Twitter's Stone, 'Avatar' director Cameron forecast mobile future

LAS VEGAS--It's difficult to imagine a trio of thought leaders more different than Twitter co-founder Biz Stone,  Avatar director James Cameron and U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy CTO Aneesh Chopra, and that's what made their CTIA Wireless 2010 keynote roundtable Thursday morning so intriguing and far-reaching, encompassing subjects spanning from net neutrality  to content piracy to  3D mobile video. Moderated by CNBC anchor and reporter Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, the discussion returned time and again to the transformative power and promise of mobile services, particularly SMS--a core component of the Twitter phenomenon. "The ubiquity of SMS is critical--there are 4 billion mobile accounts in the world, and they're all Twitter-ready," Stone said. "When a farmer in a third-world nation can get news over SMS, it can have a huge influence on his life."

Stone also touted Twitter's value as a community action platform, citing the famous example of James Karl Buck, the University of California-Berkeley grad student arrested in April 2008 during an anti-government protest in Egypt--en route to the police station, Buck tweeted "Arrested" on his mobile phone, and friends and colleagues immediately took command of the situation, successfully working to get him released. "Once you're connected using SMS to a network of people using SMS, that's when things start to happen," Stone said.

Cameron extolled the virtues of the evolving mobile video experience, noting that the next-generation 3D technology introduced in his big-screen blockbuster Avatar is uniquely optimized for mobile screens as well."When the screen is small enough, you don't have to use [3D] glasses," Cameron explained. "With a single user, the lenticular screen is oriented for perfect 3D."

Cameron described Avatar and its high-tech aesthetic as an effort to create an immersive viewing experience only possible in theaters, in part to combat rampant Internet piracy. He was not entirely successful, noting that Avatar is both the most commercially lucrative film in Hollywood history as well as the most pirated. "Avatar is my solution to keep cinema alive," Cameron said. "Some people just want accessibility and portability. But with certain entertainment, you want something else."

Chopra's mobile perspective bridged the gap between Stone's grass-roots activism and Cameron's high-concept creative vision, instead emphasizing the role mobile broadband increasingly plays in segments like healthcare, education and energy consumption. "As a country, we aspire to lead the world in innovation," Chopra said. "That's why we've asked the FCC to put together a plan for affordable, universal access to broadband."Asked about the White House's stance on net neutrality, Chopra said "The President has been clear about his commitment to an open Internet, and the FCC is thoughtfully evaluating the subject." He declined to discuss the matter much further or suggest a timetable for legislative action, adding the FCC is still gathering information.

Caruso-Cabrera wrapped up the roundtable by asking the panelists what messages they wished to share with the mobile industry representatives in attendance. "Instead of focusing on what's blocking our progress, we should be thinking about what we do have already that we're not leveraging," Stone said. "That's the key thing--what exists already that we can leverage and create cool things on."

And despite the seriousness of the subjects under discussion, there were more than a few laughs as well. Perhaps the most memorable followed after Caruso-Cabrera asked Cameron whether Avatar's unprecedented financial success mitigated the sting of losing out on Best Picture honors at the recent Academy Awards. His response: "If I had to choose between the trophy and the $2.6 billion, I think I'd have to go for the money." -Jason