You Pull. I'll Push

In analyzing why users have failed to adopt mobile data applications, as well as what must happen for such adoption to take place, three factors get cited the most:

- The user experience must be simple

- Content must be compelling

- Low cost

This article argues that the common methods of delivering data services – mainly WAP Portal Pull - fail on all three counts and are the main factor behind low user uptake. Background download solutions, similar to RSS podcast push in the iPod/PC domain, address these factors by delivering full-length commercial-quality content directly to the handset without requiring any user activity, such as overnight. Content consumption is offline and immediate. Finally, as background delivery can take place when the network is empty, the cost of data delivery is zero allowing operators to launch affordable rich-media services.

It is common knowledge that the Pull mode of content discovery and consumption has failed for all but the die-hard users. Only the most committed users will spend five minute browsing countless WAP menus to download a ringtone or short video clip. Those that do will do so infrequently, when they have a sudden urge. For many, that urge will be a one time affair, ending after they see the bill – a few Euro, dollars or Pounds per transaction. When compelling content is easily available via the wireline internet for free, why should one have to struggle to find mediocre content, and pay dearly for it? Indeed, most people do not and will not.

Background download offers an alternative.

What is background download? Background download is the automatic delivery of content to the phone that occurs without the user having to do anything. The content is delivered to the user while the user is asleep (for example), and the content is ready to be consumed when and where the user wants, even in areas without network connectivity (such as in the subway on the way to work).

Podcasting on the iPod is a background download service. Users subscribe to specific podcasts, and each new episode is pushed to the user, to be listened to at the user's convenience on the PC or iPod.

Background download in the mobile world resolves the three major problems that WAP pull services suffer from. First, the user experience is compelling and in fact better than the iPod experience. With iPod, users must transfer each new podcast from the PC to the iPod, not a trivial thing to do each morning before heading off to work. With mobile background download, the user wakes up each morning with the latest content already on the mobile phone ready to be consumed without the need to connect to the network.

Second, the content delivered via background download can be full length podcasts or TV episodes, unlike the short content available in WAP portals. Why? Unlike background download, WAP pull has three problems: (1) content pulled by the user off a portal is delivered and consumed in real time. The user will not wait an hour or two to consume content while a large file is downloading. Satisfaction must be immediate. (2) Users want to consume content during the day, usually in congested areas. Mobile data networks are inefficient and the network cost of downloading large files in peak hours in congested areas is huge. The operator/carrier must charge high prices for such downloads. (3) The chances of a poor data connection during a large download is high, rendering the user experience poor.

These problems vanish with background download. Large files can be delivered overnight (or when the phone is in the user's pocket) with the user receiving a notification when the content is available. Consumption is immediate. Second, networks are empty at night so the network transmission cost is zero. Third, with the phone stationary, the chance of transmission interrupts are reduced, and with build-in retry mechanisms when failures occur, delivery can be assured.

Finally, given the efficiency of delivering data overnight on empty networks, the cost of background push services can be drastically reduced. Compare paying 2 Euro to download a one minute clip to paying five Euro a month for subscribing to five daily full-length podcasts as a major multi-national carrier/operator has just launched. Which would you prefer?

Apple has proven time and again that it can identify and capitalize on consumer trends with cool user-friendly goods. The iPod, which gave birth to podcasting, is just one example. The iPod has succeeded where all operators have failed, and that is in proving that people do want to carry their digital entertainment with them. Background delivery addresses the problems characteristic of most mobile services and has to potential in enabling rich-media services that are easy to use and inexpensive to enjoy.