Fuelfortravel.com - digital content when you need it

Fuel For Travel looks like a super service.  Just before you get on the plane, you can pop by the Fuel store, plug in your device and download entertainment content to it – music, movies, audiobooks and so on.

This is an absolutely perfect example of, as my old venture capitalist used to put it, ”Selling a fire extinguisher to a guy whose car is on fire".

Buying a CD at an airport music shop is more or less useless to me.  I don’t have a CD player.  I don’t carry one around.  But I would be quite happy to buy a digital copy that I could put on a memory stick and play in my MP3 player.  So happy, that I’d pay over the odds for the convenience.

Now, Fuel obviously doesn’t work with Apple.  Total arse.  This is a real bind for me.  A REAL bind.  There’s nothing worse than getting to the airport and realising you’ve nothing to entertain yourself for the next 9 hours except that book… that you just didn’t get ‘into’.  I will guaranteed start thinking negative vibes about Apple if I get to the Fuel stand, see something I’d like to buy and then find out that I can’t.

Fair enough if you put an Apple iTunes right next to Fuel.  I’ll use it.  But if you don’t…

Hold that thought for a moment.

Now, Fuel’s website shows mobile content.  Ringtones, wallpapers, that sort of thing.  That’s ok.  It’s, perhaps, to be expected.

Ok, back to that thought.  I tell you, if Fuel started selling Nokia compatible memory cards WITH music albums — or movies — or audiobooks — on them………My ipod is dead to me.   I know that ROK TV are planning to do something similar.  I wonder if they couldn’t collaborate with Fuel? 

Just this week I was thinking about swapping to my N90 full time for podcasts while I’m going in and out of London.   Well… if there’s any more innovation like Fuel — and if they recognise that more people are likely to *have* their mobile on them when they’re passing a Fuel station (as apposed to people carrying their non ipod music device), then owning an ipod could become a serious bind.

I still love being able to go ….

I just remembered that the other night I was talking with a friend.  We were reminising about stupid club songs.  One of which came up in discussion was the R Kelly one, ‘She’s Got That Vibe’ — which is one of those annoying (good?) tracks that once someone reminds you about it, you can end up humming it all day.  Anyway, I thought I’d go and get it the next time I remembered.   Well, just in the middle of writing this blog, I typed ‘kelly vibe’ into iTunes and I had the song playing within 30 seconds.  That is good.  That is excellent.  That is why I am content putting up with the various restrictions.  This is why I like the ipod. 

… so, to continue, I still love the experience.  But if you can make it easy to get entertainment — especially at the point of need (e.g. an airport, where cash-benefit analysis goes out the window), then my Apple loyalty goes out the window.

Interesting. I’m sure Nokia and other handset manufacturers would be open to working with the likes of Fuel to encourage distribution and usage — even if it’s just to take ads and sponsorship to help support putting Fuel into every airport.