• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, September 29, 2005

Think about a TV screen on your fingernail, or on your bathroom floor, or possibly on the entire back wall of your house.

Think about TV in as many unusual places as possible, and few of those ideas would sound that successful.

A couple of years ago, putting TV on cell phones would have made that list. But for anyone making that prediction, you'd now look as small as a one-inch screen. That's because the Berkeley, Calif.-based MobiTV convinced the right people that cell phone customers wanted to see TV actors as tiny little video game characters.

MobiTV became the rage -- and the butt of jokes. But not to kids with incredibly short attention spans, kids who can multitask with not two, but three or four media devices. Other older consumers signed on as well -- especially those fidgety types who can't stand one lonely minute without being entertained.

MobiTV knew fiddling with your mobile would be the new social tic. Boring date? Flip your cell phone and watch two minutes of "The Simpsons." Waiting for your date? Open one minute of Discovery Channel's "Monster Garage." Looking for some male-sports bonding after being dumped by your date? Watch ESPN's "SportsCenter" in the cab ride home.

Boo-yah!

One crazy idea suddenly works, and it opens up other possibilities. Stretch, compress, or turn the actual TV experience into any form -- in Play-Doh, with commercials or without, viewed on 60-inch screens or half-inch wristwatch screens. Watch TV in places like elevators, urinals, or in Elvis Presley's favorite place -- in the ceiling of his closet, while he was reclining on a small bed. (Elvis often tired while looking for his latest white sequin suit.)

Video consumers can be found complaining that even though they have 150 cable channels on their regular-size televisions, there isn't anything to watch. They'll also complain that it all costs too much.

Just when you guessed those same consumers were overloaded with media, they -- some half a million subscribers -- shell out another $10 more a month for MobiTV.

Waiting meekly for that job interview? How about TV on the tops of your shoes?