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Google Shows Off Ad-Supported Cell Phone
taoman1 writes "Today Google showed off a ad-supported cellphone that the company plans to offer for free to interested parties. The product could reach the marketplace within a year, and will offer Google search, email, and a web browser. 'The move would echo another recent product launched by a phone industry outsider, Apple Inc.'s iPhone. But Google's product would draw its revenue from a sharply different source, relying on commercial advertising dollars instead of the sticker price of at least US$499 for an iPhone and $60 per month for the AT&T Inc. service plan. Negotiating the fairest way to split those advertising revenues with service providers could be a big hurdle for Google, one analyst said. Another problem is the potential that consumers could be scared off by the prospect of listening to advertisements before being able to make phone calls, said Jeff Kagan, a wireless and telecommunications industry analyst in Atlanta.'"
See everyone! See how Google's evil and not following their model? They're evil!
This article is useless without pics
I can't imagine ANYONE using a phone as their main phone if they had to listen to ads before every call-- unless they couldn't afford a cell phone in the first place, inwhich case I doubt those ads would attract many buyers. :)
I sure hope that those ads won't be targeted based on one's conversations, like they are on Gmail. That would be extremely scary.
My sig is permanently on strike.
"If you would like to continue your call, please press 1. You will be able to continue speaking with the other party after this 15 second message from our sponsor."
This guy's the limit!
Adblock?
IMHO people are getting pretty fed up with pervasive advertising. Part of Tivo's initial popularity came from the ability to skip advertisements. The people quite obviously want less ads, not more. As all of google's money now seems to come from advertising, and they seem to only be innovating new ways to push ads, I'd say that they're going down the wrong path.
><));>
will it run firefox?
and:
will it run adblock in firefox?
I have rare uses for a cell phone, I can either be reached at home or at work, or I'm with my wife with her cell phone. I can't be reached for the 10 minute commute from home to work and if you can't handle that it's not my problem. The biggest thing preventing me from getting a cell phone is cost, I can't justify paying for something I'll rarely use. This would work perfect for me, the few times a month I need to call someone I can wait through an add.
The only drawback I can see is if your trying to make a 911 call and have to wait through a minute and a half of dice.com adds only to panic and hit 991 and have to do it all over again.
If they do this I'd probably pick one up as probably one of the 2% of Americans that don't currently have a cell phone.
they weren't developing a phone!
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Have you been touched?
I see -nowhere- that Google has said these advertisements will be audible or will be played before a call. That's just FUD by the article writer. Until Google has said -anything- we don't know what their plans are.
In fact, Google has not even said the phones WILL be ad-revenue supported, as far as I can tell. There's a couple quotes from Google on there, but they only deal with Google apps on the phones, not the calling plans.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
No, more like pissed off.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...will it blend?
Trolling aside I think it's a misstep. Ad supported services have failed and failed. At some point somebody has to pony up some duckets to somebody for Cell service. But as it stands it will likely just drive down the price of the already bloated cell service costs.
Free isn't a good price.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
This could really strike a blow to the prepaid carriers in the U.S. like Virgin Mobile and Trac unless they hop onto the Google bandwagon themselves. Virgin has had a limited "listen to ads for free stuff" program at one point, but I don't know how successful the program was. The rate structures for these companies vary, but certainly a free as in beer plan might appeal to some of the markets these companies are already tapping into (read: lower-class, (pre)teens, and the socially withdrawn).
You're only as smart as your brain.
I'd like to say something eloquent, insightful, and thought provoking...but, in regards to this, I'm just going to go with "Fuck no!"
FTA " Negotiating the fairest way to split those advertising revenues with service providers could be a big hurdle for Google, one analyst said."
Thats why Google wants to become the service provider itself and wants to buy that spectrum for itself.
No, scary would be if the party you called got to hear the ads too. Imagine the chaos it could cause if some spam style advert comes on in the middle of your business meeting!
you: Increase sales and....the size of your penis with cialis... by reaching out to new demographics....
pointy-haired boss: like women???
Get a web developer
The dawn of the ISPs, where many companies offered free dialup internet access through serving ads to customers desktops.
The whole thing died for a number of reasons. In order to gather enough revenue to pay for people's internet connection SO many ads had to be served that people just didn't accept it.
I can only imagine this will be even worse when on the cell. Having to *click* on an ad every few minutes is bad enough, but having to *listen*, which takes time, every time before you make conversation is even worse.
Privacy issues are rampant here too. Google is known for context-based ads by reading your email content in exchange for free email. How bad would it be if Google had some voice recognition built-in, which LISTENED to your conversations, gathered keywords, and served you ads based on what you talk about?
And God only knows where that information would be stored and for what purposes in some Google database, which is already an issue, but could be much worse with real voice being recorded.
To play the devil's advocate, people don't seem to have much of a problem listening to radio stations which work on the same principle. But there are big differences - no two-way interaction, you just listen , so no privacy issues; you can switch radio stations at any time if you hear something you don't like instead of HAVING to wait for it, and most importantly, you listen to radio (for vast majority of people) for leisure, not business, so ads don't have such an impact.
In short, I just don't think this one will be adopted. Anyone who's lifestyle requires a constant or even occasional use of a cellphone, would probably rather pay for a service (cheapest services can go for as little as $10/mo) than be part of this scheme.
Who cares what model they are throwing out there. The only thing Slashdotters should be focusing on is the same old question : can it run Linux? Secondary only to the most important question is the next reflexive question : Will it Doom? Why do you care about ad-supported vs. not? Don't you think that within days or hours of the phone becoming publicly available, someone will write a hack to make the ads disappear, or fall into a dev/null hole? Is anyone really worried about Google having all of our secrets? If that's your greatest concern, pack up and live in a cave, if you aren't already doing so.
The medium is the message. A big goal is location awareness. I doubt there will be audio advertising. More likely if you turn the phone on there will be a popup of a nearby business with a special offer or something. Or if you use data functions, there'll be targetted ads. GIS, you know.
Keep in mind they are bidding up that huge chunk of spectrum coming open soon and if they can snag some of it this could work pretty easily. Start small with a few towers in major markets, preferably near some dark fibre or a NOC they already have in place. Put their sales force to work and cross market to local businesses already using adwords. Lease airtime from other providers in the meantime, under the new regulations they have to provide a quality connection. They have plenty of cash to burn through and I think it would quickly prove itself one way or the other. Obviously offer the chance to "buy up" your service to remove some of the ads. But really try to make the ads real "content". Google has done a good job making ads "content" that actually provide value. In this case, let the consumer know that there's a nearby business offering a special. Don't spam the phone with popups for downloadable ringtones or phone sex lines.
Cool! Amazing Toys.
The sound of the phone ringing. So long as I'm not /delayed/ by the ads, I don't care.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
I used to make long distance calls for free when I was a teen by using a ad->minutes phone service. I think it was around 1:10 ad to talk ratio, so I'd call my friends after 5 minutes of ads. You had to press a button when each ad was done, so you can't set the phone down and walk away. Most of the ads were people talking about ordering food (Omaha steaks, etc.) and some other vague websites and products I don't remember. I don't eat meat anymore, and don't remember anything else about it, so either the advertising was ineffective or they brainwashed me pretty clean.
*NM*
Irony is that I had to watch an ad when I clicked the link...
Seriously, an ad supported phone? How hard would it be to crack and remove the ads? NetZero anyone?
--
BMO
I can afford any cellphone out there, but what I have is a pay-as-you-go WalMart special that i got for $30.00. I bought it to carry with me when I'm cycling out in the country, in case of an emergency. It's a good deal for me because I've used it exactly twice (neither time was an emergency) this year. So if Google wants to give me a cell phone with Web access and stuff, that'll suit me just fine. I'll be glad to view some ads the time or two I actually use it.
I didn't read TFA, so it's probably stated right in there, but what about incoming calls? Will I have to listen to a 10-second ad for home security if ADT calls me to tell me my house is on fire? Will ADT have to listen to the same thing to call me?
Completely pointless in the UK and most of Europe where mobile phone networks will give you the latest phones for free to sign up or renew a contract. Even signing up to a £15/month contract, I can get any of the popular phones for free.
Conor "You're not married,you haven't got a girlfriend and you've never seen Star Trek? Good Lord!" - Patrick Stewart
I couldn't disagree more. The masses *love* ads. People pay to wear ads on their clothes. People pay to advertise their car's brands on their cars. People pay a large sum of money to their cable/satellite company every month to watch ads. People willingly sit through ads before a movie that they paid for. There are so many idiots out there who PAY to consume advertising, that I guarantee people are NOT fed up with advertising.
Personally, I'm fed up with ads, but I see no sign that regular people are fed up with advertising.
I don't respond to AC's.
Google's "Do no evil" slogan and closeness to the open source community is just marketing bullshit. All this "fairest split" and shiny toy stuff is just more of the same. I'm not saying this just to flame but Google have suckered you. Change the world? No, they're just playing it slicker and end up being more profitable and hoodwink more people. This phone thing is just more sucker bait.
FYI, Google is not to first company that tried to put an ad sponsored cell phone on the market:
4 194714-1.html/
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/
I worked for Esp Media as a consultant, in 2000. Located in Montreal, we built the company with 7 software writers in about 6 months (there was more staff for administration and marketing though). Technically, it worked great. But the sales were lousy and Esp Media lost its funding with the dot com bubble burst. Still, one of my best work experience ever.
Remember the year 2000? They promised us flying cars. They delivered the PT Cruiser...
"Your call to ... nine-one-one ... will resume after a word from our sponsor"
.
- Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
Google's oft cited mantra of "Don't be Evil" has served them pretty well.
Any ad supported cell phone concept is going to be so comparatively annoying to what -IS- the defacto universal end-user experience, perhaps they will need to add a new mantra.
"Don't be Stupid" comes to mind.
"A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
GeneralEmergency
(Taps number in).
(Pause).
"Head on! Apply directly to the forehead!"
"Head on! Apply directly to the forehead!"
"Head on! Apply directly to the forehead!"
"Head on! Apply directly to the forehead!"
"Head on! Apply directly to the forehead!"
(Two minutes later)
"Head on! Apply directly to the forehead!"
"Head on! Apply direc.... Hello?"
"If you ever take that long to reply to your phone again, I swear I will kill you."
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Ring ... Ring ... "Hello?"
"Hi Mom"
*** Google AdBot chimes in *** "For mother's day e-cards from hallmark.com, press 1. For 'Mothers' nightclub in Daytona, Florida, press 2"
"What on earth was that?"
*** Google AdBot *** "For Google Earth, press 1..."
This should scare Apple shareholders for a few days at least.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The thing that confuses me about an advertising phone based model is, how does anyone capitalize on the ads?
On the web, it's easy enough to be diverted by a good ad to quickly visit somewhere and perhaps buy something. But on a phone, you not only have the problem that the user might want to do something right then (make a call) that they are not willing to divert from, but also have the issue of how to you enable the user to actually make a purchase. I guess perhaps you have a credit card registered with the phone provider and you just click "buy now" when an appealing ad comes up?
Even local ads, where you get ads for businesses around you that you show the business for a discount sounds kind of iffy.
If anyone can figure out how to squeeze money out of that model though, I guess it will be Google!
I wonder if they'll require a certain level of usage each month to keep up service? Otherwise I can see people just getting one for free and throwing it in the car for emergencies.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I like Google software a lot, but I'm not going to listen to Ad's prior to making a call. That's why I pay money for HBO, Tivo, DVD's, CD's (sometimes) etc...
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
What an idea.
Thank you, but I am already blasted non-stop by advertisement from all directions whenever I leave the door. A few years further down the road and the fact that it is ad-free will be a major point of your own home. Advertisement has become aggressive harrassment, to the point where I would not be surprised in the leasts if a study researching the topic would find a major negative impact on mental well-being.
I'd rather pay 500,- than having ads on my phone/PDA.
I hope lots of other people feel the same. I know one field-test for free phone calls if you agreed to be interupted by ads now and then was a catastrophic failure and people were leaving the test in droves.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Call 911 and hear/see an ad from an injury lawyer.
Do you have ESP?
They're not evil -- yet. But since they seem to want to be big brother, they'll always have to walk a dangerously fine line to avoid becoming evil.
Personally I don't trust them to avoid revealing private information about me to someone else (e.g. my parents) by inference through the advertisements targeted to me based on my history. With a phone this would be even scarier for me, because they may target advertisements based on my conversations. What happens if I lend someone my phone and the first targeted ad they see is one for porn, or cheap prescription medication for <insert embarrassing condition>?
To address this type of fear, Google needs to assure us that they aren't *always* listening, and that they won't serve up ads that might embarrass us. We need to be able to have a reasonable expectation of privacy, both on the data collection side and on the targeted advertising side. I'm not sure how they can offer that kind of protection without making it trivial to avoid advertisements. Maybe a "panic button" (similar to a "boss screen") that can only be used X% of the time? So when you're calling your pharmacy rep or handing off your phone to your little sister, you hit the panic button to turn off big brother.
Here's an idea, Google and your buddy Apple. I do ALL my shopping with my iPhone, including swiping it across credit card readers at retail stores and whatnot, and when I need something from the Internet, I'll click a Google ad. And you two, figure out how to make me more productive and rich -- nay, filthy rich. Then, Apple, you get to keep my $600, and Google, I'll buy some of your stock every month.
Actually, you know what, I hate cell phones -- just give me the money.
It gets worse, google will be putting ads in games too: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/75572-Go ogle-Announces-Adsense-for-Games
Why is it that when Microsoft comes out with a product with ads it is tagged as "ADWARE" but with Google it is "Ad-Supported"?
This is a great example of terrible reporting. The article begins by relaying a post from the WSJ about a Google-phone prototype, then an email commentary by a Google rep regarding an industry need for personalized mobile advertisement. Then some industry shill talks about consumer uneasiness regarding an supported calling. Ummm... where the hell did he full that feature out of? Google has made billions by developing an non-intrusive advertising platform; they're advertising is going to more primarily based on GPS and other personalized features. More FUD from an "industry analyst". Regarding splitting revenue, I say screw it; sell it direct like some of the Nokia models with quad-band GSM. Sure, you'll be ignoring some customers, but so be it.
Great, super, awesome. I can't wait until everything within hearing and sight, EVERYTHING, is advetising. When the product become ads for more product that are ads for more products. That'll be great. I hope Google's gearing up for that. That's a service I want ASAP.
When I went to read this story I was stopped on the way there by one of those stupid "click to skip ads." They're cool. I wish I had one in my bathroom. "Gotta use the toilet? Check out these hot new rolls from Cottonelle, or click HERE to continue to shitter.
Why is no one making this?!
IMHO, they may use AUDIO Ads, but that of a different sort could be used... SUBLIMINAL! What's to keep Google from putting in a SUBLIMINAL audio layer on one or both channels of a Duplex phone call? You could have perceptually undisturbed digital calling (without having delays in usage in order to listen to the Ads before and/or after useable call time). Instead, Google could simulcast (in the background) a Subliminal stream layer of audio ads... (Or store them to the phone's memory for playback later) ..Of course one must first agree to the use of such Ads in a contact's fine print before use...)
And they could be somewhat transparent with their content and have audible versions of the exact same Ads posted somewhere.
OR Possibly use text versions... insert 5/256 gray scale Ads.
(An idea of barely perceptible Ad banners on the display) text between your SMS test lines.. etc...
Then again, this would soon be hacked by someone it will be mandatory to then get it working on a Linux Beowulf Cluster....
Next thing you know... someone sneaky and clever would call their "Girlfriend" on their Google and insert subliminal suggestions that she really wants to have wicked HOT SEX tonight, er.. I mean "to make love", whatever... you get the idea...
Just some thoughts...
(NOTE: I posted this idea/concept as an AC earlier about 30 min. ago as I was not going to login at work..., don't flame me for it!...)
Poor person gets free advertisement based phone. Advertisements inform poor person about products they can't afford. Poor person consumes said products and lowers net worth even more.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
If there were to be such a concept as an ad-driven phone, would it not need some kind of internet connection to get those ads? What if the user prefers not to sign up for a data plan? (Have you seen the prices on Verizon Wireless's EV-DO network? They would drive anyone away!) Does that mean that the user will receive a call every so often for an add like those that lots of users currently get? Or does this mean that the ad will have to be placed in a call because that's the only forceful way that Google can be assured commercial revenue off this product?
I don't think this campaign makes much sense. However, if it were to pull it off and make phone service somewhat cheaper, then I guess that can only be good, if anything, for the sake of competition.
This is your g-Phone. You have just dialed 911. While we are connecting you, we are happy to tell you that the Convenient Coffin Depot is offering FREE deliveries on all coffins purchased today! So stop paying the huge medical bill incurred by your upcoming ER visit, press the pound sign now for a convenient ride to the heaven!
For a phone to be only ad based, it still seems like there must be some measure of how well the ads are working - even if you are only talking branding there has to be some way to track if the branding has stuck or not.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
[wild conjecture]
1. Google snaps up some key regions w/ the spectrum coming up on the auction block.2. Google licenses their territories to the wireless companies as long as they allow wholesale access by resellers.
3. Big telcos build out the infrastructure nationwide. Meanwhile, new competitors can enter the wireless industry since it no longer requires building a whole damn nationwide network from scratch.
4. Google can now realistically dabble with the idea of free citywide wifi and or phone service, trying a few different models in different areas, and only paying wholesale prices for their users' bandwidth.
[/wild conjecture]
I think the real reason Google is interested in spectrum and phones is that they want to get wireless internet out to everybody, have a few differing ideas on how to do that, and ideally would like other people to pay to build all the towers and such to minimize their potential losses if it doesn't work out.
Maybe they could even do something similar to what their recently acquisition GrandCentral does, and save recordings of conversations (notifying both parties). Apply speech-to-text on that, and one's phone conversations and voicemail could be part of the "Chats" item in Gmail, and could be included in text searches.
7. CowboyNeal
Thanks to AdShit(r) technologies, you are also already reading ads on your squirrel feces! Every squirrel now comes with a wireless internet connection that allows it to download targeted advertisements that can then be imprinted on their feces...
"9" - "1" - "1"
"Hi, this is google phoneSense. We see you are calling 911."
"... Before putting your call through, we would like you to listen to these great opportunities from some of our advertisers ..."
"... For bodily injury, remember to call 1-888-SUE-THEM! ..."
"... Need a tow? Call 1-888-TOW-TRUK NOW! ..."
"... Want a phone that works in an emergency ... dial 1-888-NO-FONE-ADS ..."
"... click ..."
"911 emergency services. Your call is important to us ... please hold. In the meantime, please take a moment to listen to these grat opportunites from our sponsors ..."
Kevin Smith on Prince
There was also an ad-supported text pager that I believe went belly-up.
I wonder if I use bold in my signature, people will notice my posts.
Does the coffin come with a free lifetime warranty?
I wonder if I use bold in my signature, people will notice my posts.
I would like to welcome back the dot-com bubble. v2 is shaping up to be better than the first.
People want tech products. Tech products are expensive. Advertising gives us money. Therefore, we should give away computers... I mean phones. Those 2/10ths of a cent we get for every ad are free money. We'll be GAZILLIONAIRES in a week! No need to worry about the hundreds of dollars of investment in equipment and large monthly service fees. If we decide we aren't making enough money, we'll just throw in twice as many ads, and make twice as much money! It can't possibly fail! FREE MONEY!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go integrate my customized strategic life-cycle synergy platform into the vibrant emerging vertical market to differentiate my uniquely challenged customers and organizationally leverage our thriving demographic margins under one roof.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
People might not like ads the way they are right now, but ads are a vital part of the economy. Google is actually doing a great job in making ads more bearable. I agree that ads may be pretty annoying sometimes, but the information they bring is actually a necessity. For instance, before buying a new phone (or other tech gadget) I try to dig as much info about it as possible. I try to search for reviews and I tent to put my trust in reviewers that have a clear track of honesty on their statements. Then I talk to my friends and share my findings and they share theirs. This is a kind of advertisement and it is really useful. The problem is that I have to do it myself, a self advertisement, because advertisement technology still sucks badly. Advertisements don't need to be lies, they have to spread the word, just that. And the closest to the truth they are, more society will benefit from them. The job Google has done so far IMHO has made this kind of good advertisements closer to possible. Differently from spammers that just push crap at you, Google tries to deliver what you really need to know, and hopefully you'll buy something from its customers. That's Google's business. And I think if anyone thinks a bit about it, it'll be clear that this is indeed a necessity. People aren't fed up with pervasive advertisement, they are fed up with dumb advertisement. Let Google make it smarter.
Shut up, Greg.
...to have a phone with no *^%##@()*&^$ ads. It's a cheapie Nokia 1100 Tracfone. Works great.
Humayun, the package has been delivered.
*click*
"Drink Coca Cola!"
*BOOM!*
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Dude, this post claims Google demoed a phone. Not quite; the linked story merely says the WSJ reports that someone says they did in private. AFAWK this is still rumor. False alarm...
Sorry for feeding the troll but...
Google isn't just "selling ads" they're monitoring people habits. They can monitor what words people talk and with who. They provide a hardware based ID so any services used trough the cell phone can not be anonymized. In the end they can use all that info to "sell ads" and "index the world", two of the Google mantras.
Google marketing is to charge everyone 10% while advertising the 90% discount. People are so prone to technology that they don't care what they're giving back.
You: "Hello, Harold's Towing Service? Great. I need a tow real bad, I'm on Forest road ...." .. " (silence)
HAROLDS_TOWING: "Wait a sec, there's a guy at the door"
You: "NO! NO! My battery is go
Battery Chargers - for life's precious little moments.
Not to worry, in this case, the advertisement isn't the problem. It's between the chair and the keyboard.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Hey dude that's actually a good idea ..all phones should have that .. if the phone/service carried out your instructions/commands or search query only if prepended by a trigger word instead of butting in when unnecessary that is. The trigger word should be pretty unlikely to say in a conversation and/or something user configurable. To find the pizza or whatever you would have to say "Google Searcher, where can I find a restaurant (where I am)?" Since you didnt specify a location, like you said it'll figure out where you are by using the built in GPS or triangulation and the come back with "There is a Domino's 2 miles from you, should I dial it or place it in a file and/or display the number amnd map, company logo etc. in your phone?" (assuming u didnt preconfigure it to do a default o something). Then you can answer it or ask for more places. That's a cool feature to have.
.. cause otherwise it would be plain creepy.
It would be like 411 and a personal assistant rolled into one. I would hope all that the actual voice/conversation analysis stuff happens locally on the phone instead of on a server
Ugh! Google's "do no evil" motto is gonna take a beating on this one. What could be more evil than having a NetZero-wannabe on your cell phone?
I can only imagine the lost chain of thoughts due to the commercial disruptions.
ring... ring.. ring..
Hello?
Oh.... uh... hey,... Juaquim?
Yeah? What's up? Is this Kwame?
Uh.. yeah. well....uh.... Sorry dude, I was calling about something, but it's totally slipped my mind now. Later dude.
Later!
Oh wait-- I remember now, *in mechanical voice* Safeway double coupon offer begins this Friday, save twice the value of your coupons on all frozen foods and linquini.
Hey! Stop copying my sig!!! Stop copying my sig!!! Stop copying my sig!!! Stop copying my sig!!!
So what if a bunch of anecdotal Mexicans can make ends meet. You are making presumtions from the wrong point of view.
The immigrants share housing and eschew luxuries
So all of a sudden living in a basement with 20 others and luxuries such as "food" or "" becomes the defacto acceptable minimum standard of living?
Stop saying stupid such as telling it that it should "OK" for people in a western world to live in a situation like a fucking "Favela".
The United States should be ashamed for the low standard of living for some of it's citizens.
perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
I would get this phone because I rarely ever use my cell phone. 95% of my communication, business or otherwise, is handled through email and IM. I'd certainly go for it if the cost was respectably less than what I currently pay (prepaid), which, granted isn't that much compared to contracted wireless costs. I have used a prepaid phone for nearly six years now, not because I'm too poor to afford a "real" phone, but because I am not a fan of long-term contracts. I lose interest easily and that nifty iPhone (to use a currently hyped phone) would get old (to me) in about three months and then I'd be stuck with a year and nine months of a service I only signed up for to get the phone. I'll quickly sacrifice not having the best phone out there for the money I save, and the hassles I avoid, in the long run. And I'd use Google's phone for free, of course, but only if it didn't outright suck.
The downside of being killed is the upside of being dead.
I keep getting the feeling that advertising is the perpetual motion machine of today.
You have products that are funded solely by advertising other products, some of those advertise some other products and even those products that advertise them.
For me to put up with 2 seconds of delay with their insipid ads. Not saying never, but it would have to be straight up amazing literally, my laptop and all its features on a phone.
In france, -i am not talking about mobile phones- you get for 30 euros a month, about USD 40, unlimited -for real- broadband around 20megs, free phonecalls to landline to about 30 countries - including for example japan, on the other side of the planet-, digital tv, and thats it. for $40. The mobile market is very different, because there arent so many mobile providers, and the networks are expensive, just like broadband used to be.
Google is entering the market -their own way- and plans to shake things up, obliging the others to go cheaper if they do not want to loose their clients.
Listening to ads doesn't disturb me -adverts are not completely useless- , and i see ads everywhere: in cinemas, on the DVDs i fucking buy, on TV, on radio, and on this very same web page right now. Moreover, Google ads do not attack me with popups, visual effects "oh my god !" smiley crap sounds and all that. I am quite sure they will keep a high quality standard like they usually do.
(At least I'm honest.) But tying in the ads-to-phone-use-to-adsense could make for some very interesting "related ads." Take six calls in a row from the wife reminding you to pick up milk on the way home? Your next adsense commercial could be from a divorce attorney ....
Bark less. Wag more.
Stories like this one echo the fairly unknown movie "Idiocracy" with truly scary accuracy. I can't stress enough how people should watch this movie, not just for some serious reason but because it is a decent film, will offer some laughs and then at then end you lose your smile because you realize it's all damn near true.
Go watch Idiocracy, then buy an AD supported phone, play ad supported videogames, watch AD supported movies, and drink AD supported water, it's got electrolytes!
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
Not to mention that Works is the base "productivity software" on Dell systems (and maybe most or all other major Win-box retailers).
You can still order them without it, but it doesn't decrease the price of the system, so isn't Works pretty much free (as in beer) to the consumer already, if you're buying a new computer?
Adding ads just makes it a worse product that still won't change the price of the system (to the customer) whether you include it or not.
Maybe Google doesn't want to shove ads at you as much as they want to track your every movement in meatspace. No doubt this thing will have a cookie tied to your Google Account (as soon as you sign into Gmail ... actually probably as part of activation), and now the phone will know what stores you shop at and for how long. Do you think that information might be useful to a company that sells ads?
The U.S. is still the "land of opportunity," and as you point out, people prove it all the time by starting poor and ending up financially stable or successful.
But there is a set of the nation's resident population who never break the cycle--where the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc are poor and unsuccessful--and the kids are headed that way too. The question is what does it take to break that cycle?
Immigrant practices and stories are not particularly helpful IMO, because that's a different population solving a different set of problems. The will is often there (that's how they got here to the U.S., after all), and what they face are the logistical obstacles that come from not having a lot of capital. No place is better than the U.S. for overcoming such obstacles, so you often hear success stories there.
But with the native population the issue comes down to culture. How do you instill the will in the kids, that is lacking in the parents? It's not as simple as providing logistical or monetary assistance. The problem is psychological and hinges on instilling confidence, hope, trust, responsibility, etc in kids--feelings that their entire families might never have had, or rejected long ago.
IMO the best vehicles for this are schools and their associated programs--and the most successful programs at those schools right now are athletics. Nothing else does as good a job at instilling the necessary core values in kids who come from poor circumstances.
But we need to find a way to either leverage or extend that success into academics, because there's way more opportunity available to people through education than sports. Only one out of a few thousand kids can become a pro athlete, but most of them could get a good education and a solid job.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
People seem to be missing a fundamental point here: Google is not stupid. The reason that adwords has become such a force in the online world is that they realize that the majority of advertisements are obnoxious and that the key to advertising success is to find the balance between unobtrusive and yet still effective. What makes anyone think they will do anything less for their phone? Mark my words there will be absolutely no voice ads on the google phone. They realize that will only piss off the end user, and like every single other of their free products, they can just switch to something else. So since it is free, and since there is no lock-in, they will try as hard as they possibly can to make the experience useful. The key to this phone is that it will be -connected to the internet at all times.- That being said, there really is nothing new about this phone. There will be targeted text ads with an extra emphasis on hyper-localized targeting because of the GPS capabilities. Advertisers, especially local ones, will pay a lot more for an advertisement if they know that you are 500 feet away from their product. So expect to see more 'sponsored links,' gmail adwords, perhaps a few startup display ads, and seamless advertising integration into google maps. Voice ads will kill the phone, they realize this, and they aren't stupid enough to make such a mistake.
The Wall Street Journal article linked to from the ComputerWorld article has a bit more meat on its bones in terms of actual information about the possible phones and plans. No pictures, unfortunately.
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People willingly sit through ads before a movie that they paid for.
Yes, and look how well the movie theater industry is doing!
People pay a large sum of money to their cable/satellite company every month to watch ads.
But seriously, look how well PVRs and TV series DVDs are doing. To me it's pretty clear that whenever the same content can be consumed without the ads, the market goes there.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Cause when my grandparents lived in a single room farmhouse made of sticks and mud with 12 brothers and sisters sharing the same bed - the US should have been ashamed! Horror of horrors, they used to have to go a work in the field picking lettuce - and they didn't get paid for it - they had to eat it!
Is it amazing to anyone else that the American lifestyle that everyone talks about is (#1) less than 60 years old and yet (#2) is somehow supposed to be universal? Have you such lack of perspective that you miss that King George III would gladly have paid 30,000,000 pounds for a refrigerator that the poorest person in the US has? Do you not recognize that an electric stove saves a person tens of hours of chopping wood and thousand of hours of cooking time? Are you so unaware of where we have come from to realize that NOT sharing a room with many people is actually abnormal?
The fact is, the state that humans in western countries find themselves in is unprecedented in human history. Not even the Romans had public access to the internet, pre-paid telephone cards, or transportation faster than 25mph. The average poor person in the US is better off than any poor person in history, and better off than most of the richest.
So you go out there and buy your spinning rims and complain about not having money, while the smart people buy beans & rice and save up for a house. The reason that I'm "lucky" enough to have an education and a work ethic is because my grandparents had a strong work ethic, worked hard, and save their money to make the succeeding generations better. The reason that I work 8 hours a day is because my grandparents and parents worked 12-16 hours a day. When I'm feeling extra smart, I work 12-16 hours a day too because the only way you can get ahead is by working more than you need to in order to just get by.
I salute the immigrants who live in a house with 20 other people and buy groceries by the pallet load. That's the American dream. Work with whomever you can to make you life as nice as you can. I'm no more ashamed of them then they should be ashamed of themselves. By which I mean, I'm not at all ashamed.
What an awesome idea. If it's not network lock dependent (ie the ads work regardless of network) and it covers air time, calls and the phone, I'll jump on that contract. Of course the article is peppered with people who say, "Others have tried and failed!" as if Google don't know that. If anybody can make this model work, it's the big G. As for the usual comments about Google being some sort of "evil empire" because the fund everything with ads, they don't force us to take up the service or REMEMBER the ad messages.
"I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for, er... food." Col. Jack O'Neil, SG-1
Case in point.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.