Cell phones are often called "The Third Screen" after the TV and Computer screen. But in China the cell phone is the first screen of choice. The New York Times says "Internet Boom in China Is Built on Virtual Fun".

The NYT story is about Tencent, a Chinese Internet company that offers an all-in-one package of entertainment offerings and a mobile instant-messaging service which has reached more than 100 million users, or nearly 80 percent of the market. There are several quotes in the article that are striking and thought provoking;

While America’s Internet users send e-mail messages and surf for information on their personal computers, young people in China are playing online games, downloading video and music into their cellphones and MP3 players and entering imaginary worlds where they can swap virtual goods and assume online personas.

Another distinguishing feature is the youthful face of China’s online community. In the United States, roughly 70 percent of Internet users are over the age of 30; in China, it is the other way around — 70 percent of users here are under 30, according to the investment bank Morgan Stanley.

If you look at the really successful Internet companies in the USA they have all been started by college kids, or very young first time entrepreneurs. The technology adoption is much faster and deeper with young people than with Baby Boomers or the older crowd.

I have said many times I think the cell phone is the future personal computing platform. Most of the applications and data will be on servers "in the cloud" but they will be viewed and updated by PDAs and cell phones. I rarely need my laptop anymore when I am traveling. My Motorola Q-Phone has my email, calendar, contacts, text messaging, photos, and I can even view Microsoft Office documents. I can get stock quotes and even make trades.

The big money on cell phones is ring tones, games, music, and in the future, video. Who woulda thought that silly ring tones would be a $5 Billion business? Not me...I totally missed that because I am too old.

I do know that Mobile Search and Local Search will be huge markets...and the cell phone will be the platform of choice.