Hello Kitty May Be Key to 3G Survival

wa4osh writes "It's scary to think that sophisticated 3G mobile systems may depend for their survival on Hello Kitty (a cutesy Japanese pink cat with whiskers but no mouth) according to the recent Commdesign article "Hello Kitty may be key to 3G success". The article suggests that 3G's main market is downloading ringtones and backgrounds. Reading between the lines, it also suggests that 3G did not find a killer application. For example, what happened to 3G Video phones, or using 3G to send video clips to each other? These are all things that can be done with today's 2.5G technologies - GPRS and 1XRTT. So what's 3G really for? Perhaps Wi-Fi / 802.11 is solving the real need for broadband data mobility." The Wall Street Journal has an article which suggests that cellular companies are turning to Wi-Fi to hedge their bets.

Comments

Stupidest thing I ever heard

[phillymjs]

So what they're saying is, people are only getting these phones for their customizability? That would be analogous to buying a car not for transportation, but just so you can paint it puke green and stick "Type R" stickers and a ridiculous fin on it (although that may be a bad analogy, because I think some losers DO that).

Does anyone have a sub-etha sens-o-matic I can borrow? I think the collective IQ of this planet has dropped to the point where I need to leave it and find another.

~Philly

LIES ALL LIES!

[xintegerx]

"Water is great, but selling water might not be."

Yes, I have a feeling all those companies with soda, juice, and bottled water brands are crazy.

We KNOW who Hello Kitty Is!

[Greyfox]

You don't need to explain that to us. It strikes me as odd that it's still around -- I remember it in Japan and Hawaii from back in the 70's and it made its way over here a while later and just kind of stuck around.

If you really love Hello Kitty (And who doesn't?) I'd suggest subscribing to alt.sex.hello-kitty (Hell folks here are less likely to know what Usenet is than Hello Kitty...)