The future of software is in hardware and branded web applications
Uno as Future Studies, Ideas, Online, Products, Web2.0
Jul|31|2008
Taking a look at this presentation at TED:
Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web.
And it’s brilliant. Kevin Kelly orginally starts taking about something that most people call, or understand as, The Singularity. The Singularity is where all computers are connected in some way, and they work together and more importantly, they/it are/is smarter than all the humans put together.
One of the quotes: “By 2040 computer processing power will surpass the processing power of all the humans combined.”
Kelly mentions thinking of devices like your sneakers as “Chips with Heels” and cars as “Chips with Wheels”. I couldn’t agree more. The future of software, and specifically web software, is in tying the offline together with the online. It’s probably always been the case, but now even more so, as we’re finally moving into understanding how the potential.
Does anyone remember the Internet Fridge? Fantastic concept, but ridiculously expensive and it never really took off, most probably because there was never the concept of a web application for the actual fridge. I’d want to be able to “zoom” into my fridge, see what I’m buying, how often I’m buying it and what I’m wasting. Should I buy less cheese (because I’m not eating everything before the expiry date)? How long has that piece of chicken been sitting in the back there? Although I like the idea of mustard, am I actually using it?
A fridge that ties in with a web application and that can pick up on your consumption habits and deduce trends is much more exciting than one that just scans the barcode and orders new stuff for you (even if that is kinda sexy).
Nike is doing something similar now with Nike Plus+. It’s the “Chip with Heels” and it’s already here. How about uploading your recent trip into the Kalahari to a site where you can share that, and download other trips? If you were looking for an add on to your Jeep social network then there’s your idea.
In the next couple of years/months we’ll start seeing more apps that add value to users, advertising will move to the sideline and branded web applications will move to the fore.
The Singularity of constantly connected apps won’t come from a single source or actor, but consumers will start to want to be able to share their data on multiple sites. That will mean more open API’s and more need for interoperability. Right at the end Kelly touches on Data Portability when he says you’ll be able to sign in/up to sites without having to put your data in… again. That’s what Facebook Connect is taking mainstream now and what OpenID has been trying to do for the past couple of years.
One Response
CraniumJack
19|Sep|2008ha. brilliant post! i’ve always marveled at the singularity concept but more from a i-dont-entirely-get-it-but-it-sounds-earth-shattering-so-i-should-pay-more-attention kind of approach. the internet fridge reminds me of the brilliant internet toaster device from some university backroom in the states. the connected toaster would pop up your morning toast with the local weather burnt in one one side … ‘oh! it’s 23 degrees today with some cloud .. please pass the marmalade.’ as for the fridge, i figured to stay ahead of the design curve i would already prep my team for ‘Fridge Resolution’…. “Hey! you’re designing for a fridge … whats the 1024 X 768 shiat you putting out?”
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