If I haven't been unsacked by a certain florid-tressed luftwaffe vooman by the time T-Mobile offers the Treo 650, and if she and I pick up complimentary plans for cheese doodles on the dollar, then I'll begin my public cellphone life by trying to create the least offensive ringtone possible.
My idea is to find a single twenty-bar atonal line from Webern -- some slo-mo triple-pianissimo palindrome with zero repetition or melodic content -- and play it on a soft-timbred instrument. I can't imagine anything sounding less startling, or less inclined to stick in people's heads.
(Regarding the fleecing of consumers for ringtone (and other music) fees: Supposedly, carriers' intention to squeeze customers for every possible service has delayed or stopped the release of the iPod/Motorola phone. Apparently, Verizon and the rest don't want the user to be able to upload mp3s from a local computer for free; Apple, unsurprisingly, had assumed otherwise.)
