Clients, agencies and media owners alike are looking for clues as to whether the launch of Apple's iPhone will be the tipping point that finally establishes mobile as a credible marketing platform, as our feature this week explores (page 22).
Apple is mysteriously silent on the matter, which is strange given that it is trying to establish its credibility in an unfamiliar market. That attitude can hardly help its cause.
There is little doubt that the iPhone is a sexy product: well designed and attractive to consumers. It's archetypal Apple in that respect. Its proponents - such as former MIT guru Mike Hawley - point to the potential for rich, high-end graphics and its "magical", user-friendly touch screen.
Both are prerequisites for an effective advertising platform that have been missing before, but there have been moans from some quarters about the difficulty of using the touch screen if you have "thick fingers". However, the biggest gripe is that the iPhone is currently a 2.5G product, not the 3G service many mobile phone users have become used to.
The effect is that higher-quality graphics are being downloaded through a thinner "pipe", reminding the user of the early days of the internet, before broadband speeds kicked in and opened up the web as a credible advertising platform. Early adopters are faced with having to go backwards to move forwards, which is not exactly an enticing selling point. Then there's the added issue of users being tied into O2 as a service provider for the first 18 months, rather than being offered access to all networks.
So is 2008 going to be the year of mobile advertising? Probably not, to be honest. And the jury is still out on whether the iPhone is the tipping point. We are set for - yet another - year of investment, development and testing, with a large onus on O2 and Apple to drive the platform forward.
Certainly Apple would be better off engaging with the media community rather than ignoring it if it wants to iron out these teething problems and turn the long-awaited dream of a mobile advertising future into reality.
- Steve Barrett is editor of Media Week, steve.barrett@haymarket.com.