Are Polyphonic Ringtones History

It seems like it was just yesterday when polyphonic ringtones took over the preexisting monophonic ringtones.  Although it did take time for polyphonic ringtones to become popular, they eventually overtook monophonic tones.  However, there seems to be a continuous pattern with realtones recently emerging.

In case you are unfamiliar with all of these terms, polyphonic ringtones gave phones the ability to play several different instrument sounds all at the same time.  For instance, it allowed phones to pick up the guitar, drums, piano, and everything else involved in a song concurrently.  For whatever reason, it took awhile to gain popularity.  But eventually cell phone owners picked up on it and ran with it.

The difference between the transition from monophonic to polyphonic versus polyphonic to realtones is that realtones are having an instantaneous impact.  Although realtones have not completely eliminated polyphonic ringtones, they are already immensely popular.  There are several theories behind why realtones have gained so much attention so quickly, but no exact reasoning.

The most logical reasoning though is because of how realistic it sounds.  While polyphonic ringtones certainly had more bells and whistles than monophonic tones to keep you entertained, there is a significant difference with realtones.  No longer do you have to answer a call to beeps that sound like your favorite songs.  Now you can answer your phone to the actual songs of your favorite artists.

Another reason realtones are extremely popular is because of how simple it is to create them at home.  By downloading free audio editing software, you can create any song from your music library into a ringtone.  Polyphonic ringtones are much more complicated to create on your own.

But with all this said, do not be too quick to count out polyphonic ringtones.  When polyphonic ringtones were released, they were released at the same price as monophonic ringtones.  Because of this, it was an easy decision as for which type to go for.  However, you can expect to pay twice as much for realtones.  Is it worth it?

To some people it is worth paying the extra money to have the actual song on their phone.  For others, having the instrumental is good enough.  What is the point in paying twice as much for something that you are going to hear for just a few seconds until you pick up the phone?  And because of this, polyphonic ringtones are very much alive and still in contention with realtones.