Theaters Testing Out Free Mobile Content If You Go To A Movie

Culture

from the it's-a-start... dept

For many years we’ve been suggesting that the movie industry was worried about the wrong thing when they feared copied movies would keep people from going to the theater. Instead, the reasons people weren’t going to the movies was because the experience just wasn’t worth it. It was expensive and crowded, the floors are sticky, the seats uncomfortable and the rude people talk away or let phones ring during the movie. At the same time, there are more options for everyone’s entertainment time and dollars — from the internet to TV to video games to (oh yeah!) stuff going on in the great outdoors. That’s what’s keeping them away — not the chance to watch a poorly recorded choppy 3 inch version on your computer screen. So, all that needs to be done is to come up with ways to make the experience more enjoyable or to add some additional value. One suggestion we had was that movie goers might enjoy being able to immediately get a copy of the DVD of the movie they just saw as they’re leaving, similar to how some musicians now let people who attend their concerts immediately get CDs or downloads of that concert. It seems the movie industry isn’t quite there yet (though, some are coming closer). However, in the UK, some cinemas are experimenting with offering movie goers additional mobile content for going to see a movie, which the movie-goer can freely access on their mobile handsets for seven days. The content will be specifically developed for that movie, but also might include offers for free tickets or information about other movies. It’s an interesting experiment — and the success or failure will probably depend on just how good/interesting/valuable the content really is. However, it’s clearly a step in the right direction, and away from just whining, threatening or blaming the technology for all of the theater industry’s ills.

Nokia Suddenly Seems Like A Big WiMax Supporter?

Wireless

It really was just a year ago that Nokia dropped out of the WiMax Forum, saying that the technology was overhyped and they weren’t sure it was worth being involved. That lasted all of one month before something (cough Intel cough) apparently “convinced” Nokia to come back into the fold — leading to some speculation about the nature of that convincing… Well, now Nokia is saying that it will definitely be a major partner in creating mobile WiMax equipment (years from now, when there actually is a mobile WiMax) leading to some wondering whether Nokia is going to upset its mobile operator partners who are not particularly thrilled with the concept of WiMax. Of course, announcements are one thing, actual technology is another, so we’ll wait and see what really comes of this. However, from Nokia’s standpoint, it certainly doesn’t do much harm to hedge/expand by making equipment used by different types of wireless providers.

Filed Under: wimax

Killing Mobile Phone Subsidies In South Africa?

Wireless

from the but-why? dept

It’s pretty standard practice in the mobile phone industry for the mobile operators to subsidize handset sales (in exchange for which, they lock you into a long contract). There’s nothing wrong with that, as it does help increase adoption by lowering the initial hurdle customers face. It’s just a reasonable business decision. Lots of companies subsidize some aspect of what they’re selling to get people to buy other things. Gaming consoles are subsidized on the expectation that you’ll purchase more games. It is, of course, the classic razor/razorblades marketing strategy. However, for some reason, it gets some people upset. Apparently, some people get so upset that they look to ban the practice. The article doesn’t have the full details, but apparently there’s a proposal in South Africa to ban handset subsidies which seems like the perfect way to slow down mobile phone adoption. If the problem is that people are tied to a single operator for too long — address that issue, rather than pinning it on the subsidies. If the problem is that some handset makers feel left out, that’s a business issue. The channel for handsets is through the operators. If certain vendors are being unfairly cut out, address that issue, rather than the subsidies. There seems like no reasonable explanation to ban subsidies by themselves.