The cell phone is sometimes called the "Third Screen". There are three screens in our lives that matter, the TV screen, the computer screen, and now the cell phone screen. In the near future I think the order of importance will invert so that the cell phone screen becomes the first screen, the computer screen second, and the TV will be last. Today the computer screen is my first screen...by far.
The New York Times has a story today "Marketers Interested In Small Screen" which talks about the growing interest in advertising on cell phones.
Marketers said they were particularly excited about the prospect of eventually using cellphones, many of which are equipped with global positioning systems, to send ads to consumers based on their location. With that information, marketers could, in theory, send pitches from retailers to cellphone users who might be in the vicinity of a store.
Robert Scoble has been blogging about viewing web sites on his mobile phone and encouraging them to offer mobile friendly versions.All the major search engines are now offering mobile search and other services specifically for cell phones.
MSN Mobile
Google Mobile
Yahoo Mobile
There are many millions more cell phones than PCs. The market is huge! For teenagers the cell phone is already their "First Screen" and the platform of choice for communicating via text messaging, photo sharing, and of course, voice. Web surfing and IM on cell phones are coming on strong. When GPS capabilities are added to the phones and applications it will be THE platform of choice for everyone.
If I were starting a business today it would be focused on mobile applications. There are lots of applications to be built specifically for cell phones in the areas of; social networking, games, photo sharing, music, user generated ring tones, video clips, TV clips, better search, better local listings, and above all a better User Interface for all cell phone applications.
There is no doubt that the cell phone is the platform of the future. The major carriers are clueless about what applications to build and how to tailor them to the platform. They have had years to do it and have failed miserably. They want to control the platform and create a "walled garden" like AOL, but they have already failed.
The trick will be for entrepreneurs to build great applications with simple intuitive interfaces, and get the wireless carriers to agree to non-exclusive distribution deals with a fair revenue split. There will be a few false starts and flame outs, but eventually this will be a HUGE business.
