Day: September 5, 2005

I've been contemplating the web site run by the Bluespamming outfit I wrote about here. Their powerpoint is essential reading – download it and wonder!

For example, consider the flexibility of Bluecasting with respect to who you can track and annoy:

Jason Lee Miller picked up on some of this in a piece he did recently at WebProNews. As Jason says:

“What if, in real life, only 15% of the people you approached for a conversation responded to you? You'd probably feel like a shmuck, a social pariah. Fifteen percent is enough to make a direct marketer's thick head spin, and Bluecasting, sending ads via Bluetooth technology to unsuspecting phone-toting passers-by, offers that promise…

And really, the annoyance factor, once the bug hits the States, is going to be huge. Just try walking by a shopping mall, a subway station, or a town square, for that matter, without your phone constantly buzzing at your side asking if you want to check out the latest exercise machine from Tony Little. Gives me shivers.

But at least we can count on the fact that products will be developed to block “de-listed” signals one day, defending our right to not be annoyed as we catch our planes.

Jason also refers to a piece by Mike at techdirt. He had this to say:

… [Y]ou just have to cringe when some marketers do things so obviously bad that you just know it's going to continue the downward spiral of the view of what marketing really is about.

A few weeks ago, we wrote about a test of a system in the UK called “Bluecasting” which was more accurately described as “Bluespamming”, where terminals were set up to send commercial messages over Bluetooth to unsuspecting people passing by with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. The companies behind this plan insist it's fine because rather than just sending you the commercial message, they first spam you to ask you if it's okay if they send you a commercial message.

For some reason, these folks then thought it was terrific that they only wasted the time of 85% of the people they spammed. Sure, compared to direct mail, that's a high return, but it's quite a different situation.

Buzzing someone on their phone as they're walking through a train station is likely to really interrupt them as they're on their way somewhere. Yet, due to blind marketing-think, the folks behind it still are insisting it's wonderful and are expanding the program to bug even more people — pretty much guaranteeing that most folks are going to start turning Bluetooth off on their phones.

The people behind it are in denial about how annoying this really is. According to the manager of some airport lounges where this will be used: “I think it's done very well because it enables the customers [to choose]. It doesn't force it on them.” But, it does force it on users — by pinging them without permission to see if they want the ad. That's the spam. Being interrupted as they're trying to do something else. If it was really completely up to the user, they would just put up signs telling people they could request info or content on their phones using Bluetooth. But actively sending them messages via Bluetooth is intrusive and, to many, many people, clearly seen as spam.

We do have a right not to have our own devices interrupt us.

If people don't get this, we'll just get new devices that conform with the Laws of Identity. They won't allow marketers to hit us over the head, distract us and track our behavior without our consent. They'll reward marketers who develop actual positive relationships with us and respect our right to privacy.

[tags: Bluetooth, Bluecasting, Bluespamming]

Here is some important information, reported in New Scientist, from the Bureau of Intrusive Stupidity:

Ignoring adverts is about to get a lot tougher with the development of billboards and advertising posters that use Bluetooth to beam video ads direct to passing cell phones.

Is this the return of the repressed? I thought that was over.

Don't you love it? The video ads are not directed at us – who are, after all, people who have had their fill of peddlers sticking things in our faces. They are directed at passing cell phones. No, but wait:

As people walk past the posters they receive a message on their phone asking them if they wish to accept the advert. If they do, they can receive movies, animations, music or still images further promoting the advertised product.

Yes, we are lonely and need to be contacted by billboards. We desperately want them to phone us. Isn't there a song about this?

“It's all about delivering high quality content, tailored for mobile usage,” says Alasdair Scott, co-founder and chief creative officer of London-based Filter UK, who created the system, called BlueCasting.

Chief Creative Officer? Give this man treatment immediately! I wonder what his mother says?

Here is an example of what he calls “high quality content”.

The posters detected 87,000 Bluetooth phones over a two week period, of which about 17% were willing to download the clip, says Scott.

Right. Would you be expecting a phone call from a billboard? Not really. You might take the first call.

If BlueCasting still sounds too intrusive, there is always one solution, says Whitehouse: “Just make sure your Bluetooth device is set so that it’s not discoverable to other devices.”

How dare Mr. Whitehouse tell me I need to turn off my phone's discoverability if I don't want his billboards connecting to my device?

No. I should not be bothered by passing billboards unless I subscribe to the Billboard Interruption Service, or whatever these people are going to call it. It had better be “opt in”. Of course, Bluetooth's fixed addresses (in contravention of the Fourth Law of Identity) make it easy to put your phone's tracking key on such a list – so you can get your fill of billboard spam.

Meanwhile, where is the noble Steve Mann? With his digital glasses, you can opt to have billboards filtered out of your vision, if you want. Or just particular billboards, if you grow to detest some which are run by demented goofs.

People are coming up with some really interesting new proximity technologies whereby if a person wants to obtain information from a poster, she can take a simple action (like clicking her phone) to get it. Such a technology does not intrude, and can succeed. As for this one, not only would I not invest – but, to quote Jamie Lewis, I'd rather keep my money in a shoe.

Until then, I take this as just one more sign that Bluetooth needs desperately to evolve to a new standard in compliance with the Laws of Identity.

[tags: Bluetooth, Bluecasting]

From New Scientist via slashdot, some concete numbers to anchor estimates of impending bitrates in wireless connectivity:

Cellphones capable of transmitting data at blistering speeds have been demonstrated by NTT DoCoMo in Japan.

In experiments, prototype phones were used to view 32 high definition video streams, while travelling in an automobile at 20 kilometres per hour. Officials from NTT DoCoMo say the phones could receive data at 100 megabits per second on the move and at up to a gigabit per second while static.

At this rate, an entire DVD could be downloaded within a minute. DoCoMo's current 3G (third generation) phone network offers download speeds of 384 kilobits per second and upload speeds of 129 kilobits per second.

The technology behind NTT DoCoMo's high-speed phone network remains experimental, but the 4G tests used a method called Variable-Spreading-Factor Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VSF-Spread OFDM), which increases downlink speeds by using multiple radio frequencies to send the same data stream.

The article goes on to say:

Some countries have already begun cooperating on [such 4G] standards. Japan and China signed a memorandum on 24 August to work together on 4G. NTT DoCoMo hopes to launch a commercial 4G network by 2010.

[tags: Wireless, Future Trends]