A very good friend of mine recently brought up the idea of a communications shift like we’re having now with Twitter, Plurk, etc, and related it to the Summer of Love. Obviously, there are significant differences, but I don’t think that the fundamental idea is too far off.
Here’s my response to him:
I definitely think there’s something big going on right now that’s growing unusually quickly.
The usual pattern of technology acceptance begins with the techy/nerdy people, the technology gets refined, then it gets accepted by the masses.
The difference now, is that it’s not the techs that are pushing adoption, it’s the marketers. And these aren’t the technical marketers…in fact, the more technical a person is, it seems that the less likely they are to quickly adopt these new services.
What that signals to me is that the internet is reaching a point where we understand its usability (combination of form and function), rather than simply function (think command line FTP compared to uploading via web), well enough that applications are being quickly pushed out there that are incredibly easy to use.
Essentially, the Internet has provided this massive and new freeform way to connect with people and information. We’ve now gone through a significant enough part of the process of understanding people’s concerns with the platform: usability, connectivity, speed, portability, etc. These are all new concerns that have never come together like this until now.
It’s much like before cars were pass produced, we didn’t know that people wanted brakelights – why would you need those if no one’s behind you – until things reached a certain critical mass and understanding of what it means to have a lot of people driving cars.
Because these new applications are easy to use, the techies almost don’t even care (there’s no problem to be solved), but the marketers see the opportunity for adoption, and therefore the financial upside, etc.
I guess one of the questions that I have is if things will begin to be released that are immediately adopted by the masses, without the marketers pushing them first. Much like the iPod…it came out, and everyone wanted it. Immediately, it addressed every current and upcoming fundamental concern of portable music players. The new ones that people didn’t even know they had (the iPod wasn’t the first portable mp3 player) were style and status. It meant something to have an iPod…not a portable mp3 player…an iPod.
So, I guess all of that is to say “yes,” I think something like the “Summer of Love” is possible for the technology/communications area, but I think there are a few more pieces to be worked out.
Namely, I think that GPS and/or connection to physical location is going to be the next huge leap forward. Apple is making that step with GPS iPhone. BrightKite is accumulating the experiences of what constitutes the problem of connecting your physical location with your online presence. A whole slew of companies are working on providing the advertising platform for it all.
But no one has come out with the iPod for that…yet.
@Rebecca: LOL. Good thing I’m traveling a lot, too!
That’s an interesting concept, and it’s one that I’ve been subtly thinking about.
With my experience marketing to the techie/ nerd crowd, it’s important to realize the inherent behaviors and desires the group has. (Each group has a behavior and a desire… I’m just very familiar with the that demographic).
Like you said, most tech/ nerds desire a puzzle to solve, we dont always mind a somewhat clunky interface if what we’re using allows us to discover new things and allows us to ascend to a “new level” of value and usefulness when using the product. When designing for the tech/ nerd crowd, the level of acceptance of the new technology generally conforms to the level of discovery and when possible, modification and customization that the product brings.
With marketers becoming the new adopters, we’re seeing a very high level of attention on usability, flow, clarity and ease of navigation. Like you said, there’s no more puzzle to solve, what’s there is displayed and clearly labeled.
I dont say it’s a bad thing at all, because a lot of people who aren’t tech savvy can find enjoyment and value from the new focus, but us techie/ nerds are left doing what we do best… finding new things that require us to dig, solve, modify and use in new ways.
To expand your iPod example, I love my iPhone, it’s an extension of my life and almost an external hard drive for my brain… however, the artificial restrictions of apple and AT&T to prevent hacking it, and the inability to mod it remained high on my list of reasons I didn’t wholeheartedly accept it.
Sorry if what I said didn’t make complete sense, its been a nebulous idea that I’ve had in my head for a while and hadn’t had the chance to hammer it out.