I invite you all to check-out the near all-out-brawl that’s been going on in the comments of last week’s ThoughtPiece. Here’s hoping that this week’s sparks as much controversy. Our resident rantist Thought weighs in strong this week, wondering whether or not the music phone is the next camera phone. Let him know what you think, and thanks again, Thought, for a great contribution.
Is the Music Phone the Next Camera Phone?
A while back I commented on how the camera phone had become the de facto standard in the world of mobile phones. RIM knew that the only way to effectively compete in the consumer market was to release a camera phone device.
This week let’s turn our attention to the idea of music phones, and see if this is poised to be the next big thing. I know many of our thoughtful readers will have noticed that far more phones are being released now that have built-in music playing capabilities (including the BlackBerry Pearl). Moreover, this feature is being used more than ever before as a selling point in advertising.
I personally believe that in time virtually all cell phones will have some sort of built-in music player, much like almost all have built-in cameras. However, there are unique challenges in making the music phone market take off, and so I do not believe that this will be the immediate slam dunk that camera phones were.
For one, there is the problem of getting the music content onto the phone. So far no one has really figured out a way that makes it easy for users to sync their phone with their music library. Of course, there is also the direct-to-phone wireless download method, but most consumers so far have balked at the price-per-song offered by carrier music services. Consumers need a way to place music on their phones that is perceived as both easy and affordable; that has yet to happen. Troy Ruhanen, executive vice president of advertising firm BBDO North America phrased it well when he noted that “anything in this space has to be dead easy. I mean, look at the iPod. â€
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