Editor’s Note: Looking to bring a younger perspective to the mobile space, RCR Wireless News has tapped Jeff Hawn to provide insight into what’s on the minds of the tech-savvy youth of today.
Buying into the IoT
The “Internet of Things,” or IoT, is a simple way to describe the growing connectivity among the dozens of devices we interact with on a daily biases. Really the concept is quite simple. My phone serves as a kind of universal remote, talking to my computer, my car and my digital-video recorder (if I had a DVR).
Currently the IoT manifests in the simplest of forms – a shared cloud for photos, being able to set my theoretical DVR from my iPhone and using Bluetooth-enabled hands-free when driving. This interconnectivity, a feat I will point out was only theoretical 15 years ago, is barely in its infancy. We are living through the “Model-T-era” of the IoT, but the new model is on the horizon and it is frightening.
AT&T, through its Interactions Watson program, is a means of automated market analysis with a service-providing function. Every day a person will generate millions of points of data indicating preferences and taste. Marketing firms used to try to collect these points through focus groups. Now, there is meta-data and the IoT is feeding that growing reservoir of meta-data every second. Watson and other programs like it will automatically crunch these numbers across our devices and deliver us helpful suggestions.
I would argue that in doing so, firms should strive to make such integration as seamless and with as light a touch as possible. The reason being that even though every consumer is ultimately just a unit generating millions of data points to be analyzed and marketed, doesn’t mean we enjoy being labeled as such.
Much as Netflix, to my great irritation, suggests new movies and shows based on my past watching habits, the Watsons of the world will helpfully suggest new products and data plans. It will also remind us when we are out of milk, or running low on gas, and if the Google Car or the Elon Musk fifth-generation Tesla ever gets off the ground, the IoT will drive the car to the gas station for us. I’m fully resigned to the idea of turning into a mass collection of data my wireless companies can package to numerous ad firms, or better yet continuously annoy with their internal cross-platform individually packaged ads.
I would, however, urge caution and encourage a rigorous amount of testing to ensure the product is as unobtrusive as possible. In my personal experience, being told by an irritating machine that I might like something usually elicits the opposite reaction. I may just be a data-generating unit to the algorithm, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy being treated as such. Like most people, I’m more inclined to respond positively to something that makes me feel unique and special. After all, I believe most of us like to think of ourselves as unique individuals with a broad range of tastes. Being told by a machine that we are a predetermined demographic with a predictable pattern of behavior, makes me feel like one of those mice you see trying to navigate a maze in the vain hope of finding the fabled cheese.
AT&T, Verizon, IBM and others should continue to pursue research into their cross-platform IoT systems, but they would be remiss if they didn’t remember the basic rule of marketing. It’s easier to sell to someone who is unaware they are being sold to. The future voyeuristic programs that will inhabit the coming IoT should have as light a footprint as possible.
Jeff Hawn was born in 1991 and represents the “millennial generation,” the people who have spent their entire lives wired and wireless. His adult life has revolved around cellphones, the Internet, video chat and Google. Hawn has a degree in international relations from American University, and has lived and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Russia. He represents the most valuable, but most discerning, market for wireless companies: the people who have never lived without their products, but are fickle and flighty in their loyalty to one company or product. He’ll be sharing his views – and to a certain extent the views of his generation – with RCR Wireless News readers, hoping to bridge the generational divide and let the decision makers know what’s on the mind of this demographic.
