This week marked a historic if artistically indistinguished moment in the world of mobile music.

For the first time ever, a ring tone topped the British singles best-seller chart.

The piece was "Crazy Frog Axel F," a series of melodious rings and beeps based on a decade-old high-pitched sound edit of a Swedish mo-ped revving up with the hook, line and stinker from the theme to 19xx's "Beverly Hills Cop."

I've been trying to assimilate all this. Of course I can recite back all the analysis and perspective I gathered from the interviews I did for Music Goes Mobile, the fourth part of my Future of Wireless series. Everyone's mobile, cell phones have better sound quality, ringtones rule.

On a personal level though, I just don't understand. Maybe it is because I come from the school that the only useful purpose for a ring tone is when you are in a crowd - to distinguish the sound of your mobile's ring from that of others. And the older I get, the less often I am anywhere near crowds. In fact this afternoon, we're going to forgo a huge festival down at our hometown's riverfront to spend a weekend in a county that has more cows than people.

If I want to hear music, I have a separate device for that. iPod works fine, and so does the music in my head.

But then again, maybe I'm just too dang old.