Expect 12-step groups to start breaking out all over for mobile phone addicts
Recently, C|NET interviewed one 27-year old male who spent $2,000+ in the last 18 months alone in his quest to find the perfect mobile phone. The particular addict profiled lives in New York and calls himself “Jeffrey Gordon” … but that could be a pseudonym. What we do know is this. His girlfriend is fed up with his “pure lust” for phones. “Gordon” has gone through 3 carriers in 18 months … dumping Sprint in favor of Cingular just so he could get his hands on an Audiovox SMT 5600 phone running the Windows Mobile operating system. Gordon’s relationship with the Cingular Audiovox SMT 5600 was fleeting, lasting only 6 months or so before he moved on to a T-Mobile and the JasJar QTEK 9000. What motivated him to move on? Was it was the dulcent tones of Catherine Zeta-Jones … or maybe it was the phone’s cool features?
More likely it’s some combination of style and features. Back in the day, 20% of consumers made the decisions about which mobile carrier to go with based on the quality of the network. But in the wake of the Motorola RAZR, phone manufacturers find themselves competing on style and not just features, trying to pack more and more features into increasingly slim- and light- profiles. As a result, phone designs are becoming a much bigger consideration for U.S. consumers, and some buyers are even willing to switch carriers to obtain a phone of their desire. “The networks are becoming commodities,” Yankee Group Analyst Linda Barrabee said. “And consumers will be looking at other factors in making their decisions.”
Source
C|NET10-9-06 Digital Life
