Author
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Topic: Cell Phones-- another reason not to have one
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Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214
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posted 29 December 2007 07:48 AM
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
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Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214
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posted 30 December 2007 06:41 AM
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
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 30 December 2007 05:54 PM
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
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Sven
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9972
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posted 30 December 2007 08:55 PM
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
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