Mobile?

I'm wondering ... there is talk of 'mobile' everywhere. Everybody seems to go mobile these days. EU nations are investing hundreds of millions to bring the EURO 2008 (football) to cell phones. But then, I have never, ever seen anybody use this. Internet on tiny cell phone displays? A football game?! I can see that (barely) on smart phones but that's not something too many people have. Video cellphonin'? Nah, not even when it's free. WAP/GPRS? DOA. And so on. IMHO all people ever do is phoning and SMSing.

So, question is: are companies trying to force something nobody actually uses or are there really users and I just don't see them?

I use GPRS for AIM. Cheaper than texting by a long shot.

I use internet on my phone for both browsing Wordforge and AOL Instant Messenger.

Do I use them... no.

do people use them... Yes.

Are these things a good development for the future... I think so.

I use my work cell phone for phone calls only.

Left to my own devices, I probably wouldn't even own one. Since they issue me one, though, I do use it.

I've got a PSP, but I've never used it to browse the internet. I haven't even played the thing since January.

Crazy Frog.

:hh:

About the most I do with my RAZR is calls and email (Live Mail and GMail.) Every so often I'll send someone a SMS or photo message. And then there's the Zune for music and video on the go, but that doesn't seem to be what you meant by 'mobile.'

^ I have the RAZR too and I'm wondering: why bother with an MP3 player and video capabilities and put in all of 5 megabytes of RAM with no expansion slot

its still a technology looking for a market, and has been for years.

there are plenty of niche markets ripe for exploiting through - the football ones an example.

will people want to watch games on their mobile? no. last world cup, which video clip was most used? zizous headbutt.

rather than show matches, let people access clips and use some basic video editing so they can share their 'comedy' footage. it'll sell.

Meh, why do any of that on a phone? I can see a camera being handy, at least if it's 2mp resolution or better, but video on a screen that small? .mp3 player? What for? I need that battery power for calls.

Well, the MP3 player actually makes sense. Those stupid cameras can have as many megapixels as they like tho, the quality will always suck. No matter how much software you slap in to make the pictures appear better, you can't beat physics with those minuscule optics.

Well, true. Still, sometimes there's just things you really want people (who can't be there) to see. I agree, though, that a full-sized camera with a mobile broadband card would be preferable to a teeeeeny little CMOS clicker... and hopefully it's only a matter of time before we get something like that.

I voted "no" but it occurs to me that I have occasionally text-messaged someone via LJ or Yahoo. And of course I've borrowed the very occasional cell phone while on a trip or something.

Depends on your plan .

I'm starting to regret having gone with T-Mobile, getting a bit of Sprint-envy.

I use video-calling from time to time to family and Steph. My dad is really into the football videos on his phone though, the fact he can watch match highlights and get live updates on the English Football scores on his mobile is one of the main reasons he got it.