54% don’t want or need mobile video

We laughed when they put cameras in our cellphones but now use them extensively. We shrugged when GPS chips appeared in our Blackberrys but wonder how we lived without them. And now we learn more than half of us don’t give a rat’s ass about watching television on a 2.3″ screen. For now.
With apologies to the Harper’s Index, here’s a breakdown of an Accenture survey, according to consumer electronics site Twice.com:
All figures in percent.
The cellphone is my primary source of outside communication (txt, email, yell-ular calls): 79%
I don’t need or want video on my cellphone: 54%
The data charges are too expensive: 14%
Video-capable cellphones are too expensive: 9%
Lots of video channels isn’t enough to convince me to upgrade: 70%
Meantime, while we won’t watch video, we love the idea of mobile web browsing. The number of those of us who can watch video on our mobile phones rose from 12% to 14% in the last year, but web-enabled cellphone use skyrocketed from 8% to 23%. And 1 in 3 of us consider web browsing a critical part of the cellphone experience.
The data also bodes ill for everyone but Apple. the iPod represents 75% of all portable music players sold today. The other 25%? Well, likely they’re using their cellphones. 1 in 4 respondents used their mobile phone to listen to music.
Source: Accenture: Interest In Cellphones For Entertainment Is Picking Up, twice.com

Vintage Toronto Ad: The AMTS Car-Phone gives YOU a HEAD-START on your competition

This vintage shot of Lakeshore Boulevard in Toronto courtesy torontoist.com

My Geek Belt vindicated, and other low tech tricks

I’m not trying to imitate Batman, but some days it feels like I’m wearing his Utility Belt.

Y’see, I’m one of those guys who wears his cellphone in a belt holster. Yes, it’s geeky. But what’s the point of having a cellphone if you don’t hear it go off in your briefcase or when you’re away from your desk?
My geekitude is vindicated by the New York Times:
“Cellphone batteries do indeed last a bit longer if kept cool,” says Isidor Buchanan, editor of the Battery University Web site. The 98.6-degree body heat of a human, transmitted through a cloth pocket to a cellphone inside, is enough to speed up chemical processes inside the phone’s battery. That makes it run down faster. To keep the phone cooler, carry it in your purse or on your belt.
It’s just one Urawaza — a Japanese term for clever lifestyle tips and tricks. Among them:
Plastic bag over a failing debit card magnetic stripe
Picking up broken glass with a slice of bread
Placing houseplants on a water-soaked diaper during a vacation
Source: Low-Tech Fixes for High-Tech Problem, New York Times