Cell Phone Users Tune Out Music And Video: Survey Says

[johnnymk]

A large majority of Americans say they have no desire to watch TV or movies, or listen to music, on their cell phones.

URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story...leID=181500614

Most Americans don't want to rock with their phones or squint at the latest episode of "Desperate Housewives" on a tiny screen, a new survey said Thursday. The poll tosses a wrench into cell phone providers' efforts to make broadband applications like music and video downloads attractive to consumers.

The survey, conducted on behalf of Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets research group, interviewed 1,001 Americans and found that three-fourths said they weren't interested in watching TV programs or movies on their handheld. Nearly as many -- 69 percent -- said they didn't care to listen to music using their cell phone.

The reason, said RBC, was that people are spooked by the quick changes in mobile technology.

"Consumers are generally deterred when it comes to adopting the latest integrated mobile devices due to concerns of obsolescence," said Mark Sue, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, in a statement. "As integrated mobile devices become more complex, a significant time lag can persist before the trajectory of growth accelerates."

But that probably won't stymie providers from pushing their plans. "Digital music, video, and web browsing wrapped in an iconic device, may help mobile device makers grab a greater share of an individual's disposable income previously allocated to other consumer electronics."

Other results from the poll indicate that Americans definitely don't want ads hitting their phones. Nearly 6 out of 10 said mobile marketing was a nuisance and "should be prohibited." Somewhat fewer -- 4 in 10 -- went even farther, and said they'd pay more for a phone or PDA that banned ads or marketing messages.

RBC's survey mirrors prognostications late last year from Forrester Research that while cell phone companies were bullish on new services such as music downloads, users were bearish.

"The mobile music experience still cannot compare with that of Apple's iPod," Forrester warned cell phone vendors. "Device-makers will have to up the ante on mobile storage, software, and processing speed to get consumers to reach for their cell phones when they want to hear Eminem."

[Maarchk]

I think i have a few concerns with that. When my ipod dies of battery, no big deal. When my cell phone dies cause i was watching a movie and i can't get calls for the rest of the day... well that ain't good at all. Now if i had a solar backpac that i could charge my phone from... i'd have more interest. But i think i like the idea of keeping my essentials separate from non-essentials so that i dont debate between enjoying a movie, and making the important phone call to my princess.

[DarkFury]

Honestly, I just use my phone as a phone.... I just want a cheap phone plan for me to make my calls whenever I want without all that extra crap that they are trying to push on us...

Yet, there seems to be a "minimum" of around $30 where they won't even offer basic service below that price... which is BS in my opinion... however they set the rates and such.

[MikeD]

A phone is a phone. I don't expect my mp3 player to make phone calls for me, and I don't need my cell phone to watch movies on. Yes, consolidation can be a good thing...but here it's not necessary.

With that said, my BlackBerry. Having access to email while on the go can be addictive...

[Maarchk]

Honestly, I just use my phone as a phone.... I just want a cheap phone plan for me to make my calls whenever I want without all that extra crap that they are trying to push on us...

Yet, there seems to be a "minimum" of around $30 where they won't even offer basic service below that price... which is BS in my opinion... however they set the rates and such.

yeah its hard to be under 30 bucks if you aren't getting a, buy 50 minutes and each phone call is 4 minutes minimum... Kind of like when i bought a phone line to get dsl but didn't actually plug in a phone. They charged me for all kinds of random add ons like the ability to make interstate calls. I called them and said, No I WILL NEVER CALL ANOTHER STATE! MAKE IT GO AWAY.. but still after all the cleanup i had 6 dollars in taxes on the phone line.

[clutchy]

I'm with you guys, before i lost my phone all i wanted it for was to make essential calls.

I guess we're 4/4 right now not wanting the extra garbage...

[blueindian]

the only other feature i like is the camera. it'll be cool when they get up to 2-3 megapixels and you can take decent snapshots.

[DarkFury]

the only other feature i like is the camera. it'll be cool when they get up to 2-3 megapixels and you can take decent snapshots.

Honestly, those cameras take very SUCKY pics... then you gotta pay for the internet bandwidth to send them to wherever they got to go... Mo $$$ Mo $$$ Mo $$$. Maybe in an emergency they are ok... but in general...

Slammin' together 2 technologies for the sake of... just isn't always a good idea.


Personally, if they want to make our phones better than I'd suggest the following:

1) Make the phone signal reception STRONGER!!!! (Verizon shouldn't be the only network that works almost everywhere.... CAN YAH HEAR ME NOW? Oh you can't? Guess you ain't on Verizon huh? )

2) Make the battery life longer... and stop giving us that "it doesn't have a memory" b.s. I've had so many phone batteries die and I don't charge em till they have 1 bar or have "recharge" flashing. Promising me that my phone can go a week between charges if I don't talk on it is b.s.... give us some REAL numbers. Is 4 hours of talk time... 4 straight hours or what? Cause it sure don't seem like the current batteries are lasting that long.

3) Make the services Anywhere and Anytime for the $30 per month and leave it at that. All that after 7 or after 9 crap is just bad.. especially when you start crossin' time zones in your calls.

4) Make decent accessories for our phones that actually work. I've had car chargers from the official source and from aftermarket sources and they ALL suck... and seem to shorten the battery life. What's up with that!!!

[hapoo]

Not Me!!!

I want a phone that also has internet abilities. One i can use as a modem for my computer. With a built in organizer. I want my smartphone!
To me it just makes sense to combine a pda and a phone. But as far as music/movies go, i'm fine with carrying a separate device.

[blueindian]

Honestly, those cameras take very SUCKY pics... then you gotta pay for the internet bandwidth to send them to wherever they got to go... Mo $$$ Mo $$$ Mo $$$.

i agree that most of the ones currently availabe in the US suck, but they should get better. Hell, samsung has a 7mp camera phone with a 3x optical zoom. that's what i'm talkin' about.

and forget bandwidth to send, they use memory cards.

what it comes down to is that i'd like to have a camera with me all the time, and if my phone was a good camera i'd have a solution.

[Bires]

My monochrome, 4-year-old Motorola goes a week and a half between charges.

[bachviet]

Not Me!!!

I want a phone that also has internet abilities. One i can use as a modem for my computer. With a built in organizer. I want my smartphone!
To me it just makes sense to combine a pda and a phone. But as far as music/movies go, i'm fine with carrying a separate device.

I just got a Nokia 6680 from eBay.

[Jeffbx]

Add me to the list of 'a phone is a phone' users.

I have a phone, a laptop, a PDA, a camera and an iPod. Each has a different function, and each does it very well. I only carry them when I need them.

I much prefer this to one single device that does all of these things, but only marginally.

To me, a phone is a disposable device. You use it for a year or 2, then trade it in for a new one. I never spend money on a phone because of this very reason - the lifecycle of cell phones is too short to invest anything into them.

Maybe in a few years when they have a better interface I'll consider using it as a PDA, but I think that's as far as I'll go with it.

[Merlin]

I'll go against the tide here and say a phone that doubled as an MP3 player would be nice. I don't like to lug a lot of stuff around with me so if I only had to have one small item in my pocket and one set of headphones I would be happy. I hear what DF is saying about the battery life but I don't really talk that much so the battery rarely comes into play. Honestly I can't really think of a good reason that these two things are separate.

PDA, yeah separate device because that needs a much bigger screen to be useful.

No I am not interested in watching video on a small screen. Not at all.

[zero2dash]

I'm against these multi-use phones as well.

I'm wondering when people have the time to watch tv or listen to their phones...? Maybe it's just because I drive a car and therefore am not confined to commuting on buses/trains/subways etc. in the morning/afternoon, but...I don't have the time to necessitate having a "do it all" phone.

Plus you're adding a lot of costs...not only upfront for the phone, but also monthly rates.

I've owned 2 camera phones now...and I think in total I've used the cameras to take about 7 pictures which were never dumped off the phone.

I miss my old Nokia phone...small, plain, no frills but the thing worked perfectly and held a charge for a long time. Wish I still had it...