Future of Mobile (FOM) is.....Twitter?

Couldn't make the Future of Mobile Conference today, but caught it via the formidable firehose of the Twitterstream - boy, do mobile people like to Twitter! (just check here if you don't believe me!). The firehose is so vast (270 twts and rising) that I'd have to write an auto parser to sift it. Instead, I'll use the pattern recognition engine in the wetware in my head and have a go:

1. Stuff you already knew but heard again

- The iPhone changes everything
- Android will change everything - squared
- Nokia and Blackberry have their supporters but not the hearts and minds of the audience
- If they are lucky, the other mobile Old Order makers may scrabble a seat at the top table
- The Mobile Telcos are still too expensive but not as bad as last time round
- Location based services is the new black

2. Stuff you didn't know and probably heard for the first time

- That 6 bloggers can make more sense than a room full of Industry veterans?
- The m:metrics guys are always good for a fascinating set of analysis - we eagerly await the slides going up

3. Stuff that sounds wonderful and stirring but you know deep down its probably bollocks, really

- All the fluffy community / happy family stuff that people love to spout, you know - treat people as people, we are all valuable and lovely etc etc, companies must love and have deep relationships with their users no treat them as cattle. C'mon, you know most people don't pay enough money (and most are PAYG) to be worth more than a quick snog at most
- That rousing rhetoric can change economic reality
- 2009 is The Year of the Mobile Web 2.0 revolution ? (As was 20007, 2006, 2005.....)

4. Stuff you always really knew but hate to admit

- That the mobile Telcos still own the really valuable real estate and will for quite a while longer, no matter how many names they are called
- That the only reason anyone uses a mobile social network is to get laid
- That the UI on a mobile is still crap compared to a laptop, and the notebook PC is scary competition
- That half the reason for going to the conference is to go to the pub afterwards
- The US is now ahead of Europe in mobile innovation

5. Stuff you didn't know and no-one mentions in Mobile conferences (leastways not on the Twittersream as far as I could see)

- That Moore's law changes everything 2 cycles out with the $5 phone as a commodity
- That WiFi/WiMax is applicable in 70% of "mobile" situations and is cheaper, faster, better
- That compared to the state of mobile in Japan or Korea, anything we do is a sorry joke
- That the Future of Mobile is in the developing world
- That the Future of Mobile is by and large to be bought up by fixed line Telcos and integrated onto their platforms

6. Stuff you always knew and can't wait to tell me:

- That people who can't go to great conferences will always write snarky blog posts, 'cos their grapes were sour anyways