THE ROANOKE TIMES
Ring thing
Customized ringtones emerge as a must-have cellphone accessory - and the music industry couldn't be happier.

February 1, 2005
By Ralph Berrier Jr.

The Internet is a virtual shopping mall of ringtone providers, with Modtones, Xringer and Ringster among the most popular. Most ringtones can be delivered to a phone immediately if the owner knows the phone's carrier and model number.

I think it's kind of fun to have different rings for different people, said Jessica Holmstrom, 18, a Virginia Tech freshman from Richmond. Her ringtones include a Kenny Chesney song for her mother and the Cheers theme for her best friend.

It's better than just random noise.

Even though a definite cool factor goes with having hip songs rise from your cell, there's a practical side, too.

Since everybody has a cellphone, you don't want to have the same ring as everybody else, said Tech senior Michael Ho. He was relaxing on a couch inside Squires Student Center, surrounded by other students armed with laptop computers and cellphones. It was a scene where a ringing cellphone could have sent a dozen people rifling through bookbags and purses to see if it was their phone.