What Will Cause MMS To Catch On?

Thu, Dec 5th 2002 9:55am — Mike Masnick

The latest study from Jupiter Research suggests that digital photography is the reason folks in Europe will adopt MMS. That's because digital photography had the highest percentage of responses in a survey they took, with 20% of the respondents picking digital photography. 20%? That doesn't seem like the amazing groundswell "next-big-thing" that we've been told to expect from MMS. I think this demonstrates the problem with these types of predictive surveys. If MMS is going to catch on, it's not going to be for a reason that's easily predictable now. Most people, when told about MMS, say "oh, that might be nice". However, it's only by using it, and seeing what new applications can do for them that it will catch on. Like many other technologies, I doubt it's possible to predict what the killer app for MMS would be just by asking people what they want. The killer app will need to be experienced - not discussed.