Daily Archives: 10th Jan 2006

Mobile TV

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Finally,another link from Rajesh Jain- on mobile TV.

This echoes my own thoughts as to what I have mentioned in the earlier posts (1,2,3)

Tech Review writes:

Though mobile TV does, for the moment, suffer from technical limitations such as long buffering times and choppy streams, Sprint, Verizon, and Cingular have determined that the medium is now good enough to begin earning money for carriers. Most basic services — which offer channels such as ABC News or E! — cost roughly $10 to $15 per month, with pay-per-view clips sold for up to $4 and à la carte channels for upwards of $4 each.

This is expensive by Indian standards.

A powerful enough reason why Mobile TV isn’t “happening”.

And the carriers are right. Mobile TV is exciting. But for me, the daily thrill of playing around with phones that serve as teeny TVs began to fade just around the moment I crossed the threshold to my apartment after work. That’s because at home, I have absolute control over what I see and how I see it. I have a Hewlett-Packard Media Center PC, a buggy but powerful machine that, in addition to serving as an ordinary computer, utterly blurs the distinction between streaming Web video and broadcast television. It allows me to watch, record, and organize video content from any source — the Web, broadcast TV, or DVDs. And because I also use the Windows Media Center Extender, I can have all that content streamed directly to my television.

Plus, the biggest disadvantge is that the mobile phone companies would dictate the programmes that you can watch.

Still, it’s too early to say as to how things would shape up.

Critique on Emergic-Part 3

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In another series of posts, Rajesh Jain looks at the mobile phones exclusively:

The mobile phone is rapidly becoming the uber-device the one device that seems to have it all and becomes even more indispensable than it is now. The mobile phones have already started functioning as more than just communications devices. Already, mobiles serve as watches and alarm clocks. Even with the limited free games that come with basic phones, they are already good for time-pass.They can also function as calculators. In unfamiliar neighbourhoods, they tell us where we are. The address book and contacts list on phones is our social interface. Without the phone, many of us would be quite lost in connecting with other people! The calendar function on the mobile phones can help us track our lives. Phones can also function as radios. For some, the mobile phone also becomes a notepad send an SMS to oneself and make it a reminder service. Owners also have tended to customise phones with their own ringtones, themes and wallpapers.

Further, he extolls the virtue of all in one devices- mobile phones as digital cameras, MP3 player et al.

As usual I remain unconvinced about the utility of having all in one. For a digital camera, one needs to have a CCD capture device, with MMS enabled, it only encourages to download smut (mostly and not all are saints!). Similarly as a gamining device, I am loath to carry a bulky device with battery playing a spoil sport.

I must admit that I am a music freak- though again I would opt for a standaloneiPod like device (not iPod itself). That makes much more sense. In any case, the novelty soon wears off.

As for accessing internet or mobile office applications, the whole experience is marred by the slow access times. The GPRS networks are no big deal and a serious let down. Relying on the same as the primary mode of access, it’s indeed foolhardy and expensive. So, the low end ocnsumer like me is ruled out. Though glad to know that much of the bulk of the consumers are “low end” like me.

Critique on Emergic- part 2

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Continuing on the previous post, Rajesh Jain writes his own personal view. I quote:

The three key building blocks for my thinking about the future are broadband, mobility and emerging markets. Broadband will enable on-demand, net-native services. Mobility will empower users with computers in their pockets. Much of this future will begin and spread faster in emerging markets because they have very little legacy.

We have one of the world’s largest populations. We now have in The Times of India the world’s largest selling English-language broadsheet newspaper. And amongst all the enterprise that Indians have been known for, it will be good to also build one of the world’s largest corporations in the next decade. Ambitious, yes.

There are serious flaws in the assumptions here.

Having the world’s largest populations, doesn’t automatically mean a “huge market”. By any account, 65%+ population stays in the villages. Much of the economy is agarian dependent on the vagaries of monsoon. A drought or bad debts and we have farmers commiting suicide. Further, much of the household income is budgeted for health care. Given the dismal infrastructure spending on health care ( a really serious issue), even I am having doubts about the imminent rural push.

All of a sudden, the talk about mobile RSS feeds or XML or searches et al doesn’t hold any meaning at all. By all accounts, the first purchase of the handset would be after everything else has been accounted for. Once home and hearth have been secured, the “humble farmer” would invest in a swanky mobile phone.

The other factor is the content. How do you read the rural customer’s mind? How would you target the product to a farmer? How would you make it more appealing? These are some issues that need to be addressed first.

Plus, a galloping population, in the absence of any social security would be a huge burden on the creaking health care delivery system. Health care insurance is next to nil and is a real challange to enroll customers for the same. With soon aging population and chronic disease burden, having a huge population and hungry mouths isn’t a grand idea at all.

However, all isn’t pessimistic scenario here.

With always on broadband networks and ubiquitous mobile computing on laptops, it might be a common place to see increasing demand for applications, content delivery systems and price pressure on the hardware costs. The laptops are already at affordable levels; they are slowly replacing the desktops. As for the mobile computing, I remain enthusiastic about SMS services. They are the real enablers. Ask anyone of my friends; I am an SMS addict.

It’s too premature to make any assumptions about the future though.