In this story from the BBC,
newer 3G wireless services and handsets are said to change social habits. Clubbers and bloggers can
benefit from the cameras, video cameras and higher-speed data networks. Well, duh. Clubbers are obvious targets - I see
more cameraphones in clubs than real cameras at the Grand Canyon. Bloggers? Well, those who have taken up
moblogging as a sort of life documentation science are guilty as charged also. I regularly
send photos while mobile to my Flickr site using a simple and secret email address.This study outfitted a group of 16 to 35-year olds around the United Kingdom to see how these folks would use 3G services (devices and the wireless speed) to enhance their lives and see what would morph in their social habits. With no pricing constraints to stop them, these people changed their social habits quite a bit. The key here was free - these participants did not have to pay for all this high-end 3G lifestylin'. When you have to pay for it, things can probably be a little muddled. What the mobile operators need to do is give new subscribers total free access for like two months to all their 3G services to get customers using all the features. Then, give the customer a decent price at the end of the trial and most would likely keep it. I think.
