Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
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Now playing: Phil Keaggy - McPhernought
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
Bonus: John Roese describes “Broadband’s Kindle Paradigm”
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
—————-
Now playing: Krissy Nordhoff - Raise The Roof
Bonus: John Roese describes “Broadband’s Kindle Paradigm”
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
—————-
Now playing: Krissy Nordhoff - Raise The Roof
My big Christmas present this year was an iPod Touch. Seeing as how it makes no sense for me to sign up with AT&T, the Touch gives me a chance to enjoy the advancements provided by the iPhone. The Touch is a beautiful device. I love showing off the multi-touch interface, Cover Flow, and the Photo Album. But, to me, the coolest application on the device is YouTube.
Don’t get me wrong, I spend almost no time at all at YouTube.com, so I’m not a heavy user. What is so cool about the YouTube application is how well it’s been optimized for a mobile device. Given that broadband (WiFi) is built in, the application just works, making it easy to find, view, and bookmark videos that fit what you’re looking for. The user interface works well with fingers on a touch screen, and the video playback works perfectly on the iPod Touch screen.
My problem is with WiFi. Sure, I have great WiFi connectivity at home, but if I’m at home and want to watch YouTube, I’m probably going to grab a laptop. I also have WiFi at work, but YouTube on an iPod probably isn’t what I’m focused on during work hours.
There are three places that I really wanted ot watch YouTube on my Touch and simply couldn’t.
Shortly after Christmas I went to a party at our church. No WiFi. No YouTube. A few days later, a gathering of family and friends at my dad’s house. No WiFi. No YouTube. In both of those settings I wanted to show friends how cool the iPod Touch interface was and specifically how powerful an application could be if it were optimized for a mobile interface. No WiFi. No YouTube. No Joy.
Finally, returning from my dad’s house, we got stuck with delays in Atlanta for several hours. Great time to look for entertaining YouTube content to pass the time. Of course, the Atlanta airport has WiFi - for a price. Was it worth $8 to be entertained for some unknowable airport delay time? For me, the answer was no. So, No YouTube. No Joy.
Admittedly, what I’m talking about here is the iPod Touch, not the iPhone. The iPhone does have mobile “broadband” in the form of EDGE, but I can’t imagine that would quite be the cool mobile experience I was looking for either.
(Big Sigh)
I guess I have to wait for the makers of insanely great products to wise up and build real mobile broadband in to their products - broadband that is available just about everywhere I go.
Mobile Broadband. YouTube. Joy.
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Now playing: Andrew Osenga - O, Help My Unbelief
Bonus: BusinessWeek says “Open Networks Could Spark a Gadget Boom”
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
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Now playing: Sara Groves - I Saw What I Saw
Recently Amazon released a new eBook Reader called the Kindle. Like virtually all eBook Readers released before it, Amazon’s product has faced a ton of skepticism. However, this new product has something different from all the others, and for that reason, the tech world is buzzing about the Kindle. In fact, they’re not only buzzing; they’re buying. Amazon sold out the initial run of the product in the first week.
So what’s the big deal?
For the past couple of years I’ve been talking about the Law of Mobility - that the value of any product or service increases with it’s mobility. I’ve hypothesized that the falling cost of adding wireless technology into products and the increased value provided by mobility would lead to wireless technology being built into virtually every information-rich product, just as microprocessors have been built into so many products.
And that’s exactly what makes the Kindle so exciting. The product has mobile broadband connectivity from Sprint built in. Amazon customers select what books, magazines, newspapers, and blogs they want to read, pay for them through their Amazon account, and download them directly to the Kindle.
This is the first mass market consumer electronics device with mobile broadband built in, but it won’t be the last. A big part of Sprint’s 4G Xohm plans are to similarly mobilize consumer electronics products. And it appears that Verizon similarly wants to play in this space, announcing this week that they will open their network to certified devices. A Dow Jones story recently discussed this emerging trend.
One of the interesting aspects of the Kindle is that the eBook Reader is not yet a successful product category. If the Kindle becomes a hit, it would be a powerful validation of the Law and the Mobility Revolution.
Of course, mobilizing the eBook isn’t a simple process. In The Power of Mobility, I describe the seven steps that a company must take as they mobilize a product, service, or process. Amazon has done a great job of addressing the first six steps and has historically been one of the best at learning from customers, so I have confidence they will make the most of the Kindle opportunity.
The Kindle is definitely one to watch!
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Now playing: Art Garfunkel/Amy Grant - The Annunciation
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
—————-
Now playing: George Winston - Peace
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
—————-
Now playing: Todd Agnew - Preachers And Thieves
Converging products into a cellphone is one way that mobility is getting built into every product, but it’s not the only way. Every month, I’ll focus on devices that are integrating the power of mobility into products themselves in ways that create new value for the customer. Power up!
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Now playing: Abigail Washburn - Rockabye Dixie
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