It's all in how you want to spin it: I see more and more articles, such as this one, about "digital shoplifting" - something that could easily be spun the other way and called "digital word of mouth" (which, granted, is not as catchy).

Some comments I had on the article:

I find it most interesting that "digital shoplifting" is now a fairly commonplace and accepted term, despite the fact that there has been no evidence offered that the practice of taking a picture of something in a store with a cameraphone and emailing it to friends significantly harms retailers.

Before all this technology I often looked at a magazine or book without buying it and later discussed it with friends. This was known as "word of mouth" (not "oral shoplifting").

[...]

The best idea here is to take advantage of this practice, instead of making up ridiculous terms for it:

• Shopkeepers observe what articles/items/pictures are being shared via cameraphone, then arrange a display table consisting of like items. Driven by the pressure to share cool items via cameraphone, this convenience acts as a draw to get people in the store, where some percentage of them will end up purchasing something.

• A publisher puts together a magazine comprised solely of cool pictures or tidbits, each of which is optimized in layout to be photograhed by a cameraphone and sent to others. By jamming an immense amount of these into a cheap mag, consumers will purchase it so they can spend hours over it at home, photographing and sharing a wide range of tidbits with different friends and family.

This and more interesting stuff at the always informative picturephoning.com

// mikepop via hiptop AIM: drjellyfish