You might think they're pointless. It's just a sound to alert someone that someone is calling. What's wrong with the classic ring? Well, it's similar to the reason you chose to buy that fancy camera phone over the good old Nokia that every used to have. It gives a phone personality, just like a phone gives you personality. A person who has a custom ringtone is one that would love for someone to say "I love that song!" when their phone rings. Some people even hold their phones for that extra five seconds so they can listen to their ringtone.



Ringtones come in three varieties: monophonic, polyphonic, and MP3. Monophonic ringtones are those you may be most accustomed to. Remember that old Nokia that everyone had? Those were monophonic ringtones. The phone can only play one type of note at a time. As you can imagine, it makes for a very dull ringtone. But, you must remember, this was all the rage "back then."

Now, polyphonic ringtones have become the most popular ring tones. These polyphonic ringtones allow for the phone to play up to 16 tones at once, creating a beautiful harmony that can more closely duplicate the sound of a song than a monophonic ringtone can. Almost all phones available now are compatible with polyphonic ringtones.

MP3 ringtones are in close competition with polyphonic ringtones for being the most popular. These are the actual MP3 versions of songs, so you can hear an actual song when your phone rings. Most major national cell phone companies offer phone compatible with these ringtones. All ringtones cost between $1 and $5 to download.

It may be surprising that ringtones are a billion dollar business, but you must consider the millions of people that use cell phones. Everyone wants to be the first to have a popular ringtone, so many people download multiple ringtones. Some people even argue that the cell phone will replace the modern day MP3 player in the near future. Imagine an iPod that was also a cell phone! The only hurdles hindering the process is a battery that could sustain both the MP3 player and the cell phone along with the proper memory to store the files.

Look for MP3 player/phones in the next year or two!