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WIRELESS WORLD InfoWorld.com March 30, 2000
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Mobile computing commentary by Dan Briody
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IN THE WIRELESS WORLD, CONTENT WILL BE KING
Imagine if e-mail was the only thing to emerge from the
creation of the Internet. If this thing that we know of
as the World Wide Web (doesn't that sound archaic
already?) had never been invented, the Internet would
have turned out to be just a cool way to send notes back
and forth; sort of a 21st century carrier pigeon.
But the Web was invented, and it saved the Internet from
becoming just another communication tool and transformed
it into a dynamic information repository where people
could not only find things, but could get things done.
All of that is thanks to almighty "content," the generic
term we in the computer industry use to refer to
"stuff." It's content -- news and sports scores and
stock quotes and recipes and so on -- that continues to
bring millions of people to the Web. It is the same
content that will drive the adoption and proliferation of wireless technologies.
Don't get me wrong; communications tools are great and
you can actually get some things done with them. For
instance, I can order a pizza on my cell phone and have
it waiting at my door when I get home. But a wireless
device becomes more than a communications tool when it
has access to content, and surprisingly, it's the
content providers that are holding the cards when it
comes to the future of wireless.
Take Zagat's Survey, for example. Everyone's favorite
restaurant guide book was minding its own business in
the summer of 1999 when it was approached by NTT
Communications, a fledgling telecom company in Japan.
The company had decided that it needed a killer
application if it wanted its wireless service to be
adopted, and it had targeted Zagat Survey. Although Tim
and Nina Zagat had eventually planned to develop a
guidebook for restaurants in Tokyo, they had not yet
done so. So all NTT did was pick up the tab for the
research and development of the Tokyo book in exchange
for the rights to serve it up wirelessly via cell phones.
NTT now has more than 1 million subscribers after only
eight months in business. They bet big on content, and
they were right to do so. They took a cell phone, which
everyone already had, and turned it into a tool that
could locate nearby restaurants and make reservations in
real time. And that's just for starters.
Some wireless devices are already capable of trading
stocks, tracking packages, and ordering books and music.
Eventually, people will wonder how we ever did those
things without a wireless device. But for now, we'll
watch the service providers and device manufacturers
scramble to ally themselves with the right content
partners. Because in the end, it's the content that
people really want, and the cell phone or handheld that
brings it to you becomes about as interesting as a rotary phone.
What types of content are you looking for on your wireless device?
(Voluntary Disclosure: Position- Long; ST Rating- Strong |
