The Growth In Popularity Of Cellular Phone Ringtones
Despite a sceptical greeting and a slow acceptance in the 80s, mobile phones have had one of the largest changes on society of any recent technology. Initially mocked as a status symbol for yuppies and stock brokers, cheap production swiftly moved them from flashy status symbol, to must have gadget, to everyday appliance.
As mobile phones became smaller, cheaper, and simpler to use, more and more people started to use them. Even as they became every day objects, carried with us as an essential along with our car keys and purse, the miniature computers inside them become more and more .
These large increases in computing capability allowed the manufacturers and carriers to start offering customisation options, allowing owners to customise their own phones with clip on covers, wallpaper logos to display on screen - and cheap ringtones.
Initially only basic hot ringtones were offered, using a limited range of sounds to play the sort of tacky tune you’d expect to hear as hold music. Quickly, carriers soon realised how profitable hot ringtones were, and so started to add more complex sound functions to their mobiles.
Mobile phones can now play complete CD quality tunes and sound effects, and be customised to play a specific sound for a group of people, as well as when recieving a text message or other alert. The once large and flashy status symbols have now evolved into essential hand held computers, combining PDA and portable music system.