Nov07
09
I Want News On My Terms
I’ll listen to the news when I get in my car, and I’ll watch the odd 7 o’clock repost on the telly after work. Sometimes I’ll check news online. But I don’t get news delivered to my RSS reader - I check that too seldom to warrant it.
I’m unsatisfied though. I still feel out of the loop sometimes. I don’t always want the intricate details of every story - most often I want a headline or headlines from which I can navigate to something more.
I want news by SMS. Unlike my laptop, car radio or television, my cellphone never leaves my side. I want to pay R 7 a day for 7 sms’s, one delivered every two hours to my cellphone, containing the 5 major headlines from 5 categories of my choice (e.g. sport, business, local, technology, global) that are linked to more detailed articles. That way I’ll never be more than 60 minutes away from hearing about a major news story. It’ll take me 3 seconds to open up the SMS, read the headlines and close it if nothing is valid - I can afford the time. R 210 a month. I’d pay that. I’ll pay that long before I buy your newspaper. The time it takes me to load the damn website costs me more than that. That’s value - for me.
So you’ll argue that not everyone will pay that amount of money for news. Two arguments: they’ll pay more than that for ringtones (about time I had the option of spending cash on mobile content other than farting monkeys from spam jockey’s Jippii), and you can always offer 7, 5, 3 and 1 updates per day as cost options.
So who’s gonna do it?
[...] just read Mike’s post on his news after I had sent a mail off to Sunday Times because they aren’t giving me news on [...]
Feel a bit stupid now as it was pointed out to me that both MG.co.za and news24.co.za already offer this service, in slightly different iterations. blush.
Mike,
All can be forgiven if you note how difficult it is to find the option on their sites.
Update: Not MG, pretty obvious.
Update: Not 24.com either, not so obvious, but still within first glance.
Mike, you should be blushing.
My poison of choice is Google Reader on my mobile phone. May take longer than 3 seconds to open but it gives me a lot more info than 7 headlines a day …
No need to blush Mike.
We’ve all made mistakes (and continue to do so)!
I would agree with Paul. Use Google Reader on your mobile.
On the mobile note, if you want access to you MSN and Skype contacts while on the move, try Fring on your mobile. It’s handy when you need to make contact with people. When you need “plug-out” time all you need to do is logout. Simple.
Or follow services like The Times (TheTimesOnline) on Twitter and turn on notifications.
It’s a consistent interface for getting mobile notifications from multiple sources and free. You don’t need to sign-up for a service or go through a registration process. just track x, untrack x
I meant to say ‘follow x’ but the twitter track functionality just as useful but for tracking general terms.
Guys, forget SMS anything - get imob!
A simple java download (free) to over 396 handsets. Go to this link on your mobile browser - http://imob.co.za/get
Set up your own profile to filter out the rubbish you do not need.
Bang! You are ready with real time headlines set up for you.
Check it out - news/sport/entertainment even movie times and weather all free.
Okay - 1 compormise - as you wait for a menu item (say JHB weather) - we send you an advert (mostly coupons/discounts/competitions etc). You can then access your chosen content. So save your R210!
http://www.imob.co.za