Create the Next BIG Cell Phone Trend....

The next big cell phone trend could be created by you, in every sense of the word. Oh the irony, lol. Currently the, cell phone carriers, the manufacturers of the hardware and analysts push to drive the next big trend. But reality is they are so out of touch with the consumer, because they do not provide timely, critical and relevant information to the general public. So in the end trends are driven by politics and not the best interest of the consumer.

Short and Sweet

In this section we will talk about cell phone trends and the evolution. You will also learn:
*Niche Cell Phone Trends: GPS Location Based, Cell Phone Surveillance & Forensics, GRRL Power, Business Trends, Eco Trends
* How to Create a 'Brand You' Cell Phone Trend
* Get 'A Fantastic Resource List' of the 100 Greatest Gadget Blogs on the Web

Nice and Slow

Think of all the cell phone trends that could potentially stem from the 700mHZ auction (where essentially everybody would have to get a new phone anyway to work on that cell phone network so why not get some new phone manufacturers as well so that we will have some more iphone type concept phones). On Judgement Day of the 700 MhZ auction Google didn't 'win', but neither did 'Verizon'. The decision put political interests first and not consumers. Yet, the consumers have just as much right to determine what happens to THEIR public space just as much as the carriers. Oops, did I say their PUBLIC space? no, I didn't say their public SPACE, I said THEIR PUBLIC SPACE. Uh oh, spaghettios. So who am I going to pee off in the industry today :) When industry folks make things difficult it is like cell phone trends are created within a certain little bubble with certain little restrictions. So I vote let's start some cell phone advocacy group trends. It will be kind of like voting for Sanjay on American Idol. Except for we can go all the way to the big show. Let's mix some stuff up. Why are things always so 'gray' when it comes to the cell phone industry? Seems to me they could use a little color and perhaps a socially responsible woman's touch to put some things through a little organic cleansing up in there. Would that not be a trend in itself? Out with 'the old'...lol :-)

Politics Aside 'Where' Does a Cell Phone Trend Come From Anyway?

Most cell phone trends all over the world without a doubt evolve from Asia. However, many of those cell phone trends we will never see completely evolve here because of cultural reasons along with their cell phone technology is proprietory but also superior in some sense as to what it allows them to do with it. The pay by cell phone trend/concept that is just now gaining interest here in the states has been in use since 1991 or 1993 there. Some of my friends who traveled to Japan in the early 90's were telling me how they could pay for their taxi fare by cell phone swipe. While we often consider how the Japanese and the Koreans use their cell phones as a trend in itself, is very much a reflection of both their individual and communal lifestyles. In a sense their trends shows both their independence and co-dependence to themselves as well as their environment.

Don't Follow the Wireless Industry, LEAD IT!

As cellular technology has evolved beyond a simple voice call, today's multimedia technology and access to f.ree or inexpensive resources (online and offline) along with access to f.ree and public information that enables consumers tech savvy to brand themselves and essentially create their own cell phone trends on a local or large scale. Today's consumers can ultimately determine what's hot and what's not (in every sense of the word). So the problem now is you are enabled, but you don't really know how (yet). But more importantly, in addition to being enabled you have to be empowered (ha, ha, that's where I come in AND I live in DC where the laws get made...talk about 'OPEN ACCESS' BABY)! So if you were really informed on the next big cell phone trend or ultimately what drives it, then you could truly GET WHAT YOU WANT, WHEN YOU WANT!

Yes, indeed it is so simple that it's complex.

There are people consumer advocacy groups and in the cell phone industry (branded and not) that are out there everyday. And they are hustling and trying to 'work things out'. I definitely will give them props for that. I definitely see two extremes out there. The people who have a bit of experience in the field but they are so boring. Then like music you have the one hit wonders. You see them in the limelight for a bit and then away they disappear deep into the darkness and you were like, who was that masked man, woman? But like many a one night stands, 6 months later you can remember their face and a little about them but you just can't remember their name. It's on the tip of my tongue, I know that it began with a J or was if a G, lol.

Advocacy is very much like building a trend. Things are fun in the beginng but not easy and you are really into it so it doesn't matter. You start getting the word out and you get your first few followers on board. It's always easy at first. Then it starts getting tricky. You get in the public eye and you have to answer questions. The moment of truth and you have your captive audience in front of you and the all encompassing million dollar question: Are you hot or are you not? Whether creating the next big cell phone trend or a following is both a bit of a science and AN ART. You don't have to worry about the people who don't get it...you have to worry about the people who DO! Because that is when questions, loopholes and everything else will come about.

You have to be a really good super sleuther and you need help from the inside. You have to be a resource and everybody has to be your friend (that's the political part). And in Washington, DC we don't consider that political, FYI, we consider that part of our culture. You have to know where your resources lie inside and out and how to get what you want in one call. It's almost like you make a multi-tiered strategy that everybody willingly participates in and at the same time nobody realizes they are in it until its all played out. Like some Pink Panther type stuff. It's all in the communication style and being that I am Gemini, the Communicator, I was born for this work :) Yes, yes, you are always teetering on a seemingly common ground but in the end you have to walk away with what you want and the other person walks away with what they thought they wanted. Hmmmm, how did I miss the old switcheroo? You know in sales and marketing 101 they call it WIIFM.

But bottom line is when I see we are on the verge of something that may or may not dictate the next big cell phone trend or shift in the market and I read and hear the struggle of the 'voice of the people', I am thinking, ohhh dammmn, 'we're doomed', lol. Their idea of gaining consumer confidence is talking about how them and everybody on their board have worked in the industry for 15 years, 25 years, 30 years, a piece or how they have studied the industry and the trends. But you know the big disconnect- I am NOT reading the voice of the customer in there. And if the customer is not hearing themselves when those folks are talking then they are not down with that and they become skeptical. They start searching for answers, that they will never find, unless that is, they know where too look ;-)So they give up. The next big cell phone trend or not, customers and big name personalities are not going to endorse anything and put their name out there and in the end get bamboozled. History dictates that.

Yes, perhaps you have worked in the industry since I was 3 years old...I mean as it evolved from a tin can and string but when the string got broken, did you fix it or did you tell someone else (like me) to fix it? You could have at least told me HOW to fix it you know? Now you see why I am one of the last of the Mohicans, lol. And BINGO was his name oh.

You Were There Since the Days of the Tin Can and the String....But Did You Fix the String When it Broke

It's like, when some huge frickin mega company calls in and they have 10,000 cell phones on a global account that they are about to cancel and something has really really gone wrong, they call into the 25 year wireless veteran at the top of the food chain, i.e their golfing buddy, lol, whose assistant calls the Regional Manager, who calls then calls the Area Manager who then calls me and says "go work that sh-- out" :). So I PERSONALLY go to the customer site, deal with the 25 year veteran's customer care department, their internal resources, their billing department and even though I ultimately get the problem fixed, I am like doesn't anyone know how to create a website that's useful(potential trend), a bill that you can understand (potential trend), an audio/visual training manual (potential trend), a phone number and transfer system that is not so archaic. One week later (Research in Motion excluded) I am asking why didn't the customer receive a statement of apology or a follow-up call (PEEVE, smoke is coming out of my ears now) I HATE IT when the call does not come back from the place it started. To me or the customer, it doesn't matter. But let me tell you, doing that for more than a decade makes them a Board Member for some big cellular company and it makes me DANGEROUS. I have the loyalty and understanding of their employees whose butts I saved, I know how the back end systems work and now I have the loyalty and trust of their golf buddy who is taking me golfing next week instead, even though I don't know how to golf ;-). Anyway, so that is why we can't do what we want with the way things are now. We need to bring out the sunshine and get rid of some of those gray clouds.

Are you a cell phone trend and gadget junkie?

Well here is a fabulous list of the greatest cell phone gadget trend blogs on the web from uber geek to uber chic.

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