Ewan MacLeod over at SMS Text News enjoys a good rant, often accurately venting his spleen at some of the stupidity that’s far too rampant in this industry. But he’s really outdone himself with his latest effort, titled SMS Text News - How long will we be trapped in this mobile hell hole?:
Now and again I just can’t take it. Now and again I do the mental equivalent of pressing pause and sit and examine myself.
This phrase — or words to the effect — run through my mind at these points :
“What the hell am I doing wasting my time with mobile?”
What a piece of rubbish this industry is. Why am I even bothering? I meet lots of entrepreneurs doing their best to crack the marketplace. Almost every one I meet has a decent, sound idea, that, in an ideal world, would work brilliantly.
Apply anything other than a cold, hard reality view of the mobile industry to most of the concepts I see, and it’ll all end in tears. The amount of companies and people I know who are struggling really annoys me. It annoys me no end.
And so it goes for 3000 words. Honestly, I don’t think Ewan’s breaking any new ground with his laundry list of complaints and suggestions for the mobile business — but that’s largely the point. It’s the same issues and the same problems holding things back. I think back over the time I’ve spent following mobile, and a lot has changed, but a lot simply hasn’t, either. While I hope that we’re on the cusp of seeing much more of the mobile industry’s potential for innovation realized, I find it pretty difficult to be so optimistic.
But one can hope, right?





IMO Africa is going to be the place where the really revolutionary mobile stuff happens. Mobile is already making a big difference to human development there so all is not lost!
I love it when he rants like this…