Google Envisions Free Cell Phones For All

Salvance writes "Google's CEO Eric Schmidt envisions a day when all cell phones are free if the user agrees to watch targeted ads. While he provides no specific plans for Google to give away phones, the implication is that he expects such moves in the future given Google's current pilot successes with delivering text ads on phones." From the article: "Schmidt also said his company was working on how to allow users to maintain basic control of their personal data. Currently, Google stores consumer data on hundreds of thousands of its own computers in order to provide additional services to individual users. The company is looking to allow consumers to export their Web search history or e-mail archives and move them to other sites, if they so choose."

Comments

Call the Free???

[EmbeddedJanitor]

What's your time worth? What does a call cost?

Right now,phone calls don't cost much. With all the competitive pressures they'll just come down. Let's say your life is worth $60/hour or $1/minute. How much of your life are you prepared to throw away to get that free phone call?

Re:Call the Free???

[kfg]

My life is priceless. Therefore what I am willing to trade it for; and what I might object to trading it for, might be a bit at varience with someone who thinks of their time as worth $60/hr.

KFG

Just the "device" ?

[kihjin]

I could be wrong, but it seems this only means that you would get the device for "free," not the service. This is hardly a revolutionary idea; cellphone providers have been "giving" away devices for free (along with those nasty catch-22's) for ages.

This is not to say I'd go long with this anyway. I'd be very annoyed if my phone beeped every 10 minutes, only to discover that I've received an advertisement.

What the hell

[jlarocco]

Am I the only person who hates advertisements? I don't want to see ads while I browse the internet. I don't want to see ads while I'm watching movies or TV. I don't want to hear ads on the radio. And I sure as hell don't want ads on my cell phone.

Charge me for your product or service, then leave me the fuck alone.

Re:What the hell

[Wizard of OS]

Isn't that the reason that you can:
- still buy a mobile phone that doesn't have advertisements?
- get pay-tv where you can watch movies without interruption (at least here in the netherlands)
- become a slashdot subscriber and NOT see the ads anymore.

This is a new businessmodel, for those of us who don't want to pay for the product or service but instead want to view ads. If you don't like it, don't use it. There are (and will be) plenty alternatives for you.

What kind of company?

[DerekLyons]

Which reveals in stark relief what sensible people have been saying for a while - Google isn't a search company, or a technology company - it's an advertising agency.

time to wake up

[edwardpickman]

It's not possible to watch ads 24/7. Sorry folks we simply can't do it. Seems to be a great frustriation to advertisers that we don't want to watch their ads all bloody day. After a while you just shut down. CNN is driving me nuts lately with the Head On commercials. They even tried to make a joke of how obnoxious they are. Hate to break it to them but I switch the channel everytime they come on. The scary thing is if I try to switch to the other CNN channel half the time there's one running there too. I swear the Clockwork Orange eyes pried open senerio is an advertisers wet dream. You want advertising to be more effective? How about less of it. People used to watch commercials or at least let them run. I hit mute or switch the channel everytime so it went from say ten minutes plus an hour to zero exposure for me. How effective are your commercials when no one will watch them or worse yet they switch the channel?

Re:time to wake up

[walnutmon]

Good point, but I guarantee you that most people you see on the streets are not going to change that channel and possibly miss a moment of "The Amazing Race" or thier favorite synidcated gameshow. Plus, I know people who talk at work about their favorite commercials.

That is acceptable once a year, and it is during the superbowl, because the inherent manliness of watching it makes up for your minds freedom being sold for a day.

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ads? No thank you

[whistlingtony]

I don't watch TV partly because of the ads. I hate ads. I don't want to consume. I don't want to WANT to consume!

Having Stuff be supported by ads is incredibly annoying. I use google instead of say... MSN(ha!) because I don't want my bandwidth sucked up by annoying ads, and I don't want to be clobbered over the head with pictures of pretty people. Frell That. And when I'm just searching, I don't look at the google ads at all. Sure, subliminals count for something... Sigh.

When I do shop, I use sometimes use google (when I don't go directly to a website I know and trust) though. Their ads are less annoying and intrusive. They grate less on my nerves. It's simple. When I want to shop, I'll go FIND the ads. They don't need to find me. Screw the impulse buy!

So, by being less annoying, google gets me to shop through them. Sometimes.

Thank the gods for Adblock and Firefox, or I'd have to browse in Lynx.

I've read Snow Crash. I've read The Selfish Gene. My mental anti-viral software is loaded.

Oh gods, I'm becoming a Luddite.

-T, who will always pay to avoid ads or go without.