Coupons on your cell phone? Why?

The New York Times

reports that "some advertisers are beginning to invest in mobile coupons - discounts that are delivered to customers' cellphones (with their permission), often via text messages."

But in a survey, 70% of consumers said that they weren't interested in receiving coupons by phone, and would stick to their Sunday newspaper clipping, thank you very much.

A few factors are probably at work here: first of all, the coupon clippers of the world are probably not much for conspicuous consumption and fancy gadgets. The other problem is that coupon-clipping is a time-honored tradition. Spreading out the advertisements from the Sunday newspaper is fun!

Coupons delivered to cell phones seems like an idea in search of a market. Some day it will catch on, but I don't think we're anywhere close.