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Author Topic: Cell Phones-- another reason not to have one
Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214

posted 29 December 2007 07:48 AM      Profile for Tommy_Paine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Found this story in the Globe and Mail.

Pin Point Advertising

quote:
NEW YORK — Your cellphone is a potential gold mine for marketers: It can reveal where you are, whom you call and even what music you like.

Considering the phone is usually no more than a few feet away, these are powerful clues for figuring out just the right moment to deliver the right coupon for the store just around the corner.

But first marketers will have to wrest the personal profiles from mobile carriers worried that annoyed subscribers might defect to rivals.

“It's proceed with caution,” said Jarvis Coffin, chief executive of advertising distributor Burst Media Corp. “Are consumers going to be spooked by the idea that suddenly their phone goes beep and it's a Starbucks offer, and they are standing next to a Starbucks?”


Am I right in assuming that as you moved around a city, your cell phone would constantly ring as you passed this business and that?

Man, I'd toss it out the window. If I had one, which I don't, and this does nothing to stimulate me into buying one.

[ 29 December 2007: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]


From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
M.Gregus
babble intern
Babbler # 13402

posted 29 December 2007 11:53 AM      Profile for M.Gregus     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Am I right in assuming that as you moved around a city, your cell phone would constantly ring as you passed this business and that?

Man, I'd toss it out the window. If I had one, which I don't, and this does nothing to stimulate me into buying one.


I'm also unsure about the advertising tactics that would potentially be involved - would the phone ring as Tommy describes, would there be some kind of on-screen ads appearing, or some other form of targeted advertising? In the discussion around this issue, I've heard mention of marketing targeted to consumer preferences that are referenced in conversation, which makes even less sense to me. In some respects this is comparable to ads corresponding to search engine entries, but with advanced voice recognition technology - not to mention privacy violation.


From: capital region | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
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Babbler # 1275

posted 29 December 2007 12:06 PM      Profile for Lard Tunderin' Jeezus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I've received some uninvited text message ads as I've moved around the downtown core. I'm on the Roger's network. Perhaps this is yet another reason to hate them.

I previously was on the Bell network, and was frustrated by poor reception in my home. But I've regretted the move ever since going with Rogers. Their reception is definitely better, but: technical support is completely and entirely incompetent, customer service is horrendous, and their accounting/collection practices are incredibly obnoxious and completely based upon unceasing (and perhaps illegal) harassment. I have never been treated as badly as a customer in my life.


From: ... | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
Tommy_Paine
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Babbler # 214

posted 30 December 2007 06:41 AM      Profile for Tommy_Paine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well, I had a run in with Bell earlier this year, too, after I was "slammed" by them.

Whether it is advertising on cell phones or anywhere else, it amounts to information "pollution", and the danger is that people tend to survive it by tuning it out.

Here's a experiment to try. When you are out and about in the world, try not to tune out the advertising, and become aware of each and every bit of it.

You will find you are probably living in a very ugly city.

And, try to concentrate on the messages of actual importance that you miss because you are in the habit of tuning the pollution out.

And now, people with cell phones will be trained to ignore the ring tone.

Which defeats the whole purpose of owning a phone.


From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 30 December 2007 05:54 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
From the article that started the thread:

quote:
Companies are also developing ways to share profiles with marketers while stripping out sensitive information like names.

On Sprint phones, all targeting to such attributes as age and ZIP code is done on Sprint Nextel Corp.'s end; advertisers give Sprint the ads for the company to place without having to share any data with anyone, spokeswoman Emmy Anderson said.


Creepy! I have had no desire to get a cellphone again (I had one for a year and a half as my only phone). I have less desire after reading this article. Thanks, Tommy.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Proaxiom
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Babbler # 6188

posted 30 December 2007 06:40 PM      Profile for Proaxiom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I wonder what the resolution is on determining a user's geographical location from cell towers. I'd be surprised if they could do better than a half-kilometer radius, even in cities.
From: East of the Sun, West of the Moon | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Sven
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posted 30 December 2007 08:55 PM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If I got ads on my cell phone, I'd complain...LOUDLY. And, if the ads couldn't be shut off, I'd change carriers.

In the US, we have a "Do-Not-Call Registry" where individuals can register their phone number(s) (home, cell, etc.) and telemarketers are prohibited from calling your number(s). It works great. Big fines for companies violating a person's registration. There's something similar for unsolicited faxes. I'm sure that unsolicited ads via a cell phone would be similarly regulated.

ETA: Many cell phones allow the user to shut off the "GPS" (it's not really GPS--it's using cell towers to triangulate a person's location) feature on a phone. If a carrier started sending ads, that's the first thing I'd check.

Also, I wouldn't want to NOT have a cell phone. They are incredibly handy. I wouldn't have a landline at home...'cept Ms. Sven is a little old fashioned and likes to have a landline at home for some reason. I see zero reason for having a home phone. It's akin to having a desktop 'puter rather than a laptop. I'd never had a desktop (all it does is anchor a person to one place--just like a landline). A laptop gives me the freedom to use it (wirelessly) anywhere in (or outside of) the house or to take it with me and use a local Wi-Fi. Ditto with a cell phone.

[ 30 December 2007: Message edited by: Sven ]


From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged

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