Do Americans Want An mLife?

from the it's-the-headsets,-stupid dept

Tue, May 21st 2002 11:51pm — Mike Masnick

AT&T has made a big splash with their iMode-wannabe service, called mMode, which is part of their whole mLife campaign. However, people in the US are asking whether or not we really want an mLife. This article suggests that we would want an mLife if we only knew what it was like in Japan. Some say that Americans will never be as fascinated by wireless data access on their mobile phones, simply because we tend to drive everywhere (and thus, don't have excess time waiting around for public transportation) and because we have full fledged PCs waiting for us at both ends of our daily commute. However, there is an argument to be made that it's the headsets (and the corresponding network) that's held back true wireless data adoption. The difference in using one of today's mobile phones in the US and playing with one of the nicer ones like the Ericsson T68 is very noticeable. I used to think that it wouldn't make a big difference, until I had the chance to play with the T68. So, then, why aren't cool headsets like the T68 or those found in the Japanese market making it to the US? The varying standards have always been a problem. But, the growth of headsets sales has slowed in Japan and they're starting to turn their eyes stateside. So, expect much cooler phones to finally start showing up here, along with much more useful wireless data services. It's about time.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

3 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2002 @ 8:48am

mLife
This service is of little use to any post-pubic person. If you have something to say pick up your cell phone and make a phone call. Sending text messages on a cell phone does not make you cool or modern. It makes you an adolescent. Why not use morse code to communicate with each other? Pick up your phone and bash the * symbol endlessly to talk to your friends!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 22 May 2002 @ 9:02am
  
  Re: mLife
  Heh. Actually, despite being significantly past the adolescent stage of my life, I fine text messaging to be quite useful. There are plenty of times when it's a better solution than calling. I don't do it to be cool (how is it cool, anyway? no one even sees you doing it!) but because it's often the easiest way to communicate with someone.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Andrew, 22 May 2002 @ 9:16am
  
  Re: mLife
  Text messaging makes it easy to have a quick conversation (or ask/answer a question) in a public place without letting everyone around know what you're talking about. The rest of us will appreciate it greatly.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]