I don't have to see a fireworks show this weekend. I think I saw a very impressive though troubling fireworks show today. I saw people who are believers in the technology use up a great deal of their personal powder to vent. There was a good bit of fratricide from all the rounds that were fired. I was more than happy to be an observer today.
The reason for the venting? Your guess is as good as the next one. But I think the main reason is that many think the mobile media train has left the station and we are standing holding the bags watching the train pull away.
I sometimes have thought that. But over the past several weeks I discovered that that is not a problem. Through my own business I have discovered that the tracks have NOT been laid for the train to move away on. I have been looking at ways of "mobilizing" my vacation rental and ski vacation package businesses. Problem with this is that there is no way to "easily" make it a reality for a small business.
I think there is still plenty of time. So I have been boning up on PHP, Perlscript, etc. Why? I am going to have to do it myself. Screw paying somebody to develop the sites and software. Like all my other work I am going to do it myself. And I feel that time is not a factor.
A little background. I work with a large volume seller of discounts on ski vacations, lift tickets, ski/snowboard rentals, lodging (condos, private homes, hotels), vehicle rentals. The whole shebang. This company and others are not even close to going the mobile route. The closest to this is getting a barcode and verification number to rent your car, etc. Advertising is not set up to go to the mobile phone. Think ad space on a mobile device. It really is not there because the whole ecosystem is still being finalized. Then there is pricing. What is the model and where can you turn to and find the pricing for the per click etc. It's not there. And once finalized there is still the education side.
Yes this is a small slice of business. But I am getting ready to take the next step of turning my on-line business towards mobile. I will be setup way before the wave hits.
The hype is just beginning. But honestly go out and find a 2D barcode that is functioning in a "real" environment at this time. The market is not there because the advertisers have not pushed it into our lives, YET.
Everything about NeoMedia was laid on the table in the last 24 hours. JP has been a stalwart over the years and knows the ins and outs of this company. He has taken a great number of bullets over the years, and I salute him for standing his ground. Then there is Clawmann. Clawmann never posts more than 10 times in one day. I had to kick my shoes off today to keep count and then resorted to hash marks. Add in all the other folks and I came to the conclusion there has to be a full moon approaching.
From all the posts I read during the fireworks I found the following themes.
(1) there is a lack of communication from a shareholder standpoint. (2)overhang of YA. (3) lack of NeoMedia and YA playing by the rules set down by the SEC. And we know the SEC cannot find a $50 billion dollar ponzi scheme so we are out of luck with them coming to "our" defense as shareholders in a tiny blip of a company. (4) lack of visibility on revenues (5) who to blame for the financial mess (6) when will we get revenue (7) when will a SHM be called and if not by the company then who wants to call it and what the heck will the agenda of said meeting be (8) how do we force NeoMedia management to pay attention to (1) thru (7) above. (9) when will the share price go up to make shareholders happy.
(1) thru (7) have been known for basically ever but will not get resolved by I-hub posters. I think the off thread comments and actions mentioned by JP and Clawmann have more significance to play than any posting on I-hub.
I think (9) is really the most important part of the discussion. I digress and go back to my earlier discussion about my own businesses and trying to mobilize them. I see things happening but not until this fall and winter for the beginnings of meaningful work. NeoMedia will benefit when the WHOLE market starts to move. Right now like the rest of the economy companies and individuals are hesitant to spend.
The things that have happened this spring are just laying the tracks for the whole industry. Heck the MMA just this week finally got the big four in the U.S. to agree on standards across their companies. Without them playing mobile is not going anywhere fast. And how to pay with a phone. The last few weeks saw Visa and MasterCard finally come to the mobile market. I hate to tell longs this but it is not going to be tomorrow or next week where we will see meaningful revenue from clicks. We see announcements about licensing of the tech and the selling of hardware. But the click, click, click that some dream about is not here yet. Again the tracks are still being put down.
So what will drive (9) to happen. IMO it will be news and PRs that talk about where things are happening in Europe and beginning to happen in the U.S. You get two or three PRs in a row and the share price will move up and may start a new trend. We don't see a whole lot of PRs flowing but the fact that YA's PR firm is now NeoMedia's PR firm we may see lots more PRs around the corner. YA has over 1 billion reasons to want the share price to move up.
As I see it, when our (1) complaint is being satisfied then (9) will be satisfied. I don't expect GoMoNews to move the price. Dedicated longs watch GoMoNews and it is a great source of information. BUT and a big BUT, it will have to be something where mainstream media picks up on NeoMedia to get new shareholders onboard en mass to make (9) occur. How or why it happens I don't care, but it will take NEW shareholders, especially institutional ones that will make (9) happen.
The mobile industry is just beginning. Europe is way ahead of the U.S. in terms of mobile at the present. But the market there is still tiny at the moment. I am as frustrated as the next shareholder and want things to happen yesterday. So in the meantime, I am focusing my energies on growing my businesses while I wait for NeoMedia's day to arrive. Otherwise how will the mobile industry take off unless me and other small business owner's can use it to our benefit. I will be ready. Will you?
Smile and then look in the mirror. It helps a whole lot. Enjoy your weekend.
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