by: Emily Sims
A quick Google search will produce countless articles trying to understand the popularity of 'ringtones'; hundreds of bloggers waxing lyrical on the benefits of personalising their cell phones. Interviews with ?experts? profering sexy theories about ringtones and identity construction lend an academic seriousness to the Crazy Frog phenomena. The figures are pretty serious too, in the U.S.A. alone, the Yankee Group predicts, ringtones will be worth $500 million. That?s roughly the GDP of Fiji.
Obviously our cell phones needs a voice, but does that voice need to be a polyphonic adaptation of 'Living on a Prayer'?
The latest figures indicate that young people are the greatest consumers of mobile music. According to one UK survey, 15-24 year olds account for 80% of ringtone spending. Studies by Nick Anderson of Sussex University show that young people are far more aware of the "brand personalty" (the particular identity affiliated with certain brands) than older generations. Anderson suggests that teenagers can deduce a person's character, likes and dislikes, by their branded possessions. Considering the amount of branding in the music industry, it's not unreasonable to say that popular musicians have their own ?brand personality?.
So, your 50 Cent ringtone, for example, communicates not only a your taste in music, but also your compliance to the whole ?Fiddy? meme. Ultimately, for brand savvy youth, this says something about your personality, which, you hope, everybody within earshot understands.
If a cell phone rings in the woods but nobody is around to hear it, are you still down with 50 Cent? Ringtones are about personalization, and about public performance. The publicness of the ringtone is an integral part of its appeal. It's unlikely that anyone would have a ringtone on their landline. In a noisy urban soundscape like the city, silence is an anomaly. Personalised ringtones are simply another irritating sound in the hullabaloo. Most of us manage tune out the sounds imposed on us: muzak, hawkers, traffic, the O'Reily factor, so why try and impose yet another squawk? Perhaps the ringtone is the audio equivalent of territorial pissing; thirty seconds in which YOU pick the soundtrack. For a few moments when your cell phone rings the 50 Cent meme is the most powerful in the sonic environment. Where ?Fiddy? is relatively redundant as a social force, certain ringtones allow citizens to demonstrate their dissatisfaction or support of a cause. Independent radio station WFMU have created a variety of anti- George W. Bush ringtones available for download, while engadget.com allows users to choose their preferred presidential candidate ringtone. Condemning other commuters to several cycles of 50 Cent, the theme from 'Star Wars' or a Dubya quote demonstrates your individual tastes and allows others distinguish you as either nemesis or brethren.
In our efforts to relieve poverty, impede environmental disaster or cure the global AIDs epidemic, ringtones are totally and utterly useless. When it comes to enforcing the myth that every individual is special, the artificial uniqueness of a personalized ringtone is just the ticket. Paradoxically, this demonstration of individualism is only really effective in a crowd. As far as this writer's concerned the real purpose of ringtones lies in their ridiculousness. A recent gathering of sensible adults turned to hilarity thanks to an improvised game of "Name that tune". Using Foovely's ringtone preview function, those gathered took turns choosing snippets of songs for the party to guess. Recognising a song in 30 seconds is SO much harder in monophone!
About The Author
Emily Sims is the word person at the cool ringtones (www.foovely.com) site foovely.com. While she dislikes his music, Emily thinks 50 Cent (ringtones.foovely.com/artists/50-cent.html) will probably get rich or die trying. Pity.
|
Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
by: Emily Sims
?Individuality: advanced features, precision engineering and couture style in a choice of elegant colors -- as individual as you are?. This is the blurb for the new Motorola Razr, one of the new breeds of mobile phone flying off the shelves. Where mobile were once marketed as an high-tech device, a tool packed with ingenious features, the new trend is for fashion phones. The major handset manufacturers are now offering seasonal collections, joint-venturing with well known fashion designers, and emphasizing aesthetic features when marketing their products. Indeed, some companies are scaling back the technical, yet utilitarian features, offering simpler but sleeker phones; form over function. Somewhere along the evolutionary path of the cell phone, the device has reached the point where it is no longer considered a gadget, available only to the privileged few with the money and/or technical...
Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
Ringtones > Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
The Sleek Motorola SLVR L7 Mobile Phone
The Sleek Motorola SLVR L7 Mobile Phone
by: HP Jeschke
The ultra-slim Motorola SLVR L7 is now available. The SLVR delivers superior functionality and offers the latest must-have features, including iTunes, in a Motorola one-of-a-kind iconic design. The SLVR is thinner than Motorola RAZR V3 and only slightly larger.
Redefining thin at less than half an inch and weighing only 3.5 ounces, SLVR?s design includes sleek metal housing, a vivid color display and precision cut keypad. Although extremely thin, SLVR is fat with multimedia features, including VGA camera, video capture and playback, and 512 megabytes of optional expandable memory.
The SLVR is ideal for experiencing the coolest downloadable content from ring tones, games, graphics and more. Additionally, SLVR delivers iTunes functionality, giving music lovers the ability to carry up to 7 hours of music or 100 of their favorite songs.
The keys are backlit in a bright blue, which...
The Sleek Motorola SLVR L7 Mobile Phone
Ringtones > The Sleek Motorola SLVR L7 Mobile Phone
Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
by: Emily Sims
?Individuality: advanced features, precision engineering and couture style in a choice of elegant colors -- as individual as you are?. This is the blurb for the new Motorola Razr, one of the new breeds of mobile phone flying off the shelves. Where mobile were once marketed as an high-tech device, a tool packed with ingenious features, the new trend is for fashion phones. The major handset manufacturers are now offering seasonal collections, joint-venturing with well known fashion designers, and emphasizing aesthetic features when marketing their products. Indeed, some companies are scaling back the technical, yet utilitarian features, offering simpler but sleeker phones; form over function. Somewhere along the evolutionary path of the cell phone, the device has reached the point where it is no longer considered a gadget, available only to the privileged few with the money and/or technical...
Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
Ringtones > Cell Phone Fashion: Personalizing Mass Production
The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
by: Dominic Ferrara
Nowadays teenagers are crazy about personalizing their cell phone and about being able to make the difference. For that, they use different and complicated ringtones, logos, reminders and so on. The latest fashion in ?personalizing your cell phone? is the wallpaper. Different cell phone wallpapers can be downloaded from Internet, but at the same time they can take pictures and save them as cell phones wallpapers. Almost any cell phone user has become an artist and he wants his cell phone wallpaper to stand out and to show his personality and his taste.
The use of the cell phone has become less important, the main thing is what is fashionable. That is why the ringtones, cell phone wallpapers, tassels and hand painting of phones have appeared all over world. Ringtones are the most beloved choice in downloads, but cell phone wallpapers and screen savers are ?too hot? in teens? preferences....
The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
Ringtones > The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
How to Customise your Cellular/Mobile Phone.
How to Customise your Cellular/Mobile Phone.
by: John McFarlane
Our current choices of Cellular/Mobile handsets are really quite amazing, it seems that there is a phone to suit everyone, what ever your requirements and necessities.
The features of our phones are ever increasing and we feel somewhat comforted by the multiple uses of our handsets.
Almost everyone is sure to find a phone that will fit their needs, not just in the variety of the phones uses but also a handset that is aesthetically pleasing.
It might be the colour or the shape or even the feel of the phone or a combination of all three.
To many individuals it is as important to them to be seen with a smart phone as it is to be seen with the latest hair cut or that great pair of jeans that are a must have item of the time.
People are conscious of fashions and trends, of what they possess at the time and also of what others possess around them.
But what...
How to Customise your Cellular/Mobile Phone.
Ringtones > How to Customise your Cellular/Mobile Phone.
The Malcontent of the Term ?Mobile Content?
The Malcontent of the Term ?Mobile Content?
by: Bob Roth
The following article discusses how to better convert a web user to a mobile user and the challenges that lie within.
We all know the immutable laws of web site conversion can be summarized as follows:
1. You have less than eight seconds to capture a web page visitor
2. Once captured, the next click must be obvious
3. Once clicking, minimize the steps needed to complete the desired action
The difficulty lies in maximizing information in a minimized process. You must be able to present what the majority need to see to complete your desired action. There will always be those who seek more information and tangents can be provided for them. Now, add another dimension to the ?desired action? by making that action something that you wish for them to do offline. That, my friends, is largely the challenge that we have at www.4INFO.net. Not to take anything away from our web...
The Malcontent of the Term ?Mobile Content?
Ringtones > The Malcontent of the Term ?Mobile Content?
The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
by: Dominic Ferrara
Nowadays teenagers are crazy about personalizing their cell phone and about being able to make the difference. For that, they use different and complicated ringtones, logos, reminders and so on. The latest fashion in ?personalizing your cell phone? is the wallpaper. Different cell phone wallpapers can be downloaded from Internet, but at the same time they can take pictures and save them as cell phones wallpapers. Almost any cell phone user has become an artist and he wants his cell phone wallpaper to stand out and to show his personality and his taste.
The use of the cell phone has become less important, the main thing is what is fashionable. That is why the ringtones, cell phone wallpapers, tassels and hand painting of phones have appeared all over world. Ringtones are the most beloved choice in downloads, but cell phone wallpapers and screen savers are ?too hot? in teens? preferences....
The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper
Ringtones > The Most Beautiful Cell Phone Wallpaper