Rudetones: Ringtones Are Getting Rude

Posted by: Olga Kharif on June 24

You are sitting at a coffee shop, minding your own business, when a police siren starts wailing nearby. You anxiously peer out the window, looking for a murder scene or a high-speed chase, when you realize that the sounds come from a neighbor’s table — from his cell phone, that is.

What you are hearing is a rudetone, a different kind of a ringtone that seem to be a hit with teens and young adults worldwide. These rudetones come in the following flavors: police siren, car alarm, fart and even (don’t ask me what this sounds like, this really is gross) burp vomit. You can check them out on this Australian Web site.

Fortunately -- or unfortunately -- you don't have to live in Australia to download these. An outfit called Bonus Mobile has debuted rudetones in the U.S. this May. And subscribers of T-Mobile and Cingular can buy rudetones directly from a specialized site, RudeTones.com.

Silly or not, rudetones could become a big business. Ringtones will turn into a $500 million market this year, and rudetones could grab a chunk of that cash.

So if you thought hearing a Britney Spears ringtone was annoying, you just wait for rudetones. Sorta makes one want to play that vomit rudetone again, doesn't it.