Mobile Point View by Paul Ruppert

One Year in my Blog Life: Keeping Score at Mobile Point View

Readers from 128 Countries

Journalistic cycles  are often driven by calender milestones so today I celebrate my first anniversary as a blogger--albeit it slightly tardy. 

I started Mobile Point View in April of 2007 primarily to frame and define my "personal brand", project and shape awareness of my industry perspective, e.g. my "thought leadership", and keep my eye  focused on the mobile industry and global business trends with a discipline to discuss my views.

Along the journey I found it also fed internal motivations such as a love/hate relationship with writting, and my wonderlust for "Adventure Roads" and "Adventure Capitalism." Plus, it feeds my spirit to learn more about other cultures and keep my skills sharp in making connections--both technical and human.  I've been told I've got a combinatorial world view which my blogging reflects, being part travelogue, wireless industry plus global commerce analysis, and my passionate interest in high growth markets such as China, Africa, and the Middle East.

Recognitions & Connections

An unexpected turn along the path has been the recognition of my views by technoscenti like Om Malik of DigOm, Gerry Purdee of Forrester Research and mobilista Rudy De Waele. A surprising approach by Mobile Messaging 2.0 to contribute to that corporate sponsored blog has led to additional "thought leadership" and recently my being tapped to be the Managing Editor of Mobile Messaging 2.0. So now I'm a "professional" journalist, meaning my meanderings drive revenue.

Another unexpected consequence of having a cyberspace billboard has been the people I've become acquainted with--gratifyingly in other countries, who have graciously shared their time, interests and expertise with me by reaching out and establishing a connection, especially Lars in Tokyo, Ben in Beijing, Mikki in Hong Kong, Tarek in Egypt, Feng in Beijing, James in London, and Mohammed in Iraq. Reflecting a modicum of success, the connectedness of the mobile industry and power of the internet, the number of others who I have met at conferences who entered a conversation with "I know you, I've read your blog!" has been surprising and energizing.

What I'm most proud of is being relevant and interesting to readers from 128 countries.   

After a year of blogging, I've got a slurry of mixed metrics on total visits (over 100,000 ), page views, time on blog, google juice, etc., but the one which I'm most proud of is the reflection of my reach and global view point.   Sidebar: Visit: Global Point View Ltd. my umbrella company which I consult under while looking for my next industry job. Having readers from so many countries reflects my purpose, passion and pursuits to illuminate the power of the mobile industry and its fundamentally global characteristics. 

Interesting Quirks of Where My Readers Are 

Some interesting aspects of my readership include:  9,600 visits from readers in India, 900 visits from readers in Pakistan, 30 visits from readers in Myanmar, over 740 visits from readers in Iran, and 400 vistis from readers in Nepal. I've got one regular reader in Foggaret el Arab, in the dead middle of Algeria and a population of 4,300. The snowiest reader must be in Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut, Canada--probably someone visiting the Lodge.

I guess that reflects the power of the web, the strength of interest in mobile communications, and once in a while my ability to strike a chord which resonates with a variety of people in diverse international locations. 

Here's a tally of reader countries as of June 2008

A Year in the Blog Life
	Visitors from 128 Countires
Americas (25)	Europe (40)	Asia (26)	Middle East (11)	Africa (26)
US	UK	Australia	Afghanistan	Algeria
Barbados	Andorra	Bangladesh	Bahrain	Botswana
Bolivia	Aserbaijian	Brunei	Egypt	Cameroon
Brazil	Austria	Cambodia	Iran	Canary Islands
Canada	Azores	China	Iraq	Cote D'Ivoire
Cayman Islands	Belgium	Fiji	Israel	Djibouti
Chile	Bosnia	Guam	Jordan	Ethopia
Columbia	Bulgaria	Hong Kong	Kuwait	Gambia
Costa Rica	Czech Republic	India	Oman	Ghana
Dominican Republic	Denmark	Indonesia	Qatar	Libya
Ecuador	Estonia	Japan	UAE	Madagasacar
Grenada	Faeroe  Islands	Kazakhsatan	Yemen	Mali
Guatemala	Finland	Korea		Mauritius
Haiti	France	Laos		Moambique
Honduras	Georgia	Malaysia		Moldova
icaragua	Germany	Marutius		Morocco
Jamiaca	Gibraltar	Myanmar		Mutitania
Martinique	Greece	Nepal		Nigeria
Mexico	Iceland	New Zealand		S. Africa
Paraguay	Ireand	Pakistan		Senegal
Peru	Italy	Philippines		Sudan
Puerto Rico	Latvia	Singapore		Swaziland
St. Vincent	Lichtenstein	Taiwan		Tanzania
Trinidad	Lithuania	Tajikistan		Togo
Urguay	Luxemburg	Thailand		Tunisia
Venezuela	Macedonia	Uzbekistan		Uganda
	Mallorca	Vietnam		Zaire
	Malta
	Monaco
	Netherlands
	Norway
	Poland
	Portugal
	Romania
	Russia
	Serbia
	Spain
	Sweden
	Switzerland
	Turkey
	Ukraine

Internet Tales: China vs The West & Rest

10 Ways the Chinese Internet is Different

In the course of searching for interesting & different content for Mobile Point View I sometimes find a jewel amongst the rocks. Such is the case with Mobiz (strapline: Trends and Opportunities in Mobile and Internet Space in China and Rest of the World), a blog written by Nokia Executive and wireless veteran Alvin Foo. Based in China, he has a nice balance of personal stories mixed in with solid analysis of mobile trends and technology initiatives in China. He's a pathfinder having blogged since 2004. I wanted to share Alvin's newest post "10 Ways the Chinese Internet is Different" for my global readers, as well as my own comments on each. Drop by Alvin's Mobiz & edify on the ways of China.

1. Its slower
Thanks to the Great Firewall, accessing the internet especially websites residing outside China can be a real pain.   Tell me about it. My friends in China keep advising me that MobilePointView sometimes is accessible and sometimes not. Notwithstanding the fact that I've never written a cross word about China!! There are many times I'd rather be there with 10% economic growth rate than here in the US where mobile is hardly cutting edge!  But what about Mobile access to the web, how's that compared to the west--same same. With most Chinese now accessing the web via mobile, does it really matter how fast a tethered connection is?

2. Its monitored. The Chinese authorities monitor all traffic going in and out of China.
Well, so it seems is the Australian web soon. Monitoring may not be all that bad given below. Yet again, read above and it makes you take pause. Readers, what's your view ?

3. Access to foreign Web sites is limited: The Chinese government uses four mechanisms -- DNS blocking, reset commands, URL keyword blocking and content scanning to prevent Internet users in the country from reaching blacklisted Web sites or content.  I've heard there are also readers pouring over the internet, much like massive public works projects used to be built by hand and hordes of workers. Any truth to that, or is it "geopolitical myth making?"

4. Blackouts are common
If the Chinese government finds that a user has downloaded forbidden content, it breaks the connection and prohibits the user from establishing communications with the site. These blackouts can last anywhere from two minutes to an hour. Umm, I'm also advised by a student who used to work for me that her dorm electricity is turned off at 11:00 pm every night. When do you get to study then?

5. Its censored.The authority employs thousand of people to go through content and censor whatever they find sensitive. Ah, see item 2 question.

6. There's less porn: The Chinese government justifies its Internet monitoring efforts by telling the public that it is keeping online information "wholesome" and free of threats such as sexual predators. Online pornography is not as pervasive in China, and users are less likely to stumble upon it. Good.

7. It's safer. Malicious activity including phishing scams, bots and zombies is less common in China than in the United States. China represented 7% of the Internet's malicious activity, while the United States represented 31% during the second half of 2007. One rationale for the Chinese Internet monitoring system is to keep hackers at bay. Seems sensible.

8. There's less spam. China produces 4% of the world's spam, while the United States is the origin for 42% of all unsolicited e-mail. China decreased its spam volume by 131% in the second half of 2007, largely by reducing the number of bot-infested computers. Here, too. Seems sensible.

9. It's based on IPv6. The China Next Generation Internet is an IPv6 backbone that the Chinese government is using as a testbed to develop IPv6 services, including distance learning and telemedicine. IPv6 is an upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol that features enough IP addresses for the Chinese population. I'm curious whether IPv6 is a Chinese initiated technical upgrade. Might be reflective of industrial policy and strategy. If China adopts a standard, it is now at the point of rightfully effecting global standards to adhere. Nothing new here, others have tried it, e.g., PHS out of Japan, CDMA out of the US, etc.

10. Its growing faster. The Chinese domain .cn are growing much faster than any domain in the world. Dot cn grew by 399% than the 24% year on year for .com and .net. WOW!  Two words: Head East.

Thanks for the informative post Alvin.

Mobile Porn is up in Japan

Salarymen mainstream mobile porn

Yes boys and girls, mobile video pornography is running rampant with the infamous Japanese salaryman. 

"Phone Sex" no longer pertains to a lurid voice or text message of "What are you wearing?"  With Japan's 3G networks and robust handset functionality, the business of supplying adult movies for mobile phones is steadily swelling according to Asahi Geino---a male oriented Japanese magazine focusing on sensationalized stories, celebrity gossip, yakuza (Japan's organized crime syndicate), and articles with erotic content or about sex. 90% of the readership are middle aged, married, male salarymen.  Think of it as a bizarre blend of Newsweek, The New Yorker, People, Penthouse, and The National Enquirer.

"Stick Flicks"

For a monthly fee of a few hundred yen, that's about US$ 2.75 boys, they have unlimited access to as many Japanese "stick flicks" as they wish. Less than the cost of one ring tone!

"Mobile phone adult movie channels have all the different genres. Some major adult productions normally on sale in the marketplace have also been reformatted to suit mobile phones," a source well-versed in the mobile phone content market tells Asahi Geino. "These options are becoming really popular, mainly among salarymen who want to be able to watch these movies without their families finding out."

Japan's Lovestyle

A Japanese business called "Lovestyle" is providing the adult movies accessible by mobile phones. "We take old contents like the shijuhate (literally "The 48 Hands," the name given to the traditional Japanese charts of different sex positions), give it a new name like 'Titanic' or something and then provide photo and video footage of each of the positions. We use the video footage to show the insertion angles that achieve the greatest feeling and each position has its own individual explanation,"  said a company spokesman. Let's consider this for a moment--rendering a picture down to at most a 2" x 3" screen (the iPhone isn't available in Japan yet) gives how much detail?

Yet, the service is ringing up attractive profits. But given the "face culture" of Japan, it has become a source for scam artists preying on the pride of some. Many whose identities have been stolen have ended up with large bills from mobile phone adult movie content providers whose services they've never heard nor frequented. But they pay anyway rather than taking up an embarrassing fight that wrongfully exposes them as having a proclivity for "portable porn."  Umm, "portable porn" used to be a hard copy of Playboy. My how things have changed....

The men's weekly says that though the market is limited to Japanese operator au (KDDI), that should also serve as a safety valve for users because they know if they use a service on that carrier it should have been confirmed as a legitimate provider. On the other hand, any adult movies connected with companies like Softbank or NTT DoCoMo should be approached with caution. "That's true, but even so adult movie makers are setting up sites for DoCoMo users one after the other and mobile phone AV is on the verge of becoming an everyday service," a writer on the flesh film industry tells Asahi Geino.

"Some adult movie production companies have mobile phone site links on their official sites. If you check these out, it greatly reduces the risk of getting caught up in a scam."

There you have it. Soon to be arriving in the US...probably 5 years from now.

Predictive Text Commission

Saturday mornings are usually when I'm trying to bang out my weekly post while my 11 year old fumbles around making himself a breakfast of Chips Ahoy, Oreos or some such sweet-stuff until his prison warden Pop shows up. 

Today's tasks included adding John Puterbaugh's blog Mobile 2.0 and Emerging Mobile Media Services to my blog roll. John, the Chief Strategist at Nellymoser, and I met at an InMobile event at the Mobile World Congress two short weeks ago. (John's on the left)We had an engaging conversation and he'll be a pod cast guest here in the near future. Since I was adding  Mobile 2.0 to the log rolling blog roll, I figured I should edit the list, and started to read through other blogs I had paid neglectful attention to. Mobhappy made me happy.

Words we should use vs. Words we do use

Russell Buckley and Carlo Longino's Mobhappy post"Where do the T9 people get their words?" was very insightful and included this dry British take off of two Oxford-like dons on the demands and dilemmas of predictive text functionaly. I wonder what the Chinese Pinyan equivalent might be like with Zi? Check this out from YouTube.