Now this is a good example of what I'd like to see for mobile: mini-apps, like TadaList or MeetWithApproval, that do a single thing nice and cleanly.

The big gap I see now is an app to help you synchronise with >2 people; getting consensus from 3 or more folks using SMS "by hand" is a nightmare, wouldn't it be nicer if you could just get everyone sent a single message which lets them comment, argue, and decide...

In the developing world, " the mobile phone combines the functionality of the telephone and the computer, for many people. This is just one of the driving factors that will see the mobile replace the computer as the primary device that most people use most of the time to access the mobile internet - including us in the West, by the way."

The Jack Principles: "Our goal is to pioneer the "Interactive Conversation"— to
create the sense that there’s a real human being with you just behind the screen. "

You Don't Know Jack was absolutely fantastic. I remember Sal showing it to me when we were working together and being terribly impressed by the character of it all.

Russell posts and touches on the value of surveys: "14% of 3 subscribers said they didn't have a 3G phone"

That's fantastic; they're using this amazing technology, and they don't even know it. Who cares if it's just for voice calls? That happens to be where most of the revenue for telcos is at the moment, and with a massively underutilised network 3 can afford to chuck away bandwidth, for now, if it attracts customers. (It's worth noting that most new telcos enter a market with customer-grabbing loss-leading offers: it's one popular way you get a customer base in a contested marketplace).

This sort of thing reminds me of an article Jay wrote for NetImperative way back when we started out in 2000. 5 years on and we're still not seeing much in the way of services which tap into this mass connectivity. I've just posted a comment to this effect on Jason Kitcats blog:

"Why don't my utility providers text me when a bill goes overdue? It's cheaper for them than sending stamps, and quicker. Why can't I report in electricity meter readings over text? Why can I get my bank balance whenever I want? Or find out when the bins in my street will be emptied? Or report vandalism to the council? Get alerts of local building plans which affect me? And so on.

There are a million beautifully mundane uses for even the most basic connectivity that SMS provides"

(Update: mousetraps?)

Shopping by Mobile Java App: "Are people ready to shop via their mobile? I can certainly see a niche developing for impulse purchase of things like books, CDs and gadgets. You read a review in a magazine, brochure or via RSS on your phone and want to order it before you forget. You don't need to see a picture or find out much more about it, as a book is a book is a book. So you open up Reporo and order with a few clicks."

Whilst I'm sure there are other folks out there who can comment on the whys and wherefores of running a service like this from their personal experience (go on - you know you want to), a few things immediately struck me about Reporo:

1. They ask for credit card details *way* to early. One minute I'm telling them what sort of handset I have, the next they're demanding my VISA number; err, no thanks. There's no way I'd hand that over to a company I've never heard of, before I've ever received a service from that company or know I want to buy from them.

2. The purchase process looks way too involved: open the app, choose what you're after (books etc.), choose retailer, choose search, enter search term, choose item, drill down to buy it, choose card, choose delivery address, confirm, see receipt. Wow that's 11 steps; anyone would think that they've taken a web site purchase process and just shoehorned it onto mobile! Here's my ideal: open app, enter what I'm after, choose match (drilling down by item type if there are too many entries), click "buy", that's it. 5 steps, and that's 3 too many for my liking.

3. Looks like they're missing a trick and not doing best-price finding. So if I want to buy a DVD from one of their retailers, do I have to search each one separately and work out who's cheaper myself?

4. The special offers stuff is a nice idea.

And, minor gripe here: am I the only person working in the industry who gets annoyed at service demos which are so *obviously* mockups? Please - if you're going to give me an online demo of a mobile service, do so by grabbing the screen from a live, working version... otherwise my gut instinct is to see it, recognise it as a mockup, and immediately feel all sceptical. And no-one wants that.