaurants.
Now the caveat here is that business people aren’t going to be Digital Natives,¬†using Rupert Murdoch’s expression, but Digital Immigrants. So what they say they want, might be very different from a 20 year old who was practically born with a mobile in their hand and who can use one in pitch black with her hand behind¬†her back.
Having said that, I think these Digital Natives will still prefer LBS over Mobile TV, albeit on the basis of using LBS in different ways. Services like Loopt are clear winners to this new generation, provided they can overcome the challenge of working with operators/carriers.
Obviously, for this type of navigation to work usefully, it has to be superfast, which is a technical challenge. But I’m still holding out that LBS will be up there with voice, messaging, audio/video player, video/camera¬†and web browsing¬†in the suite of most frequently used tools in the mobile¬†phone of tomorrow.
Anyone think I’ve missed anything in that list?
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