CTIA yada-yada: entertainment moguls embrace mobile platforms

No surprise that on Day 2 of the CTIA conference in Orlando, two major mobile content providers repeated some familiar mobile platform mantras.

"Choice and personalization- that's why the mobile phone has so much potential and has become so important," said Eric Nicoli (at top of this post), CEO of international recording conglomerate EMI Group. "It's one of the most highly individualized consumer devices, and now that it has been fused with other services, it is one of the most immediate, effective ways to deliver music to consumers and to connect fans and artists in a powerful, ongoing conversation."

"Now the wireless industry has arrived at a moment of truth," lectured Philippe Dauman, President & CEO of (Google sueing, YouTube-fearing) Viacom Inc. "To sustain your growth trajectory you need to extend your global footprint and tap new sources of income- namely data and entertainment subscription services. That's where we come in."

Yes, Eric and Philippe, with ringtones and short music clips. But for video on handsets that delivers inferior video and doesn't dominate the user's field of view?

These guys are guilty of platform-itis... a craving to get their content on as many devices as possible. And the minutes-hungry carriers and the sales-hungry handset makers are only happy to oblige.

But will subscribers line up at the queue? Maybe the hardcore early adopters, but after that, I still believe it will take years for many millions to embrace rich media content on the handset.