The future is almost here, but the demo has been here for a while now
Forbes and others are reporting that Apple has applied for a patent for "a wireless system that would allow customers to place an order at a store using a wireless device such as a media player, a wireless personal digital assistant or a cellphone. The system could go far beyond the program that Apple announced with Starbucks in September, which allows iPhone users to press a button and wirelessly download the song playing in the background as they sip their soy lattes." (I couldn't find the patent application on the USPTO website, but I did find at least one prior art opposition.) I'll let commenters argue whether this will improve the Starbucks experience or be as relaxing as commercial air flights after mobile phone calls are allowed.
Does Apple's proposal seem familiar? During Boom 1.0, it seemed like almost every wireless demo I witnessed used Starbucks as its example. I remember one mobile marketing company's pitch: “Let’s say you’re walking past a Starbucks. Your Handspring Visor (or Palm VII or whatever was the wireless device of the moment) would receive a message saying to come into Starbucks and get $1 off a latte.” Maybe this Apple news means that something like this will finally happen. Or does it mean that it takes a decade for fake demos to turn into actual services? Have you seen any fake demos for products we should look for in 2017?
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We have a demo that delivers a mobile coupon and allows the customer to chose from a contextual menu that appears in the mobile browser in response to them connecting to the Starbucks web site. Check out the use cases at the bottom our home page (www.5o9inc.com) and pay special attention to the screen shot of the mobile browser - the menus are dynamic and change based on information from the consumers device. It will work with any proximity device (GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, Address, Zip code)
You can see a live demo in 2008 - no need to wait until 2017
Cheers,
Peter
If you want to look at why location features on phones, phone-based payments, etc. have been so slow to take off, look no further than (1) the various platform wars (escalating right on up into full out spectrum and fiber wars); (2) the fact that so few people actually need or would much benefit from such ... um ... applications.
Does the industry have any mass market stuff left to offer that pays for itself for the consumer by some means other than subjecting the consumer to lock-in contracts, surveillance, and advertising barrage? The current generation looks like just "rats in a maze" games.
-t
-t
@Thomas: hear! hear! The first reaction to wireless handheld communications is to forcefeed the eyeballs of the person who's holding it. It's as if the first application of the written word were junk mail. When technology is applied to *helping* the people who pay for it, instead of simply to helping the merchants hawk their wares, then it'll take off. Kudos to Apple for finding a useful application.
@Peter Cranston: sorry, when I hear "mobile coupon", I reach for my spam filter. The killer app for mobile is, IMHO, something that delivers value, not ads.
Isn't there Facebook applications for phones that use Bluetooth and alert you when friends of friends or people with similar interests are nearby? I read about it if they don't have it already, they're developing it...
Like gnat says, a lot of this just sounds like getting your mobile device spammed.
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Peter Cranstone [12.27.07 08:27 PM]
We have a demo that delivers a mobile coupon and allows the customer to chose from a contextual menu that appears in the mobile browser in response to them connecting to the Starbucks web site. Check out the use cases at the bottom our home page (www.5o9inc.com) and pay special attention to the screen shot of the mobile browser - the menus are dynamic and change based on information from the consumers device. It will work with any proximity device (GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC)
You can see a live demo in 2008 - no need to wait until 2017
Cheers,
Peter