I was sitting this evening tinkering with some prototype ideas for a client-facing iPad application. That led me to think about the iPad and the effect that it will have on the consumption of content. This was something I'd written about before and won't retread here in this post. I only mention this little side-note because it was those thoughts that led me to another aspect of the changes that these devices are going to bring about. Not so much the iPad (and other such devices that will surely follow), but more so, the smart phones. It is the smart phone and the real time web that are creating a very interesting "perfect storm" for disruptive innovation. What do I mean? What I'm talking about is how, for example, the iPhone and Android smartphones are feeding the real time web. These devices a driving enormous amounts of network usage.
We've heard about how much bandwidth iPhone users are using. What I'm talking about though is that all that network usage isn't just downloading/consumption of content. I posit that there is a lot of outgoing bits & bytes that are a result of users feeding the real time web. Yes, some of that outgoing traffic is outgoing email and other such "traditional" usage, but I think that the outgoing traffic is increasingly traffic that contributes to the realtime web. Applications like Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook and such are just the tip of the iceberg. I think that applications will emerge that are going to flood the Internet with realtime data and information. We will flood the Internet with micro-content and that in turn will result in users consuming increasing amounts of micro-content in the form of "context-sensitive", "location-sensitive" information and alerts.
Take a moment, as one example, to view the video below that made me think of my good friend and co-worker Stephen. He's an avid golfer so this app made me think of him. You are scratching your head now wondering "Golf? What the heck is mip talking about?" I picked this example because it isn't something that comes to mind in terms of our devices capturing information about the world around us. Watch the video and I'll continue my thoughts below the video clip.
That video clip shows a unique use for smartphones. I think that this type of application that captures real-world data will continue to emerge throughout 2010. It isn't limited to just fun/entertainment/social-like things either. What about an app that capture my blood sugar levels, my heart rate levels, an app that captures what I've eaten through the day. Those types of captured data could then be sent out like a Tweet in a secure fashion, not to my followers, but perhaps to a team of doctors. What about an app that a sales person uses to capture all the things I try on while in the store. Each time I try something on, he uses his iPhone to snap a picture of the barcode and he snaps a pic of me trying on the article of clothing. When I'm done, whether I buy something or not, that info is saved into the retail database for later reference AND it is quickly sent out to me and my spouse for instance. Again, real time feeding of the web, which is then consumed in micro-consumption. The types of applications & settings for this type of things are limitless. Organizations should be looking at ways not just to push content out to smartphone users, but look for ways for them to feed the real-time web in ways that are mutually beneficial.
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