Dan Chiappini19 May 2006, 7:53 AM
Ever since my iPod died sooner than expected, I've been struggling with the difficult question: do I slough more cash into Apple's pockets? Then, this morning on the way in to work I had one of my best ideas to date.
As well as being a person up to his elbows in tech day in and out, it may shock you to hear that I’m also a run of the mill consumer. Yes, I know, quiet down in the back there. Getting to look at and play with all matter of gear before it’s released as well as the folly of technical briefings with manufacturers allows me to keep my finger on the tech pulse - but unfortunately it also feeds my pang to want to purchase things when I come across a particularly funky gadget.
I’m a mobile technology sort of guy - perhaps to the point of tech snobbery. I don’t leave home without my bag, and my bag doesn’t leave without the essentials. Music is number one on my list, so it’s incredibly seldom you’ll see me not engrossed in my ear-bud world. Given the recent and sudden death of my iPod, I’ve now been forced to move to something a little smaller - namely a 512MB flash mp3 player and I really do miss the variety that only more than a gigabyte can provide.
One of my other vices is that I’m a bit of a nut for portable gaming. I jumped on the DS bandwagon last year after playing Nintendogs and Mario Kart DS and since then I haven’t looked back.
So it was this morning that on the way in to work I had one of my best ideas to date. It was potentially even better than the one I had where someone calling your mobile phone could hear your ringtone before you answer. Unfortunately a Korean company developed that one before I could cash it in for millions of dollars from gullible teenagers and tech-savvy grandparents who really love the funky chicken song. Verizon has launched its Ringback service and is providing the service right now to its customers in the US.
A fair whack of mobile phones now have some form of mp3 jukebox function, and while video on demand and reality TV via mobile are slowly taking off, I think the next killer app for handsets is mobile web streaming. Imagine the anywhere connectivity you get from existing 2G/3G mobile services (in most major areas) but instead of making a call, you’re tuning in to an online radio station. It’s almost like a podcast, but instead of downloading it before leaving home, you can tune in on the fly from anywhere you have the signal strength. Unlike a podcast or mobile phone mp3 player however, if the station you’re listening to is having a Britney Spears marathon that day, you could switch to someone else’s stream. Much like Breaks FM there’s potential for amateur DJs and members of the community to contribute by playing a set. Sony Ericsson already has a Garage Band-esque clone application called MusicDJ on some handsets, imagine being able to mix your favourite tracks on the fly for others to listen to.
The biggest problem I can foresee would be that the telcos would want to turn a few bucks on every user on top of the access fee to get the content or worse still lock listeners to web stations specific to their network. I guess until then I’ll go back to swapping out my mp3s daily.