Mobile Entertainment

Now, I’m old enough to remember the quaking terror of Middle England when the Pistols arrived on the scene in 1977. And here we were, 31 years later, watching a pre-teen Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones hollering ‘Pretty Va-Cant’ (say it in syllables) to beaming parents. We all clapped very enthusiastically as the worst profanity in the English language rang out across a North London primary school playground.

What it proves is that yesterday’s "end of the world as we know it" can today line up alongside the bric-a-brac and the home made jam. I confidently predict that the same drift will occur with SMS. Perhaps it already is. We in the UK are well used to the outrage caused by text spelling. It’s what Radio 4 is there for. The story about the teen who wrote his entire school exam paper in txt has already entered the public domain – even though it’s almost certainly an urban myth.

There was an excellent analysis of this phenomenon in The Guardian newspaper last week.

Its overall contention was that texting actually reflects literacy because you can’t abbreviate without deep knowledge of the written word. Also, a text message should be seen for what it is – a note, not a letter.

That said, as a journalist I simply cannot bear to leave out apostrophes and take a perverse pride in embellishing a expletive-ridden message about my football team with a well-placed semi-colon (on a Nokia, press 1 followed by eight clicks on the * key, you know you want to).

When the ‘establishment’ appropriates something kids do it becomes acceptable. It’s happened with punk, it’s happening with text. Please let it happen with mobile content. As an industry, let’s move on from this obsession with youngsters and start encouraging 'mature' consumers to investigate mobile music, video and games.

Maybe next year I'll set up a download store at the school playground next to the face-painting stall, see if any mums and dads want to buy a 'Smack My Bitch Up' ringtone.