Money-to-burn Gen Y's waste it on 'œCaller Tones'

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 30 September 2008 10:52

Opinion and Analysis

The maximum number of tones each user can have in their collection at any one time is 13, so sadly you can’t build up a year’s worth of tones should you be the coolest Gen Y-er on the block, buying one each week.

That’s a shame, but I guess that’s life, although personally I’d have chosen to offer more if it was up to me.

Anyway the customisability bit means that “each tone can also be tailored to play at certain times of the day, for specific callers, or even on a chosen day of the week.” 

So, what caller tones are boat floating their way onto Gen Y phones connected to the Telstra network?

This week, they are:

-    Fat Scotsman, Answer the Bloody Phone
-    Gabriella Cilmi, Sweet About Me
-    Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown, No Air
-    Hamster Tone
-    AC/DC, You Shook Me All Night Long

At this point, Milne pipes up in the press release to reassure Gen Y customers (and likely the parents paying for it all) that: “BigPond has something for everyone with more than 3,000 caller tones, ranging from the latest releases to golden oldies, comedy and sport”, thus potentially enticing Gen Y parents to join in the hipness by adding a caller tone to their own phone!
 
For anyone desperate to instantly increase their aural hip factor or try an aural taste test of what being a Gen Y phone owner feels like, and they are Telstra Next G mobile customers, digital fulfillment is simple.

All you need to do is to visit BigPond’s Caller Tones site, or simply press the BigPond button on your Next G phone and scroll down to Caller Tones.

This will lead to an aural burst of neural nirvana for all or selected callers – once you choose your tone, apply it, and ensure that a lovely "kaching" tone is made over at the BigPond electronic cash register.

And, if you’re a customer of another telco, no doubt a similar service at similarish pricing also awaits.

I just hope, after all that, those Gen Y-ers actually answer their phones!