Nothing Lasts Forever: Ringtones

Longtime Underbelly loyalists will recall our affection for that great staple of the American industrial behemoth, the telephone ringtone. But apparently nothing lasts forever. Here, the folks at TheDeal.Com consider how Steve Jobs is once again driving and defining the entertainment biz (link):

Take, for example, two of the more important drivers in the industry's brave new world: ringtones and social networks. Apple's iPhone stands poised to upend both models.

In a recent conversation with an entertainment lawyer, I remarked what a surprisingly large source of income ringtones has become: $4 billion, $6 billion, $9 billion each year, depending on whose figures you trust.

The lawyer scoffed. Limited shelf life, he responded, no future. Then he added:

"You have the new iPhone, right?"

I nervously fidgeted my Motorola before admitting I wasn't one of the
cool kids.

With the iPhone, he patiently explained, it's easy to convert any MP3 into a ringtone. "Talk to any 15-year-old," he advised. I did, well, at least, indirectly. It's happening, I was told. Sure enough, the Web's full of advice on free - and perfectly legal - ringtone creation, using iTunes and the iPhone.

Ringtones, we hardly knew ye. The p oint about "social networking," BTW is that the iPhone has broken the barrier between the telephone and the on-line sharing operations. As one who just this month got a Facebook monicker, I suspect this one is way above my paygrade. But it's not about me, anyway.

We Still Rule, Maybe

I just popped over to the Food Network to refresh my memory on Alton Brown's unbeatable recipe for roast duck. I find there two ads for:

Duck Ringtones

Duck ringtones? You bet, every chance I get. Oh, no, wait, they are ... selling ... duck ringtones.

You know, in all the fuss over the decline of manufacturing, nobody has ever considered the possibility that we still lead the world in the production of telephone ringtones. And two, yet, so competition thrives.

Afterthought: A friend points out that they are probably all manufactured by underaged Bangladeshi ducks. And it's not competition, it's a two-firm monopoly. (obligatory quacking noise omitted).

Finally, a Reason for Ringtones

I never have quite got the point of tailor-made telephone ringtones.  I figure I'd just never remember who was which.    But just today I was searching (don't ask) for lyrics to Stephen Sondheim's "Liaisons."  And sure enough, you can get a "Liaisons" ringtone. And it struck me: that's what you need for your girlfriend, so you will know it is not your wife.  And he wife gets?  Oh, I suppose "Here Comes the Bride."   Looks okay to me unless you have more than one girlfriend in which case I look on with stupified awe.

  BTW yes, it turns out you can get a ringtone also for "Here Comes the Bride."

Manufacturing?

Mrs. Buce does not like to be quizzed, but she puts up with it from time to time as the price of a happy marriage.

Flipping through FP Magazine, I asked:

In 1995, the United States' share of global manufacturing was 22.4 percent. In 2005, its share was --- percent.

"I dunno," Mrs. Buce said. "Three?"

Well, fair enough. I too have been inured to believe that our manufacturing output is in catastrophic decline.

But the correct answer, per FP, is 21.1 percent--a drop of less than six percent overall. (see September/October 2007, pps 22 and 94).

But wait, can this be right? Turn the point around--what, if anything, do we manufacture, and who does it? If you read this blog, I suspect that the number of people you know who are "in manufacturing" is about the same as the number who actually fought in Viet Nam.

Automobiles? Sorry. Textiles? Oh, give me a break. Telephone ringtones? Do they count?

After cudgeling our brains, we recalled that we do know two guys in Wisconsin who make false teeth. Seems to me they are carrying a heavy load.

American Exports: A Dose of Reality

This publication has been to make snarky cracks about the paucity of American exports. See e.g., these discussions of telephone ringtones.

Oh, I kid, I kid. Actually, America still exports a lot, including farm products, but also lots of high tech. Here's a good summary (from NSF) of what we still export, and what not: (link). And here are the tables: (link).

For more context here's a piece on import-export activity involving the United States and that poster child of low-rent, low-tech entrepreneurs, Bangladesh (link). Sure enough, exports of textile products (Tee-shirts!) from Bangladesh to the US have been booming. But look at what Bangladesh imports from the US. Textile machinery is on the list, but it's not on top.