In one article or trend report after another, two reasons are often used to explain why consumers might be slow to accept, and ultimately adopt, 2D barcode technology. The first reason has to do with the fact that there is no universal 2D barcode reader app, and the second reason has to do with the fact that a 2D barcode reader app must be downloaded in order for a code to be scanned. Here's why neither of these reasons hold much water (in my opinion).
First, in a recent study by The Neilsen Company, Apple iOS users had an average of 48 apps on their mobile device and Android users had an average of 35 apps on their mobile device. Of the 48 and 35 apps, respectively, I would wager that consumers have more than one app for news, more than one app for finance, more than one app for games, more than one app for social networking, more than one app for entertainment, travel, dining, etc., etc., so, why should it matter that there is no one (i.e., universal) 2D barcode reader app? To scan the... Read more
Archive for May, 2011
The Death of Media Channel Loyalty: What the New Pew Data Shows Us
Over the holiday weekend the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project released data showing that 24% of internet users have placed calls online, up from 8% of internet users in 2007
The precise wording of the question was:
“Please tell me if you ever use the internet to make a phone call online, using a service such as Skype or Vonage? Did you happen to do this yesterday, or not?” This was the first time that we asked the question and specifically referred to Skype, the popular global service that was recently purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion.
Unclear from the press release was whether or not the researchers at Pew indicated that triple play TV/Internet/Phone service from Cable/MSO companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable also count as "making phone calls online," and if they did not then the number could spike higher than 24%.
This report is in keeping with a bunch of other recent findings about folks abandoning legacy land lines in favor of mobile-only, the ongoing debate about whether "cord cutting" in favor of IPTV services is a present or future danger to MSOs, and a general trend toward what my friend Shelly Palmer calls "WIW WIW WIW"... Read more
Google wallet is more than just payments
The mobile movement is in full swing. You know it, I know it, and Google knows it. I'll revisit later and explain why the latter has tremendous implications to the future of mobile, but let's take a moment to see just how far we’ve come. Recent Gartner research reveals that over 428 Million mobile communication devices were sold worldwide in Q1 alone. Gartner also reveals total spend on mobile advertising will reach $3.3 Billion in 2011, and grow to over $20.6 Billion by 2015. So yeah, the topic of mobile is pretty hot right now.
Which brings me to Google, and why their recent announcement to take the mobile payment industry by storm has greater implications than just payments. Using near field communication technology (NFC), Google plans to integrate and enable all devices running the Android OS to be capable of transmitting payments and obtaining loyalty coupon information. Sounds cool right? Sure. But in reality, the tech to do this has been out for years. NFC technology is already prevalent across many Asian, European, and South American countries. So why is this big news, and why did it take so long to introduce NFC to North American markets? To answer that,... Read more
