Britsh comedian, Jasper Carrott used to say “I always feel sorry for Sun readers, as they can’t write in to complain”. For an explanation of joke and some Sun trivia, for those not familiar with Rupert Murdoch’s Sun, see bottom of this blog.
Well, The Sun is the latest media owner to jump on the Java apps bandwagon, with their own Java portal, according to New Media Age.
The publisher believes its brand is strong enough to compete head-on with mobile operator portals like Vodafone Live! and is looking to launch as soon as possible.
‘We’ll be in a position to launch fairly soon,’ said Simon Ashley, commercial manager for News Group Digital. ‘We’re a strong brand, so we should be doing it ourselves rather than Vodafone Live!.’
The Sun is just the latest in a growing number of brands and media companies looking to mobile Java to offer a direct relationship with consumers, sidestepping the need to negotiate for a place on the operator portals.
This follows my early blog on similar portals from Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Big Brother.
To paraphrase my earlier blog: “If you can see a bandwagon, it’s too late.” So if you’re thinking about your own Java app or portal, I’d recommend reading my previous post.
EXPLANATION of the Joke: The Sun is a mass market, tabloid newspaper, specialising in scurrilous stories, showbiz gossip and sensationalizing the news of the day. “Gotcha” was their headline on the sinking of the Argentine ship the General Belgrano in the Falklands War, with 1,000 men on board – very tasteful.
In fact, the editor responsible, the legendary Kelvin MacKenzie even laughed off Private Eye’s spoof Sun headline, “KILL AN ARGIE AND WIN A METRO”, joking: “Why didn’t we think of that?”
Other headlines have included on the day of the 1992 election: “If Kinnock wins today, will the last one out of Britain please turn the lights out?” and “SORRY, DID WE SAY YOU WERE A POOF?” about any number of high profile people it regularly “outs” wrongly.
There’s also the famous Page 3 girl, a partially nude (from the waist up) young lady on Page 3 every day.
Anyway, The Sun is (I’m ashamed to say) easily the most widely read newspaper in Britain, despite it’s dire standards – even if it can be quite funny at times. But the average reader thinks it’s the truth, which doesn’t say a lot for their intelligence.
Hence Jasper Carrott’s quip about not being able to write (in).
Little known fact; Mr Carrott is a major beneficiary of the ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ franchise, as a significant shareholder in Celador. With a stake worth £50 million, what does he care about pissing off a few Sun readers?
Personal Sun anecdote:
Headhunter “Would you be interested in a well paid job where you get called ‘c**t’ 5 times a day?”
Me: “No thanks, I don’t want to work with The Sun.”
Yes, it was indeed a job at The Sun.
Sun Joke (from the brilliant, Yes Prime Minister):
Jim Hacker (Prime Minister): “Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:
– The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
– The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
– The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
– The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
– The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
– The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
– And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.”
Sir Humphrey: “Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun ?”
Bernard Woolley: “Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits.”
Enough of this Sun stuff already!
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