The Internet is [taking] OVER! (the real world)
July 6th, 2010 • Business, Media, Mobile
You tagged me in your photo? No, I tagged you with my photo.
It’s official: the Internet has moved on. Unlike Prince, however, I don’t think “the Internet is over.” In fact, I’m saying it’s taking over; the real world, that is. If the last decade was about filling the Internet up with things that existed in the real world, the next one is all about filling the real world with things that only exist online.
It’s not like we wouldnt have done it sooner, but only now with ever improving, increasingly adopted smartphones, and ubiquitous internet connectiviy, has it really been possible. That being said, it’s obvious that our mobile phones are the key link between our physical worlds and online worlds. And indeed, the more we use the mobile web, the more the lines between the two worlds continue blur.
IMO this is where all the interesting things are happening, and where all the opportunity lies.
Need more convincing? Here are some examples:
1) Foursquare, a company that just received $20MM in VC funding, and is now valued at $95MM. It gives you badges and tips (in digital form, of course) when you check into physical locations.
2) With Chase Bank you can deposit a cheque just by taking a picture of it.
3) Square, founded by Jack Dorsey, the same guy who helped bring us Twitter, let’s you accept credit card payments with your iPhone, anywhere.
4) Stickybits. This one, I think is really cool, and will explain in more detail:
Ok, so you know how you can tag people in a photo on Facebook? Right. Well this is kind of like the reverse of that; you’re tagging real-world objects with digital artifacts. An interesting concept, and just another move to blur the lines between the physical world and the digital world.
Here’s how it works:
See that can of soda sitting next to you? Go ahead and attach something to it.You can pretty much scan any barcode or QR code you come across and attach digital content (bits) to it. The next person who scans that code will see all the bits that everyone has attached. And they’ll see all the locations that it’s been scanned at. You can also get notifications when it’s been scanned, changes location or gets new bits.
I don’t know why, but I find this amazing. It’s just so cool. And something tells me this (in one form or another) will be the norm in the future. It’s more granular that Foursquare — you’re tagging individual things, not places — although, you can check-in too, and use geo-coordinates, to let people know where that object is.
One thing that’s clear, is that the more digital invades physical, the more opportunity for meaningful interaction, positive engagement, and powerful storytelling. Just think how much we love our objects. And just think how much we love social media. This is both, together. Talk about social objects…
Wait a sec…? Brands sell objects. And brands want to communicate and engage with their customers. Often this is done by telling stories. And as Tech Crunch puts it, “what if you could give any physical object a story simply by sticking a barcode on it and appending a message to that barcode?” Hmm…there might be something here.
By the way, Stickbits, is another NYC-based, VC-backed company, like Foursquare, and Square. Coincidence? I think not.
So what does the the future look like?
I’ll leave you with a video of an amazing device being developed at MIT. This is the future:
