BUGS MONEY

Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom recently announced the introduction of a new mobile phone download that employs a particular spectrum of sound waves, undetectable to the human ear, to annoy and repel mosquitoes. Depending on your perspective (or your proximity to swampland), the application is a stroke of genius or the dumbest thing you've ever heard. But either way, it's uniquely emblematic of the new wireless trend: the anti-killer app. After years of struggling to develop broad, far-reaching applications that address all corners of the consumer population, wireless carriers and application developers have gone granular, tailoring their newest offerings to fit increasingly narrower niches. They've finally come to accept one of the great human paradoxes: the mass appeal of individuality. Just about the only thing all wireless users have in common is their desire to be different — we've seen it with customized handsets, we've seen it with ringtones and now we're seeing it in more advanced applications. After all, most consumers don't have the same phone as their friends and families, so why should they have the same mundane services? So what if 99% of SK Telecom's customers scoff at the notion of wireless insect repellent — the 1% who do embrace it will think it's the greatest thing since mosquito netting and will remain loyal to the carrier for a long time. And that's only the beginning: If you can imagine a useful wireless application, sooner or later it probably will come to pass. And the only thing killer about this new breed of apps is the trail of dead mosquitoes left in its wake.