Don’t Forget The Voice
by Ewan Spence
I’m currently at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, doing a daily podcast, and it’s amazing just how much I rely on my mobile (and in some circumstances not relying on it because no matter the software it’s simply not up to the task). Organising shows to see, interviews to happen, and scheduling work around that, there’s a lot of communication going on between journalists, the media, PR agents, promoters and venue managers. And it all happens on the mobile.
Not the Blackberries, IM or email. Neither does twitter or the various alert services even begin to figure with people. This world runs on Filofaxes and diaries, scraps of papers holding someone’s new mobile number, and a mobile phone…
It’s constantly there! Not on stage or in the audiences – there are enough pre-show warnings to turn off mobile phones – but the whole event has thousands of people no longer in their office, but in a rented bed-sit around the University campus that makes up a lot of the venues. And every one of them is on the phone, constantly. Deals being arranged, bookings to make and change, hustling for more shows, or appearances in showcases, the list goes on.
So no matter the great new technologies that are in mobiles, or the third party services. The only vital ingredient is call quality and signal strength. And that’s a good thing to reflect on in this time of smartphones constantly striving to do one more impossible thing before breakfast. For all that we think the communication potential of our smartphones have changed the world, it’s still only a very small percentage of the global market for mobile phones. I don;t see how the people at the fringe would be convinced to switch away to even using an email or IM system to stay in touch as their primary means (because there are Blackberries out here, but you send a mail, and you get a reply by a phone call – it’s easier).
On the move, lots to do, and the social network of the address book is king. No Facebook here – it’s face to face, or call to arrange the face to face. Simple as that.
Oh and one final thought. Number of iPhones I’ve seen with the high powered agents? None. Number of crappy basic phones that Silicon Valley would turn up their noses, yet have massive battery life and hold calls well? Thousands.
