Normally, I don’t try and use comments as content for the weblog, but Charlie Sierra (nom de plume) has actually some great insights which merit a closer and second look. So I have cleaned up his recent comments on ringtones for your consumption.

Frankly I think the ringtone business is BS (editorial translation: bullshit), a mirage, and the smart carriers would be wise to co-opt it, before the music co-opts them. If the carriers think that the music industry can be trusted they have another thing coming. Cooperation with them will only create a monster in the end. Which will just lead to regret due to carrier co-dependence. (business really is just like the drug business, addiction rules, and addicts/dependence always lose)

The single most important problem facing Telecom is that the industry is run by inbred morons, and thats being polite. By this I mean, these guys have ZERO knowledge about anything other than the old regulated telecom business, and are thus unqualified for anything, nevermind the transition of telecom into the cut throat competition of the real world. Strategically the Telecom industry is tone-deaf, apparently none of them ever play chess because these jokers are making huge strategic errors in chasing short-term and short-sighted victories all the while they sew they own demise.

The normal learning process is that you get your ass kicked and then you learn the lesson the hard way. The problem for the telecom industry is that their competitors (in the other layers of the value chain) already know the lessons, and after the first round, it will largely be game over.