Probably the latest “CTIA-wrap” there is but hey, I have been busy working. And that has been paying off, so I am not ashamed.

Anyway, CTIA or not, it is still the state of the industry as I see it.

We have many experts thinking and presenting theories – Strand, Juniper et al. you know them.

I am biased, but I tend to listen to people who are actually operationally active and doing the dirty work themselves. Yes, I am one of them, Yes, we tend to get tunnel vision every now and then, but we do live the industry and can provide a sobering insight to some of the external experts.

Why mobile content suck, this was also both the best conference session name and session itself at CTIA this year. Excellent moderation by Andy Nulman from Airborne Entertainment. Thanks Andy!

In short the people from the traditional media or more mature media niches are quite clear. The content is often crap. The experience clunky and the pricing often nothing else than a rip-off. Sobering statements. However painful they might sound like they are true.

So the stuff has to get better, easier to discover and use and I do not want to feel robbed after using something on my mobile. Ok, if that is what the consumer wants. That’s what you need to deliver.

This brings up the other side of the equation. We the content providers. Since most of us plan to pay our mortgages and eat three healthy meals a day, we want to make money. This requires business models that work. Preferably today and not in some undefined future. The big dragons can throw money around and see what sticks to the wall, spaghetti chef style. But the rest of us can seldom afford that. We have our dearly earned money that we want to reinvest to add value for all parties involved.

Thankfully the flat rate data plans are kicking in and the handsets are there with all the features available. That also increases the pressure on the content providers and producers. Then we have this “Next big thing” mobile advertising that we can use to make money from the services if we attract enough users. We do not have to be shackled to the “you-do-most-of-the-work-and-I-take-half”-business model which is the essence of doing your premium billing via mobile operators. So, there are no excuses anymore. It will come down to good services and content to be produced. Now the spotlight is really on us.

To summarise, the time is now for us in the content and service production business to deliver as well. This is easier said than done, but stick to simplicity, real needs among the users and use the comparative advantages the mobile has. No they are not screen size, input interface and processing power! But it is the thing we are most likely to always have with us, it is personal and private, always on and connected to the largest communications network in the world. I can think of a worse brief. Go create!