Out of all the content we covered in our social media lecture last week, I think that mobile applications have the potential to be the most revolutionizing to the industry. The most poignant personal experience I had was about 2 years ago, when my love for photography led my downtown to the Lomography store. My boyfriend and I were going to Guatemala, and he was in love with my Leica, so as a little surprise I thought I would get him a lomography camera to get his creative juices flowing.
It was really fun, and a totally different kind of fun, using an old school camera with manual settings that used real film and no real-time feedback. The anticipation of receiving the prints gave us a tiny adrenaline rush, as corny as it sounds, that we kind of had forgotten about in the era of digital photography. Before I even had a change to get the prints however, Instagram came out, instantly stealing my thunder, lol. In the real world, who is going to pay for film and take time to go get pics developed when we can have the instant equivalent? Overnight, my gift was completely antiquated and useless. Even today, I would say that this mobile app has probably had one of the most significant impacts on my day to day experience with my iPhone.
Same is true for other conveniences. I used a mobile boarding ticket on Delta for the first time 2 weeks ago. The funniest part about that was then I actually had to board the plane, there was no scanner and the attendant didn't have her glasses, and couldn't...well see my boarding pass. Maybe that one isn't quite there yet.
True again for the relatively new banking concept of scanning and depositing checks to checking and savings accounts. These are serious game changers, that I think we don't necessary classify as social applications because we immediately think to Linkedin, FB, and Twitter, and not all are built for sharing per se, but I would say this where we should be looking for the highest level of upcoming innovation.
1 comment:
I find it interesting though that only 41% of the smartphone users actually use it for purchase. I imagine that with the advent of Google Wallet or other similar payment platforms this will change. Allowing people to buy on the go and advertising to them while they are mobile will certainly increase more spontaneous buys.
Currently smartphones provide many forms of shopping assistance like comparing prices, checking for discount and finding the nearest location. I can also envision more and more innovative ways being invented by retailers to use the samrtphone capabilities. For example get coupons/loyalty rewards by visiting multiple locations.
Post a Comment