“Connecting people” the tag line of mobile handset manufacturing giant Nokia goes; “Express Yourself” reads the tagline of Airtel, India’s largest mobile service provider. Indians seem to believe in this and making the most of it, as evidenced by the statistics that show that India is all set to overtake US to become the world's second largest mobile market by May this year. (indiatimes.com/Business/)
As we talk about the world being increasingly connected, the mobile phone is not the only thing that comes to ones mind; the Internet is another invention that has invaded our lives and homes in the last decade. “According to IAMAI, a trade association representing the online industry, Indians go online for a number of activities including e-mail, Instant Messaging, job and matrimonial search among others.” In spite of such varied usage statistics show only 3.7% of the Indian population using the internet.(http://www.internetworldstats.com)
The most obvious reason for this is the affordability, while mobile phones come for as cheap Rs. 799 you still have to shell out a minimum of Rs. 5000 for a PC. Further the use of internet would require the working knowledge of a computer; on the other hand, the mobile phone in its basic use is a mere extension of our landlines which we have been using for decades now.
The biggest advantage pointed out by Ahonen(2007), something I fiercely second is that “It(the mobile phone) is the first truly personal mass media”. This is probably something young Indians appreciate more than anything ,coming from households where you are usually sharing your computer with at least one other person, the privacy that the mobile offers is readily welcomed.
Singularly the most imperative use of a phone for most youngsters is messaging or SMS as it is commonly referred to, often surpassing the facility of being able to make calls. The mobile service providers realize this too there by making hard to resist offers like 3000 messages free and slashing down the rates of national and international messaging. Another reason why the mobile has become such an integral part of our lives is that even the most basic phones take care of our every need with features like the calculator, the calendar, the dictionary, the alarm clock, your favorite games, right down to a torch! ( This one, especially made for the Indian customer)
Another particularly useful feature in a mobile phone is for photos and videos be taken and uploaded making it nearly impossible to think of a phone that does not offer this feature. Even websites like Facebook realize this and give the users an option of uploading photos taken with the mobile phone.
Today most phones come with a music player. I myself have stopped using my iPod because of the inbuilt MP3 player and the FM radio facility my phone provides. In many ways I think the comparison between the internet and the mobile phone is not a comparison between two equals. Today with handsets like Nokia now providing features like Google search and other such facilities, the mobile is providing all that the Internet can and a whole lot more.
Thus according to me Indians in many ways exemplify what as Tony Ahonen rightly pointed out in 2007 “The mobile as the 7th mass media. It is not the dumb little brother of the internet. It is inherently superior to the internet. Mobile is as dominant to the internet, as TV is to radio.”(http://communities-dominate.blogs.com).
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I like Sanj’s blog Cell phone use in India because I feel like I have predicted the future. I believe that whether it is technology, economy or new innovations that “the playing field is will continue to be leveled” (Thomas Freidman).
Anyway, if there is any country that would match America an all facets, it would be India. How remarkable it is to see this country flourishing and developing the way it is. I find it interesting about the invasion of the Internet and cell-phones. Now I am just waiting to see how Indians will “Express themselves.” I am not at all surprised if India overtakes the US to become the world's second largest mobile market by May this year. I will not be surprised if a lot of countries overtake America in a variety of categories dealing with technology.
I was having a conversation with a man today at my job about how the mass media has infected the formal interaction society engages in since we have replaced face-to-face communication with the usage of cell phones. So when Sanj noted that “The mobile as the 7th mass media. It is inherently superior to the internet. Mobile is as dominant to the internet, as TV is to radio,” I very much agree, but I thought it would’ve been a little higher, like at 4.
Matthew Bullock
I don't know how much I like to use my phone for other apps such as music or video. I like video to be larger than a square and I feel strange listening to music out of a phone because mine is a little bulky.
Of course, we are also a generation raised on cds and liner jackets, which will be extinct for the most part as the digital world takes hold. I still have a vcr and an extensive tape collection that I haven't yet put to pasture so I might not be considered an early adopter.
I believe the text message phenomenon caught on in Japan a decade before it was introduced in the United States. I think there is a lot to be said for the "polar bear" theory of how people react.
The notion is that you don't have to study every polar bear to know how polar bears behave. You take a small, representative sample and based on that, are able to predict behavior for all of them. People are the same way, although we all like to think of ourselves as individuals. Global markets like to test the waters before investing so much capital and pushing such products.
A few cultural differences aside, I believe what works one place will work in another. I wonder if there is a region where an idea such as text messaging has failed?
It sounds to me like cell phone service providers are making better offers in India. 3000 messages would cost $20 (USD) for me (on AT&T) on top of the monthly fee for voice. Text messaging has caught on like wildfire in the US. Now even my father, who by choice didn't even have a land line in his home text messages me all the time. I recently attended SXSW Interactive festival, and in one of the panels I attended a panelist talked about going to Vietnam and being paddled down the river by an older woman who was sending text messages. I think for many Americans it is difficult to imagine how widespread these technologies are becoming. The cell phone is a great communications tool that is beginning to become even more useful. Smartphones are beginning to dominate the US market. These phones are about as powerful in terms of processing power and memory to the first desktop computer I ever built for myself back in 1998, which is a startling example of Moore's law. The iPhone is leading the charge of the web enabled smart phone, but personally I am waiting for Sony Ericcson's Xperia X1 phone to come out this summer. I has a touch screen similar to the iPhone, but also has a arc sliding qwerty keyboard. I think it is great that things are moving in this direction. I am obsessed with information and learning and cannot wait until I have a phone that will allow me to use Wikipedia from anywhere. Unlimited mobile access to information and communication will rapidly change the world in inumerable ways.
I agree that for personal use, the cell phone wins over the internet. Although in America, cell phones and the internet go hand in hand. With the ability to use the internet on your cell phone, with the right phone, you are capable of doing almost anything you would on the computer, from anywhere you wish. I feel that the computer has stayed kind of stagnet in the last few years. Although things may look different, you can still do the same things you could with old computers, maybe in just a better way. Cell phones however continue to evolve. Once just a clunky oversized took to dial some numbers, now you can play games, music, surf the internet, have a GPS and many many more things. In todays society, cell phones are just as big in peoples lives as are computers. For some people more so.
Wow, that is very interesting that only 3.7% of the Indian population uses the internet! I would have thought it would be much higher than that. I guess that shows how Eurocentric I am! Anyway, I think it is so useful for the Indian population to use your cell phones for the Internet if so few of you use the internet as it is. I think it really allows you to add personalized content to, possibly, blogs or websites that you might not be able to do otherwise.
Have you tried to upload photos using the blogger? I tried it and it loads the picture right onto the post, wherever I want it - right from my phone! The fact that phones are adding so many new features like video cameras and audio capturing tools makes adding web content almost endless with possibilities. Not to mention that you can check e-mail at any time, almost anywhere. This really helps if you need directions or to check your e-mail when you're away from the computer. I think it is just going to get easier and easier!
I totally agree with Jamie. The cell phone has really evolved in the last decade. I remember when my dad came home with his first cell phone in 1996. We thought he was SO cool. It was primative compared to the cell phones we have now. Even in my own cell phone use (since 2000) I have seen my cell phone evolve at a rapid pace. Cell phone use has also evolved. Even little kids have cell phones now! We can use cell phones just like we use our home computers. Who even uses a landline phone anymore? It's amazing how advanced cell phone technology is becoming. And like Sanj said, it will only get better.
hey matthew...i think wat the writer meant when he said that the mobile phone is the 7th mass media.. was purely in terms of chronology.. but otherwise .. yea its way above most of the traditional mediums today.
another reason why i think cell phones are so big in india is cos of literacy.. i mean most ppl esp in the rural areas use it for the basic purpose of making calls.. and thier knowledge of cell phone usage is limited to that alone..
but for a student like me a lot of other features matter- camera, video, music player etc.(and i am not particularly tech savvy)
But finally I do agree wid Marc to a certain extent -"A few cultural differences aside, I believe what works one place will work in another."
After reading your post, I'm feeling extremely naive about media usage in India. I took a global media class with Dr. Rao a year or so ago, and I realize that rural areas are far behind in terms of technology. But I always got the impression that everyone in the bigger cities would be online. Just 3.7 percent really surprised me!
I'm also curious about cell phone usage. You mention that cell phones are often used for texting and internet searching in India. Do a significant number of cell phone users utilize these functions through their service providers? Please, tell me more! What is the demographic of users?
Before readying Sanj's blog I'd almost forgotten how so many people outside the U.S. don't use what we think of as common technologies such as computers and the internet, be it because they are not technologically caught up to speed or because it costs too much to obtain. I found it also interesting that India's cell-phone market is increasing so much, possibly even equaling or eventually overtaking the U.S. in the market, as well as other markets perhaps. Cell phone technology keeps upgrading, and like the examples Sanj uses such as with the video and MP3 options in cell-phones today, they make take over the music and video industries, at least in some areas. Especially in India where the internet isn't as big, giving cell-phones a large head start in the race for market supremacy.
Hey - I can relate with blogpost. My family is from Nigeria and growing up. having a phone line was a luxury. But not only was it a luxury, it was also a pain. First of all you had to be on a waiting list for several years to get connected by the government phone company. When you did, the service was awful and it rarely worked. But with cellphones reaching most African and developing countries, the cell phone ha s become more than just a phone - it is the mobile Internet. Hey Marc - I agree wiht your comments, for some reason, until the iPhone, American companies have not provided that many applications for phones. It could be that we always have access to the Internet and never needed it or it was just never offered. However, outside America - cell phones are changing the world via texting to organize rallies/protests to the local farmer in Ghana who can call the market a 100 miles away to find out the price for his cocoa crops before he actually makes the trip there. India is just an example of how technology is making the world a smaller and hopefully better place.
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