Internet: One Billion, GSM: Three Billion
January 28, 2009
ZDNet UK published “A Billion Internet Users Can Be Wrong” here. I have a tough time figuring out who writes what where. This important story appeared in “Leader”, I think. Anyway, the point of the story is that GSM has spread faster than the Internet. Here’s the passage:
In the history of the world, the only technology to spread faster is GSM, the digital mobile-phone standard. That’s another European invention — and another one that went live in the wonderyear of 1991. This one, however, is in the hands of 3.5 billion people. Between them, the web and wireless have democratized data: since 1991, you haven’t needed approval from anywhere to store or share data with the world, and the world hasn’t needed an appointment anywhere to retrieve it.
So what? I look at these data in terms of search. Looks to me that companies eager to leapfrog Google need to focus on mobile information access. Apple and Microsoft are lagging in this department. Yahoo is struggling. The start ups have to spend to get traction. Web search is over. Mobile looks like the next big search battleground. What do you think?
Stephen Arnold, January 28, 2009
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One Response to “Internet: One Billion, GSM: Three Billion”
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Yes, but the correct infrastructure will need to be in place.
Just as the internet needed broadband infrastructure and cheap, fast downloads for the consumer in order to deliver the results of search; so mobile search is currently hobbled by the very high data charges imposed by mobile telecoms providers.
The consumer hardware is there: some mobiles are provided with acceptable screens and netbooks are fine; but the cost of using them for this purpose is currently too high for most individuals worldwide.