Google Wants To Annoy You And Give You A Phone
Not really. But Google has pioneered the business model of giving away a service for the privilege of showing you a small advertisement. They think the time is about right for cell phones to do the same.
Web search leader Google Inc.'s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, sees a future where mobile phones are free to consumers who accept watching targeted forms of advertising.
Schmidt said Saturday that as mobile phones become more like handheld computers and consumers spend as much as eight to 10 hours a day talking, texting and using the Web on these devices, advertising becomes a viable form of subsidy.
"Your mobile phone should be free," Schmidt told Reuters. "It just makes sense that subsidies should increase" as advertising rises on mobile phones.
Most advertising is mildly annoying. But perhaps we wouldn't mind it so much if we got something out of it. Maybe someday all our stuff will be free if we just put up with being annoyed. It worked for Kevin Federline -- for a while.
