• TwitterCounter for @markevans


  • Wikio - Top Blogs - Technology
  • « Time Magazine’s Strange Top-10 List | Main | Beta Invite, Anyone? »

    It’s Not a Wireless Wonderland Yet

    By Mark Evans | December 13, 2007

    It’s fascinating to see how much much optimism exists for wireless devices to become more than just tools to use to make phone calls, check e-mail and send/receive short messaging through vehicles such as text-messaging and Twittering.

    In the eyes of many content, equipment and service providers, the wireless world will soon evolve to the point where it becomes the device for many people to communicate, search, shop, and be entertained. A wireless device will go from being a portable convenience tool to an indispensable part of your everyday life.

    The problem is the bullishness is way ahead of the reality. Take mobile advertising, for example. For years, people have been talking about how mobile ads are going to be huge because they will serve a captive audience. But this isn’t happening. According to BusinessWeek, it could be many years before the mobile ad market even comes close to meeting the forecasts of firms such as Gartner and Strategy Analytics, which both have expectations of more than $10-billion by 2011.

    This contrasts with Mike Baker, vice-president in change of Nokia’s ad business, who told BusinessWeek that it take at least five years for the industry to surpass $10 billion in annual revenue. “The near-term visibility is cloudy,” he says.

    Maybe mobile advertising is one of those concepts with lots of promise that will never materialize. It could be that all those companies chasing the dream of mobile ads could be sadly disappointed.

    Technorati Tags: ,

    Topics: Wireless |