imagining iPhone

Futuristic iPhone shopping trip?

Interesting. Sounds like a prequel to the novel "Feed" (M. T. Anderson), a book my son and I read as part of the Michigan Tech orientation the summer before he started college. That novel would indeed be a logical evolution of just the scenario you outlined. Yikes! One step closer to reality-follows-fiction...

--Steve--

On Jun 23, 2007, at 12:28 PM, Hudson Barton wrote:

> * A shopper we'll call Mr. Smith is carrying an iPhone. He walks into a
> store where there is a WIFI router. Safari (iPhone's full-power web browser),
> is hypothetically tied to a "Loki" equipped server which identifies the
> WIFI router in that store and passes the information along to Google which
> in turn starts beaming to him advertisements related to products that he
> might like to immediately buy.

Fortunately, the 20-minute video discloses the most important part of
the iPhone interface: the off button.

   --John

On Jun 23, 2007, at 3:28 PM, Hudson Barton wrote:

> Futuristic iPhone shopping trip?
>
> Does this sound interesting, or just scary?

It sounds interesting to me. The credit card, etc. companies could do
this anyway if they wanted to without hooking in to iPhone.

Location based services are becoming increasingly in demand by
consumers, and iPhone offers potential that Blackberry, Windows
Mobile, plain vanilla, etc. phones at the moment cannot. The
question, I think, is if retailers or services will be smart enough
to build user experiences that will make it easy for customers to
purchase by just clicking a few screens? Will information that will
be truly useful to the consumer at the point of purchase, stuff that
will facilitate decision making and inspire a sale, be available?

Marilyn

"He clicks the Paypal button..."

He's charged A$270.00. The product never materialises. He complains... and
complains... and is ignored.

(Sounds like my _past_ experience... not my future.)

Paul,
W. Australia

> On Jun 23, 2007, at 12:28 PM, Hudson Barton wrote:
>
>> * A shopper we'll call Mr. Smith is carrying an iPhone. He walks into a
>> store where there is a WIFI router. Safari (iPhone's full-power web browser),
>> is hypothetically tied to a "Loki" equipped server which identifies the
>> WIFI router in that store and passes the information along to Google which
>> in turn starts beaming to him advertisements related to products that he
>> might like to immediately buy.

I don't get this. Mr Smith is already in the store. Why beam
advertisements to the iPhone when there are already (hopefully)
knowledgeable sales guy, and where Mr Smith can (again, hopefully) play
and touch and feel the actual products in his hands?

Mr Smith is already in the store -- presumably for a reason. Why break
his concentration with an ad in the iPhone, and remind him that, hey,
you can also google for better pricing or products on iPhone?

I really don't get location-based services.

Sincerely,
Heng-Cheong
http://www.myapplemenu.com/

On 6/26/07, Marilyn Matty <mmattynyc.rr.com> wrote:
> The question, I think, is if retailers or services will be smart enough
> to build user experiences that will make it easy for customers to
> purchase by just clicking a few screens? Will information that will
> be truly useful to the consumer at the point of purchase, stuff that
> will facilitate decision making and inspire a sale, be available?

Apple iServices to the rescue !!! (No affliation, though I used to
work with some guys that were iServices consultants).

Cordially,

Christopher Appell
European Market
SpecialtyJobMarkets.com
FreeRecruiting.com
JobMart.com

On 28/6/2007 12:18 PM, "Heng-Cheong Leong" <webmastermyapplemenu.com> spake
thus:

> I don't get this. Mr Smith is already in the store. Why beam
> advertisements to the iPhone when there are already (hopefully)
> knowledgeable sales guy, and where Mr Smith can (again, hopefully) play
> and touch and feel the actual products in his hands?

Perhaps the sales people are all occupied (not unusual if there's a sale
on). Maybe the ads are offering Mr. Smith a personalised discount for
particular items (via electronic coupon that can be beamed to the cash
register) based on his existing consumer profile: likes and wants, how often
he's shopped there before, etc. Ms. Jones, who is also in the shop, might
get a completely different coupon based on her profile.

> Mr Smith is already in the store -- presumably for a reason. Why break
> his concentration with an ad in the iPhone

So you can perhaps convince him to buy more stuff than he originally planned
:) Although that may fail miserably given that men are generally
goal-oriented shoppers rather than browsers.

This reminds me of the scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise walks into
a shop after his eye transplant, is recognised from his retina scan as some
Japanese guy, and gets offered deals on hot pants or something weird like
that :)

--
Nigel Stanger, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND.
http://xri.net/=nigel.stanger

On Jun 27, 2007, at 8:18 PM, Heng-Cheong Leong wrote:

>>
>
> I really don't get location-based services.
>

I've done some consulting regarding location based content
development, and also have had access to research about future demand
for location based mobile services, and they are strong and growing.

I think the current iPhone commercial demonstrating how easy it is to
find, make reservations and receive driving directions to a
restaurant is just one example - real time access to information that
influences decision making is something that people will use if it is
easy and not expensive to use. Local sports, news, weather, business
and traffic have also been mainstays of local broadcast media that
the internet excels in, will translate well to mobile use. So will
stuff like the ability to check movie show times and local events.

You no longer have to be in front of a television, reading a
newspaper, or staring into a desktop or laptop screen, and user
friendly iPhone with its relatively big and high quality screen, is
something that makes it easy for John and Jane Q. Public to have
information important to their daily lives in the palm of their
hands, wherever they are - in either text, video, podcast, web or e-
mail.

Last week's Ad Age and Ad Week ran articles about Gannett Media
investing over $10 million in a mobile search start up; I think it's
an example of how a company focused on locally based news, broadcast
and outdoor media company doesn't want to arrive late at the party,
as so many other locally oriented media did with the web.

Marilyn

>I don't get this. Mr Smith is already in the store. Why beam
>advertisements to the iPhone when there are already (hopefully)
>knowledgeable sales guy, and where Mr Smith can (again, hopefully) play
>and touch and feel the actual products in his hands?

Yes, but now that they have iServices, there is only one
"knowledgeable sales guy" on the floor for a 10,000 Square Foot
store. We don't need all those expensive employees selling products.
Our iServices do the job for them! :-)

Jay

At 07:29 06/29/07 -0700, Marilyn Matty wrote:
>makes it easy for John and Jane Q. Public to have information important to
>their daily lives in the palm of their hands, wherever they are

What I hear Marilyn saying is that the Big Thing with location-based
services is pull, not push. I tend to agree with those who say that
bombarding with ads just because of where I happen to be would be
counterproductive to the advertisers. But if I'm in the city and want to
know if there's a Starbucks within three blocks, that ability has a point.

OK, so I'm still not interested in either Starbucks or the [sic] iPhone,
but I can see the point.

Edward
--
Art works by Melynda Reid: http://paleo.org

Precisely, the iPhone could become a virtual salesman in those big
warehouse stores where it is impossible to find anyone to help you.

The possibilities are limitless.

Rather than pick up a special set of headphones the next time you go
to that museum with a virtual tour, just bring up the museum's web
site and play the multimedia tour on your iPhone as you walk around
the exhibit.

Rather than having your employees use a specialized gizmo for doing
inventory, do it with an iphone, either by manually entering data or
by using the camera to "scan" a barcode. Data gets uploaded to a
Web2 application. Operates as groupware. Ditto for salesmen
entering orders on the road.

None of these things are possible with yesterday's generation of
handheld devices.

Jay Morgan wrote:

>> I don't get this. Mr Smith is already in the store. Why beam
>> advertisements to the iPhone when there are already (hopefully)
>> knowledgeable sales guy, and where Mr Smith can (again, hopefully)
>> play and touch and feel the actual products in his hands?
>
> Yes, but now that they have iServices, there is only one
> "knowledgeable sales guy" on the floor for a 10,000 Square Foot
> store. We don't need all those expensive employees selling products.
> Our iServices do the job for them! :-)

In my experience, "knowledgeable sales guy" is rare today. Too rare to
rely on being able to find one when you need one.
Besides, if I need a "knowledgeable sales guy" I don't want ads, I want
specific questions answered.
 
Also, any information the sales guy gives is bound to be tainted by 'how
can I extract as much money as possible from the customer'. The same
would go for any information you receive on your iPhone.
I make a point of doing my research before going shopping. That won't
change with the iPhone.

As far as I'm concerned, the scenario posited by Hudson Barton falls
squarely in the 'Scary' category. I'd leave my (hypothetical) iPhone,
and any other gadgets that make me this trackable/vulnerable to push
advertising, at home if this were to become a reality.
I want to be left alone when I'm shopping. If I need information, I'll
ask for it. I don't want ads, I don't want a list of "things I might
also like". I'm in the shop with a predefined purpose, not for a
spur-of-the-moment shopping spree.

The only time this sort of technology would be useful to me, is when
shopping for groceries. Load the list into the gadget, and the gadget
gives me directions to the isles where the items on my list are. In the
most efficient order, of course. Saves having to scan all the isles and
comparing them manually to the shopping list. Otherwise, get off my
lawn!


Harro de Jong

On Jul 2, 2007, at 4:40 PM, Edward Reid wrote:

> At 07:29 06/29/07 -0700, Marilyn Matty wrote:
>> makes it easy for John and Jane Q. Public to have information
>> important to
>> their daily lives in the palm of their hands, wherever they are
>
> What I hear Marilyn saying is that the Big Thing with location-based
> services is pull, not push. I tend to agree with those who say that
> bombarding with ads just because of where I happen to be would be
> counterproductive to the advertisers. But if I'm in the city and
> want to
> know if there's a Starbucks within three blocks, that ability has a
> point.

While I think that the pull aspects of location based computing will
be hugely successful, and some of it will work best ad free, I think
that there are lots of local special interest groups that would be
willing to look at one or two ads in exchange for free content.

I think sports fans will be particularly amenable to this; local
teams, even school teams, tend to attract very loyal fan bases, and
will be prime targets for both push and pull. From the June 20th
issue of Adweek:

"ESPN has announced a significant restructuring of its content
division aimed at adapting the company’s organization in light of a
changing media landscape. As part of the reshuffling, it will launch
a new division focused on developing content that travels across
multiple media platforms."

Local news, traffic, weather and business reports will be big too, I
think. People are already accustomed to ads in this context. As the
majority of US households subscribe to cable or satellite TV (I think
it's about 80-85%), people are also accustomed to paying for special
content, though I don't think most will want their already high cell
phone bills to go through the roof.

Marilyn

On Jul 2, 2007, at 4:40 PM, Hudson Barton wrote:
> Precisely, the iPhone could become a virtual salesman in those big
> warehouse stores where it is impossible to find anyone to help you.
>
> The possibilities are limitless.
>
> Rather than pick up a special set of headphones the next time you go
> to that museum with a virtual tour, just bring up the museum's web
> site and play the multimedia tour on your iPhone as you walk around
> the exhibit.
>
> Rather than having your employees use a specialized gizmo for doing
> inventory, do it with an iphone, either by manually entering data or
> by using the camera to "scan" a barcode. Data gets uploaded to a
> Web2 application. Operates as groupware. Ditto for salesmen
> entering orders on the road.
>
> None of these things are possible with yesterday's generation of
> handheld devices.

And with iPhone, like the Mac when it was wildly successful out of
the starting gate, it's positioned for non-geeks.

Marilyn

On 03/07/2007 8:51 AM, "Harro de Jong" <hdjongtriview.nl> spake thus:

> The only time this sort of technology would be useful to me, is when
> shopping for groceries. Load the list into the gadget, and the gadget
> gives me directions to the isles where the items on my list are. In the
> most efficient order, of course.

Now that one will definitely never happen. Supermarkets spend large amounts
of money on designing their layouts so that you have to trek all the way
through the shop in order to get to what you want :), on the theory that the
more stuff you have to walk past, the greater chance you might see something
extra that you want. I can't see them willingly adopting anything that would
short-circuit that, no matter how convenient for the customer.

--
Nigel Stanger, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND.
http://xri.net/=nigel.stanger

On 7/3/07 08:40 AM, "Nigel Stanger" <nstangerinfoscience.otago.ac.nz>
wrote:

>> The only time this sort of technology would be useful to me, is when
>> shopping for groceries. Load the list into the gadget, and the gadget
>> gives me directions to the isles where the items on my list are. In the
>> most efficient order, of course.
>
> Now that one will definitely never happen. Supermarkets spend large amounts
> of money on designing their layouts so that you have to trek all the way
> through the shop in order to get to what you want :), on the theory that the
> more stuff you have to walk past, the greater chance you might see something
> extra that you want. I can't see them willingly adopting anything that would
> short-circuit that, no matter how convenient for the customer.

Sure they would. The physical layout has specific designs based on,
literally, centuries of research. However, the problem isn't that grocery
stores don't want you moving efficiently, (if you have to buy 43 items, you
have to go to the aisles they're in. You're STILL walking by tons of stuff),
but rather the difficulty in tying in to such a system. (Keep in mind that
grocery store profit margins are really razor thin. There's not a lot of
profit for 'sperimentin')

How do you manage the integration? RFID for short range? Do you rigidly
arrange things in the aisles so that Lucky Charms are ALWAYS on a specific
grid point? What about end cap displays?

I guarantee that if a grocery store could figure out an inexpensive way to
attract the local geek crowd en masse? Oh yeah, they'd be ALL over that.

--
John C. Welch Writer/Analyst
Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions
jwelchbynkii.com

"July 12, 2007
Serious Business Apps Arriving For iPhone
By David Needle

That was quick.

Just a few weeks after the long-awaited launch of the consumer-focused
iPhone, NetSuite is launching SuitePhone, an integrated set of business
management programs for the hot-selling device.

Actually, SuitePhone isn't so much a new set of applications but
NetSuite for the iPhone. NetSuite officials say Apple's announcement
that its Safari browser should be the target for iPhone developers ..."

<www.internetnews.com/wireless/article.php/3688331>

NOT that you all want Net Suite: I don't, for example. But it is one
smart service and other must follow.

George