Just reading Tomi T Ahonen’s latest post about Mobile becoming accepted as the newest mass medium. I was interested in the way that he chose to make the presentation of them structured historically by date. This is something i have done regularly at presentations and confererences myself - in a different way but with the same result.

A couple of things fascinate me. One is the fact that most of these new mass media have appeared in the last 120 years or so - as the industrial revolution died down. The second thing is that the latest two, Internet and Mobile seem to mark the way forward into truly personal media (is there such thing as personal mass media?).

Looking at the historical side of things is interesting because the discovery of Movable Type printing was a huge factor enabling the enlightenment. Information accurately and quickly disseminated enabled learning to become a pursuit in itself. This expansion of learning was one factor in creating the explosion that was the industrial revolution which, let us not forget, changed everything down to the way we live.

Will this happen again? Will instant access, smart personalised content have a similarly profound and long term effect as did printing? Most of the mass media outlined have only existed within the last 100 years or so; there is clearly something profound happening. One wonders what explosion will be unlocked in society over the next 100 years.

I was at a BIMA event on Thursday night (”iMode is big in Japan…. will it make it over here?” ). One of the speakers quite rightly pointed out that no one talks about TV in terms of content and technology, we refer to channels and programmes. The average user has no interest in how they access the content of their choice, only that they can access it, and painlessly. No one cares if the mobile website they use is delivered and designed for WAP or iMode, or quite frankly if it appears by magic. They only care that it is easy to get to, easy to use and that the user interface and interaction is enjoyable. The technology is only a means to an end and is only truly successful if it is invisible. Furthermore the user only buys into something when there is a clear jump in ease of use and quality.

As mobile phones become more sophisticated, new creative entertainment models can evolve that change gamers’ relationships with their city streets. Using SMS, GPS, GPRS a new set of location- based games can evolve.

In other countries, more commercial on street games are being developed. To name just a couple: Mogi is a treasure hunt played on the streets of Tokyo. Using GPS phones, it maps a virtual data layer onto Japan and brings a fresh new way to look at the city. As you move through the city you can check a map on your mobile phone, which shows you where game items are located. You can collect those items by physically travelling to those places at the right times. You can also meet and trade with other players in the real world. BotFighters is a location-based mobile game where user design personalised robot player that battle against other players out on the streets. Users play via SMS on standard GSM phones. Players locate each other with their mobile phones, move physically to get within range and then duel by shooting at each other with SMS. Mobile positioning is used to determine whether the users are close enough to get a good hit.

It was billed as the world’s first and is certainly the most successful location based mobile game so far. It has been launched in Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Russia and is currently generating one million SMSs per week. There’s a website, which is used to build up a community which in turn builds up an ongoing brand loyalty.

For the less trigger happy, the same company have also developed a location based virtual soap opera game, Supafly, where intrigue, gang conflicts and romance are the tools of the trade for becoming a virtual celebrity. The player has an online character, which evolves and develops a unique personality as the game develops. Competition is fierce, and players have to find allies, belong to the right group, and follow the latest fashion trends in order to stay on top. There still appears to be a dearth of these experimental on street games in the UK, though I am sure that there is a real and growing market for them. I can’t help thinking that considering I pay a small fortune for my mobile services, surely the least my provider can do is ensure that the services I want to buy are available!