Observe the signs of the Tsunami: Now New York Times talks of Mobile Blogging

We've been saying this year 2007 is the time Americans wake up to the power of mobile. We've already said this June is the defining moment, with its "bi" and "ai" moment (before iPhone and after iPhone) which will happen on June 29.

The buzz around mobile and what all can be done with it will grow, the tsunami is out there, at sea, about to crash to American shores. Check out the New York Times, which on June 5 wrote about mobile blogging that "The Parthenon Looks Solid from my Cellphone" in an article by J.D. Biersdorfer.

A good artcile, nothing at all news to the readers of our book or blog (our book Communities Dominate Brands was of course the first book in the world to discuss mobile blogging, ha-ha) but this is very illustrative of how Americans are now starting to "get it" and they will be bombarded by cellphone related stories. Like this NY Times article writes about mobile blogging at its conclusion: "Moblogging is a quick, simple way to share your personal postcards; its cheaper too, given the price of stamps these days."

Good point New York Times. However, back in my first book Services for UMTS, in 2002, in the very first service vignette, I wrote about these kinds of picture memories shared with friends while travelling: "All without looking for a card, stamps or mailbox. Without the trouble of printing the mailing address or writing separate greetings." Yes its cheaper than a stamp (and the cost of a picture postcard) - but also where is the nearest kiosk selling post cards? At the foot of the Eiffel Tower of course that is easy, but if you are half-way up the tower, stop for a breathtaking view of the sunset - and want to capture THAT image - do you now climb all the way down to the kiosk to see IF they have that kind of image? Or take the picture with your cameraphone on the spot.

And how many times have you been looking for a mailbox? etc.

Yes, of course this will be big. One third of American Flickr users already upload pictures directly from cameraphones to Flickr (ie are doing moblogging). But America is so behind on this curve, in South Korea 90% of all pictures shared on cellphones are uploaded to their equivalent service, Cyworld. Mobile social networking (including moblogging) is already the fastest-growing billion dollar industry of all time, skyrocketed to over 3.45 billion dollars in its first 3 years from commercial launch.

So yes, good article New York Times, good that you are spreading this story. But to our readers - watch this space. The "cellphone stories" - story, will become a tsunami in America this Summer. This is only a ripple in the ocean at the moment.