Media review and analysis

¶ … Miss the Boat: Capitalizing on Presence to Increase Data Usage," and found in the TMCnet Web site. The article brings up the idea that the cellphone, or mobile phone, is becoming the most popular device for communicating with friends and business associates. The mobile phone has surpassed the number of personal computers and broadband connections, according to the writer, Payam Maveddat; there are now more than 3.3 billion mobile phone devices in the world, Maveddat asserts. How to best utilize this explosion in usage is the crux of the article - along with the point that those communications corporations and networks that are not tapping into the mobile phone's flexibility in usage are missing out on huge revenue potential.

The huge increase in mobile phone usage has also led to a "rapid rise in text-messaging," Maveddat writes; text messages are also known as "short message service," or SMS. With the skyrocketing rise of SMS, big bucks are being realized, the article continues, perhaps as much as $177 billion in "global services revenues" by 2013. What the writer emphasizes is that linked to the SMS explosion is the concept of social networks / communities that are being built around users' states, affiliations, activities and political or sports-related involvement. For example, the Barack Obama campaign for the presidency utilized email, SMS, and instant messaging to build its community of support.

REFLECTION: The people who buy "smart phones" and who get involved in digitally-created communities are generally very technology savvy and sophisticated, so it behooves communications companies to not only jump on the bandwagon but also to continue to do research and development to bring the next generation of the smart phone into the marketplace.

What the article is very correct about is that this technology is evolving at a very fast pace, and basically with the more up-to-date phones users are walking around with a computer in their hands, not just a phone. The computer they have in their hands does more and communicates on a far wider level than the best personal computers at people's desks just a few years ago. The "presence" aspect that the author of this article talks about is an important part of instant messaging, text messaging, and emailing through smart phones. Used correctly, "presence" (the icons and "emotions" that are part of the digital language) can and does help commercial / corporate marketers to link millions of users into that particular corporation's community.

It is easy to imaging how well thought out new businesses (start-ups) that are launched with user-friendly digital / phone technology applications (gaming, music downloads, video, IM and SMS) will be able to achieve success. By embracing the previously mentioned applications - along with buddy lists, messaging with content delivery, location technologies and Web-driven applications - one can see that the future of marketing goods and service businesses will be digitally driven. Additionally, according to an article in Retail Solutions Online, corporations like Verizon are working on providing security services ("...ranging from threat and vulnerability assessments to forensics and investigative..." services) through wireless smart phone systems.