# Why buy ringtones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310 "2005-04-14T17:10:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/21 "2005-04-15T01:50:57Z")
[Hypnothic voice] Ring tones are good Ring tones are your friend You MUST get a ringtone now YOU MUST GET A XXXXXXXXXXX\* RINGTONE RIGHT NOW!!! [/Hypnothic voice] Last week as part of the promotion for one of the 3D animation TV series we are producing at the studio I worked on a ringtone (with a whole bunch of other people), all shame aside it came out as a kickass ringtone. I still don´t know how it will be distributed, maybe it´ll be free, so when it comes out I´ll let our resident ringtone lovers know about it. \*[sub]Shameless plug omitted on a fit of ethics[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/22 "2005-04-15T03:01:36Z")
Depending on the phone you have, there may be no other options for getting a non-annoying ringtone. The built in ringtone programming software is usually crappy (both in it’s scripting capability and in the actual tones available to it). This despite the fact that the default rings on the phone are obviously just normal sound files. Why don’t they just sell a USB Phone-PC link and allow folks to upload whatever they wanted to their phones? Well, because then they couldn’t SELL you a ringtone, of course. Manufactured Markets. Engineered Scarcity. All that fun stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/23 "2005-04-15T03:03:15Z")
My cell phone has the capability to program songs in by typing the notes, but I don’t know how to do that. I did create some horrible noises by typing random notes, though. I don’t use them, of course. I use preset ringtones–one for people in my phone book, and another for everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/24 "2005-04-15T13:20:38Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > So much hatred toward ringtones and the people who download them! :eek: I don’t get what the big deal is: if I want to spend $2 on something that makes me smile a handful of times a week – and that other people hardly ever hear – how does that make my life empty? “hardly ever hear”? Are you serious? Perhaps your phone is not heard often, but this is not the case with others. I hear annoying ringtones all the damn time here in D.C. On the subway, in the grocery store, in meetings (how completely unprofessional – and these are men and women in their 50’s and 60’s), on the streets, in bars, at the zoo, etc. These annyoning things are everywhere, and the people who have them set the volume so loud. From reading this board, I get the impression that people who have ringtones think that people actually want to hear them. Perhaps it’s a difference in expectations, but I can assure you that we do not. I have my phone set on vibrate for a reason – ringing cell phones are completely annoying. > [@](#): > > Besides, it’s not Ludacris, it’s AC/DC. 😛 Well, I might be able to forgive a cell phone user if they have AC/DC on their phone. Especially if it’s “T.N.T.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/25 "2005-04-15T13:35:33Z")
Just to counter one comment - I definitely don’t feel that anyone wants to hear my ringtones. When I’m on the train or at work, or in public in general, the phone is on vibrate. The only time it rings is when I’m in my car, or at home. My ringtone is what it is because _I_ like Pink Floyd, not because I think anyone else does. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/26 "2005-04-15T15:14:31Z")
Ok, I think I understand now: **Unintentionally Blank** and **Renob** have decided that, because so many people around them are rude and/or use their cell phones inappropriately, the fact that I willingly purchased a ringtone _must_ mean that _I’m_ the same way. If y’all had just been up front about being bitter and judgemental, I wouldn’t have bothered defending myself. 😉 > [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > If your cellphone didn’t come with a loud enough ringtone you liked, why is it NOT the fault of the phone maker? Why _is_ it their fault? Is the phone maker supposed to be able to anticipate the taste of every single person who might buy their product? > [@Renob](#): > > “hardly ever hear”? Are you serious? Perhaps your phone is not heard often, but this is not the case with others. I’m quite serious. How generous of you to give me the benefit of “perhaps.” :rolleyes: To begin with, I just don’t get that many calls: there are only a few people that I talk to regularly, and between e-mail, instant messages, and calls that I initiate, my cell phone hardly ever rings. Plus, whenever I’m in a situation where a ringing phone would be rude or even just annoying (like when I’m in a meeting, on the Metro, at a movie, in class, at a bar, etc.), it’s on vibrate. Just like **TellMeI’mNotCrazy** said, I got my ringtone because _I_ like it. Pretty much the only time the ringer is on is when I’m home (I live alone, with not so much as a goldfish who might be bothered by hearing it), or if I’m just hanging out at a parent’s or friend’s house. > [@](#): > > Well, I might be able to forgive a cell phone user if they have AC/DC on their phone. Especially if it’s “T.N.T.” 🙂 Sorry, it’s “Back in Black.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/27 "2005-04-15T15:42:40Z")
Lets turn this around **Misnomer**. Why are you so offended that we think buying a ringtone is stupid? Why do _I_ have to work so hard to defend my opinion that ringtones are yet another way to siphon money from people with a product of marginal value, from an industry that is FULL of folks in it for the money? Methinks thou dost protest too much. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/28 "2005-04-15T15:47:03Z")
> [@1010011010](#): > > Depending on the phone you have, there may be no other options for getting a non-annoying ringtone. The built in ringtone programming software is usually crappy (both in it’s scripting capability and in the actual tones available to it). This despite the fact that the default rings on the phone are obviously just normal sound files. > > Why don’t they just sell a USB Phone-PC link and allow folks to upload whatever they wanted to their phones? Well, because then they couldn’t SELL you a ringtone, of course. Manufactured Markets. Engineered Scarcity. All that fun stuff. First, do you any evidence that major phone manufacturers do a sideline in selling ringtones? Second, there’s no significant “manufactured market”. Most modern phones _do_ come software that allows you to upload ringtones. Heck, even my two-year old phone can receive ringtones via infrared from my laptop, or via a USB cable. Newer phones allow you to directly record sounds and use them as tones. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/29 "2005-04-15T15:59:05Z")
> [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > Lets turn this around **Misnomer**. Why are you so offended that we think buying a ringtone is stupid? Why do _I_ have to work so hard to defend my opinion that ringtones are yet another way to siphon money from people with a product of marginal value, from an industry that is FULL of folks in it for the money? I am shocked and appalled at the idea that competitors in the telecommunications industry are in _just_ for the money! Really, why so much angst over people buying a very inexpensive product of questionable value? What’s our next big target – silly hats (they offend the eye!), lollipops (too expensive!) or glow-in-the-dark condoms (amoral industry players are siphoning money from the easily amused!)? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/30 "2005-04-15T16:14:39Z")
(hypothetically) I just bought a $200 phone, committed myself to a two year contract, I’m paying $60 a month for unlimited calls and mMode access. That’s $1640 spent over the length of the contract. (And if your phone lasts past two years, do ya think they’ll reduce the monthly bill if you keep your phone and you pay off the subsidy? Not a chance.) Start mMode. Hmm. Weather costs additional money, ringtones cost additional money, games can be rented (in the hopes you forget that $2.99 fee buried in the bill), or purchased for $6 or so _but can’t be migrated to your next phone if your first phone has a manufacturer’s defect._ (google v600 sucks), teeny desktop backgrounds cost money. All conveniently billed to your phone bill. While you can avoid the pay stuff, it’s hard to do, and designed to be about as painless as losing money in Vegas…and it’s NOT specific to any one carrier. I’ve got no problems with making a profit. I’ve got problems with doing it in a sleazy and underhanded manner. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/31 "2005-04-15T16:15:08Z")
Hey, does anyone know where I can download a ringtone of a phone ringing? I’m serious, I want a realistic sound of one of those old Ma Bell phones from the 60’s. BECAUSE I’M SO FRACKING SICK OF HEARING ELECTRONIC BLEEPY MUSIC INSTEAD OF PHONES RINGING!!! Sorry, had to get that out. Seriously - anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/32 "2005-04-15T16:19:25Z")
Or there’s this little product: [Magix Ringtone Maker](http://site.magix.net/index.php?id=411) which, for $20 US, allows you to make your own ring tones from your CDs or your own voice recording. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/33 "2005-04-15T16:52:44Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Hey, does anyone know where I can download a ringtone of a phone ringing? I’m serious, I want a realistic sound of one of those old Ma Bell phones from the 60’s. BECAUSE I’M SO FRACKING SICK OF HEARING ELECTRONIC BLEEPY MUSIC INSTEAD OF PHONES RINGING!!! > > Sorry, had to get that out. > > Seriously - anyone? I don’t, but my Samsung phone has that as one of the available ring tones it came with. In fact, that’s how I have it set. It reminds me of my grandmother’s phone from when I was a kid. I really like it, and it has even amused some of the few people who happened to hear it. “How novel! That sounds like a phone ringing!” On the other hand, If I could program my own original compositions to play on it, I would probably set it to do that, instead. The only other ring tone I would ever contemplate using is one that sounds like the old communicators on Star Trek the Original Series. I wouldn’t pay extra for it, though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/34 "2005-04-15T16:56:44Z")
From [Business Week](http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_17/b3930012.htm) > [@](#): > > Thanks to teenagers who sometimes swap out ringtones as many as three to four times a week, they will become a nearly $9.4 **b** illion business in 2008, estimates consultant Strategy Analytics Inc. “Ringtones are all about personalization. They are self-expression,” says Rio Caraeff, vice-president of Universal Mobile Music. Even though I think Mr Careaeff is _off his rocker_, I hope these aren’t the same teens who scream holy hell every year when state college tuitions go up. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/35 "2005-04-15T17:00:23Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Hey, does anyone know where I can download a ringtone of a phone ringing? I’m serious, I want a realistic sound of one of those old Ma Bell phones from the 60’s. BECAUSE I’M SO FRACKING SICK OF HEARING ELECTRONIC BLEEPY MUSIC INSTEAD OF PHONES RINGING!!! > > Sorry, had to get that out. > > Seriously - anyone? Cingular has that available on their ringtone site, so other carriers probably do too. At Cingular, there’s a huge list of “music” then there’s a small group of “sound” files. They have several versions of a phone ringing, both in polyphonic and basic tones. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/36 "2005-04-15T17:38:16Z")
> [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > Lets turn this around **Misnomer**. Why are you so offended that we think buying a ringtone is stupid? Um, I’m not “so offended.” I agreed to disagree with you about this way back in post #16. > [@](#): > > Why do _I_ have to work so hard to defend my opinion that ringtones are yet another way to siphon money from people with a product of marginal value, from an industry that is FULL of folks in it for the money? I don’t know why you’re feeling so defensive, but I haven’t said word one about the ringtone industry. The closest I’ve come is answering your question about why it isn’t the phone maker’s fault that I don’t like the rings that the phone came with. Maybe you meant to address that question to someone else? Since you seem to be missing my point, what I’m giving you shit for is assuming that I have anything in common with the throngs of people who have offended you with their cell phone habits, when you don’t know one thing about mine – all you know is that I downloaded a ringtone. Once. For 20 minutes. In 1960. (Sorry, had to do it.) > [@](#): > > Methinks thou dost protest too much. I’m not protesting at all, my friend. Just wondering why there was such animosity toward those who would download a ringtone – you can think it’s a bad idea without insulting those who disagree with you. > [@Unintentionally Blank](#): > > I’ve got no problems with making a profit. I’ve got problems with doing it in a sleazy and underhanded manner. While it’s true that the companies make it very easy to buy all sorts of stuff for our phones, I have never come across anything that only _seemed_ to be free. Nor have I ever come across anything vital to my phone’s operation that I got charged for unexpectedly. If people are too stupid to know when they’re being charged for something, that’s their problem. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/37 "2005-04-15T19:20:23Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > First, do you any evidence that major phone manufacturers do a sideline in selling ringtones? You know, I was in another conversation recently where someone was under the mistaken impression that the only valid effects were direct ones. I don’t know if I have an intuitive grasp of operations and systems theory or what, but I’ve really never understood why people think it’s a good point. Do you honestly believe a phone manufacturer would have to have a direct interest in ringtones for there to be valid economic reason for them to produce phones with crappy default features that encourage secondary markets? > [@Jervoise](#): > > Second, there’s no significant “manufactured market”. Most modern phones _do_ come software that allows you to upload ringtones. Heck, even my two-year old phone can receive ringtones via infrared from my laptop, or via a USB cable. Newer phones allow you to directly record sounds and use them as tones. My phone can do all that too. But first, I’d have to log onto the sandbox internet provided by my wireless carrier to buy and download the programs that enable these features… or I could just log on to the sandbox internet provided by my wireless carrier to buy and download the ringtones themselves… or I could log on to the sandbox internet provided by my wireless carrier to buy and download an acceptable ringtone editor. And I’m sure the ability to run the sandbox internet provided by my wireless carrier had no impact on my wireless carrier’s purchasing decisions. And I’m also sure that the huge contract my wireless carrier offered the phone manufacturers had no impact on the phones as delivered. None at all. Because the phone manufacturers don’t make sandbox internet applications or ringtones or provide sandbox internet access. The two are totally unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/38 "2005-04-16T03:04:21Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Since you seem to be missing my point, what I’m giving you shit for is assuming that I have anything in common with the throngs of people who have offended you with their cell phone habits, when you don’t know one thing about mine – all you know is that I downloaded a ringtone. My apologies. I’m sensitive to it because I’ve been, frankly, screwed out of $20 of these insignificant fees while being shipped three refurbed phones in two months. I had to spend another $100 on a phone, less than 11 months after I spent $300 on two ‘pretty’ phones, the new phone, while it works PERFECTLY as a phone and connectivity device, won’t even RUN the software I oringinally purchased. This industry has some REALLY sharp people…they’d have to to come up with a martix of charges like this. $2 for 30 seconds of a song is just silly, again, IMHO…but is sure has cost me a lot of money to form that opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/39 "2005-04-16T04:58:31Z")
This must be a generational thing or something. Because I am completely baffled by the ringtone fad. When I heard that ringtons were making up some ungodly fraction of the entire profit of the music industry, it made me feel like I was living on the planet Zontar or something. I just don’t grok it. ---
**Author:** ![LtningBug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@LtningBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LtningBug)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310/40 "2005-04-16T08:45:28Z")
Pink Floyd? AC/DC? Bah! The Police’s “Mother” plays whenever I get a phone call. “The teleph…” No, wait. That’s not right. Ah, here it is: “THE TELEPHONE IS RINGING!! IS THAT MY MOTHER ON THE PHONE!!” Why did I change it? Well, almost everyone that I work with has the same phone with the same default ringtone, and I figured I wanted to be able to tell that it wasn’t my phone ringing (it almost never is). At least I didn’t have to pay for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-buy-ringtones/299310.md?page=3)