The End Of Search?

A version of the end of Search is what Google’s Amit Singhal presented at Google I/O. And, while the implications can certainly scare or annoy many, there are just as many that are excited about its implications. But, there are considerably fewer who can begin to fully comprehend the possibilities. Of those few, I can bet most are within Google’s walls.  As I have already gotten into a debate about this with some friends, the only end of search in sight is just the form of the verb we choose to assign to the act of search.

Courtesy of Google/IBTimes

I’m excited about the possibilities presented in Google’s plans to remove the verb.  What I mean is this: we now think of search as going to google.com and entering a question or query. Upon entering that, the results are given and we react from that.  What Google presents for their (and subsequently our) future is the action of presenting items that might be of interest due to the knowledge graph of our actions.  While Facebook made waves with the Social Graph, Google jumps further with the Knowledge Graph.

As we continue to move toward those simple and “free” products that help find, share and purchase, Google is gathering that much more data so that they can dynamically provide information they think we want on an individual basis. That predictive presentation of content is what is both exciting and scary. While I can see the things that are relevant on a Google map or Chrome or some other Google product, the mere fact that it knows so much about me is cause for concern.

But, as written in this blog before, we’re collectively moving past the concerns of privacy and on to the embrace of simplicity of information. By best utilizing the available data (that is growing exponentially by the day) there are so many permutations and executions we can only dream of.  It is possibly the truest form of crowd-sourcing to determine our next steps in most everything we do.  With the right applications and products, automation of mundane actions and events would lead to higher productivity and expanded experiences – if we want that.

This all leads us back to the end of search as we know it.  If things pop up based on predictions that we might like or be interested in something without our action of looking for it, is that a search?  If I am walking from the office to the coffee shop and see a cool object in a store that causes me to walk in the store, does that constitute a search for that object in that store?

I feel that the coincidental discovery of a product while doing something else is not a search – something a good friend of mine disagrees with. But, based on my theory, if systems are going to get smarter based on the massive data it receives and start presenting options and items that make sense as my possible next query, without the action of my thinking to ask the question, does that not mean we have reached the end of search?

Privacy Irrelevance?

Another season and another Digital Hollywood ended yesterday and is officially in the books. While there were a couple of recurring themes – social, Netflix, Big Data, social and social – one of the larger “Eureka” moments was the clarity on the idea that debates on privacy and social or browsing are somewhat irrelevant. It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that conversation will come to Privacy when discussing Big Data and the growing opportunity to gain insights from the many bits of data collected on every one of us.  One stat bandied about was that most adults already have amassed 2-3 Terra-bytes of data and will continue to drive 1TB for every year forward.  When you think about that on its own – along with the omnipresence of tracking-enabled products from entities such as Google, Microsoft and others – there is more than enough reason for people to have a growing concern. But, when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it, those concerns of relevant to the invasion of personal privacy might not be what they seem.

There are a few elements to consider when determining how concerned we should be about Privacy:
- The make-up of the data packs,
- The proper use of that data,
- User Differences by Generation,
- and what should be done to protect ourselves.

Before getting into details, the company line across the board is that security of data is of the utmost importance. But, as we’ve seen, that accounts for little to those who really want to breach security – just ask the US Veteran’s Administration, credit card providers and, just last week, Living Social (whose data was breached to the tune of 50K users’ information.) In all of these examples, None of these examples are tied specifically to social activity, or browsing history, or targeted advertising. When the politicians or privacy experts start railing against privacy in big data for use in targeted media, remember that.

The Data Packs

Those TB of data per person mentioned above is a LOT to parse through on an individual basis. It’s effectively counterproductive to draw up pictures of individuals for targeted media as it’s too much work to get to the numbers you need for an effective campaign. In the case of Big Data, the data packs need to be broader in order to be effective. Could some government look to use the specific data for nefarious or “1984-ian” means? Sure.  But remember, credit card companies have effectively had more telling data on us over the past  40 years.

The Proper Use of Data

When you poll most people about their use of the web and mobile, the majority will say they are sick of ads that have no relevance to them.  As those data packs come into play for more targeted media plans, people will receive content and advertising that is more aligned with their interests.  As long as that placement is not uncomfortable or “Big Brother” like, most people will find those well targeted pieces beneficial and the content distributors/advertisers will appreciate their optimized impressions.

Generational Differences

The general perception of the older generation about the younger one is that of disbelief about what people are sharing about themselves. A simplified perspective on the difference in generations is found when looking at mobile; the Brick phone (Motorola DynaTAC 8000X) was introduced 30 years ago and mobile phones that were cheap enough and small enough to sort-of fit in pockets were introduced 20 years ago. Those who are in college or just graduating high school have never been bound to their homes in order to communicate with others who were far away. That difference is just one of many leading to a completely different consideration of privacy.  In fact, ever since any one of us got our first mobile phone (or credit card, for that matter), we should have been concerned about privacy for that matter.

Which brings us to the second part of this element and leads to the next one. What do we care to share and what don’t we?  The beauty is that each platform provides the choice of participation and security settings. The sad part is that some make it harder to refine security settings than others. It comes down to personal consideration of how much benefit one can derive from the information they are sharing. And, looking into the future, everyone needs to consider what they can stand to have on on the internet in perpetuity.

Many older generations question youth (Millennials) and what they share, but shortchange youth on their social intelligence and savvy. As these mediums are ones that they’ve never lived without, they intrinsically have a better beat on how to get around things.  That could be in the platforms they use. Or, the act of children leaving their mobile phones at a friend’s house during a “sleepover” while they head out to have fun. Or, self censoring what they share and how they share it.  In all cases, young and old, we can’t really control who we share it with. Leading us to…

Protecting Ourselves

Just as we wouldn’t step into the street without looking both ways, we shouldn’t be interacting via digital platforms without recognizing where we’re going.  And, just as we can’t decide not to cross the street just to alleviate risk, we can’t disconnect from all devices and still hope to remain connected and vibrant.

Marketplace Tech from American Public Media ran a segment this morning that illustrated exactly what we can learn from the younger generation (listen to the audio as it is not in the text.) While most of Jeremy Hobson’s interview with New Jersey high school students focus on the platforms they use and why, they do end with suggestions for “their parents.” Those suggestions convey exactly how this younger generation understands exactly what the long-term effects of sharing and data are.

That request is that parents need to consider what images they post of their kids as there could be nothing more mortifying than seeing images of yourself as a child on a beach popping up when you are 17.

In the end, the concerns about privacy in the era of Big Data are effectively moot as that ship has already sailed. As systems and algorithms are refined, people (or users) will find content served up to them where they will consider seeing irrelevant content to be as annoying as being tied to the home phone or digging around for coins to feed the payphone.

All through time, the conveyance of personal information has been a personal decision.  Those who want to be more secretive work hard to do so.  Those who don’t care, don’t. The only thing that has really changed might be what people consider to be truly personal information and how that information is used.

In the past, we didn’t have the bandwidth to parse that information to target at scale. Now we do.  There are certain sensitivities we have to be conscious of, but as the interview with the high school students shows, those concerns about data privacy are becoming less and less relevant.

When World Mobile Congress Drops The Gavel, Scarlet Strategic Is There

Though I don’t believe the Mobile World Congress actually drops the gavel, when it does “fall” next week in Barcelona, Scarlet Strategic/Scarlet Terrier Productions will be there. Continuing with the success from CES, the Mall Wall and Cloud-Connected Table that is presented as part of the ngConnect program will be shown in Alcatel-Lucent’s booth. Even in the short time since CES 2013, the systems have been strengthened even further and truly showcase how connectivity can add another dimension to interactivity and digital signage.

From the 25th through the 28th of February, these products can be seen in Hall 3, booth 114. If you can’t make it to Barcelona, you can get a very basic sense of the Mall Wall and Cloud-Connected Table by clicking on either – certainly not the same as being there, but…

With the double offering of better connectivity in public spaces and heightened interactivity with content via NFC, these products are perfectly positioned for generating even more interest on the Mobile World Congress floors.

Automakers Raise The Platform Of Inspiration

Ahhh, Automakers.  I see you did get that email.  You know? The one where it is agreed that the focus in this first quarter of the year should be on inspiration in the commercials. Honda set things off right with the Civic commercial showcasing new innovations and emoting the feeling that things can always be better. Then, during the Super Bowl, we were treated to extremely long spots focusing more on the members of the military and cowboys than on the Jeep and Dodge trucks they were marketing. The fact that many count the Dodge commercial as their favorite says something – but what that is, we don’t yet know. It seems we’ve reached a trend where inspiration becomes the platform for awareness and connection with cars – and association is almost as strong as what’s under the hood.

For those who remember Paul Harvey and loved listening to his radio broadcasts, the subject of his talk could have been about toothpicks and he would have made it inspirational. Play him talking about God making a farmer over beautiful images, and there might not have been a better connecting inspirational moment for its intended audience. The fact that it was effectively a two-minute slide show with voice over takes it to another level with its simplicity amid the pandemonium of the big bowl game.

Going directly for the heart-strings, Jeep clocked in at 120 seconds with Oprah guiding us through our wait for our armed forces to return home. And, there were a couple of compulsory shots of the actual car they are selling. It seemed the seed was planted by Chrysler’s spot in last year’s super bowl stating that Detroit (and America) was back.

Other than the Millions of views those two longform spots have received on YouTube in the two days since the Super Bowl, it remains to be seen what will be done to build on them.  But the onslaught of inspiration has been taken to the next level by Honda and its Civic model.

Tying into every big social media platform, Honda is leveraging its inspiration into a content play surrounding innovation.  The social media program is called the #HondaInnovator Series and it sets off to provide more information about the innovators in its spot.  With a slew of programming across Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube to distribute content and enable interaction, they’re hoping to also generate buzz around the 2013 Honda Civic.

Though it’s not clear how many people will show up for the hour-long Tweet chats with the innovators featured in the spots, Honda will end up with a bunch of content that indirectly touches on their product. To a certain extent, the sky is the limit on where they could take this new-found content stream. Though I don’t believe its the same, it feels sort of like the moment that ESPN decided to create the X Games – but that had sports at is core. Maybe a better example was when MTV decided to air a reality TV show about kids living together – perhaps they all liked music.

Regardless, the opening up of a single commercial concept to create more content and enable more touch points with consumers is a strong one.  Honda’s tie to innovation is as strong – if not stronger – to its product than Jeep’s tie to our military and veterans or Dodge to God, cowboys and Paul Harvey. Let’s now take a moment to reflect on the proliferation of content converting to market share…

CES 2013 Show Recap and Technology Tidbits

Another CES has come and gone. And, much like in the past, there’s some cool things that you can’t wait to see hit the market.  There’s also some things you don’t want to see hit the market.  There were a number of “wow” factors as well as some “scratch your head in wonder” factors.  Some may never see the light of day and some are already there.  One of the most interesting elements was the tracking of progression from one year to the next – both in the show itself and the technologies it showcases. The show itself is now covering even more square footage.  So, with the feet showing more wear and tear, what follows is a collection of thoughts and tidbits.

Microsoft’s Huge Cost Savings
Before getting into what was actually on the floor, there was a lot of press was devoted to Microsoft’s pulling out of CES – no booth and no keynote. Kudos to them on still making a huge Keynote splash by crashing Qualcomm’s Keynote with Steve Ballmer walking on stage and presenting Windows Mobile 8. Who knows how much they saved in sponsorship fees, Keynote production costs and the actual cost of the booth.

Starting At Innovation

In years past, I’ve made it a habit to start the show at the main hall, but switched it up this year and began at the Innovation Hall in the Venetian.  What used to be a showcase of the Innovation “Best In Shows” on the convention center’s main lobby floor has expanded – even if it’s not so close to the main floor.  The great thing about the Innovation Hall is that it provides a quick overview of what’s new and cool.  You can’t interact with most of the things, but it easily provides the opportunity to determine what booths you don’t want to miss on the exhibition floors.

What has made it even more interesting is the grouping of small, up and coming companies in the hall around the “Best of” displays.  These are the budding companies who may have a cool idea but don’t really have the strongest marketing and certainly don’t have the market share (yet) to be on the main floor. There are probably more misses than hits, but its always fun to find the hidden jewels.

Future Home – Whirlpool

Though not a start-up by any means, Whirlpool used this space to show off possible future tech.  In the image above, they considered this to be a futuristic fireplace – where people could sit around a table with weird lighting from the table and above and have the food kept warm by the lighting. My takeaway was that it could work on the Gallactica or in Buck Rogers, but it will be interesting to see if this becomes a common feature in the next 20 years…

3D Printing

While there was only one 3D printer in this hall last year, the ones presented this year made last year’s seem like it was from the stone ages.  The precision printing of objects directly from digital files is very cool to see in person.  In the top image, you can even see a guitar made from a 3D printer.  While still somewhat rudimentary, you can really see some true future benefits from the development of this technology.

Autos and Accessories

Moving on to the Convention Center, we restrained ourselves from going into the Main Hall and went into the North Hall instead – where mobile accessories and Auto products reign. After a while in this hall (and the entire show for that matter) you feel like you never want to see an accessory again.

One thing that I found funny in the accessories was this product from Pure Gear that adds an analog game to the iPhone.  Made me laugh because you would assume there’s an app for that.  Perhaps they figured they’d pass on the charging cover and just provide something to do for when your battery dies out.

Audi has been on the floor in this hall for a few years and their booths are quite spectacular. With Lexus joining the fray and promoting their future self-driving car, they provided some communication competition for Audi, but the Germans still mastered booth mystique.  Even with the lack of clarity in terms of what Audi was selling, their booth was hands down the winner.

Lexus

Audi

And, just in case you were wondering about the safety of texting and driving in Los Angeles – or anywhere for that matter – consider the computing power found within the newest LAPD cars…

Connectivity

On the upper floor of the South Hall, the heavy hitters were all about connectivity and processing.  Verizon was showing off every use of mobile under the sun, Qualcomm was highlighting everything that uses their chips/processors (plus providing their usual coffee stand) and Alcatel Lucent was demoing all the ngConnect stuff.  The connected displays we worked on were well received by numerous entities coming through – from Telcos salivating over the opportunity for transactional revenue to mall and other large-scale public venue corporations excitedly discovering how their locations can be reinvigorated through dynamic, connected signage.

There was a bunch of other stuff to see on the floor that was interesting for about a minute and then you moved on.

Sadly, I didn’t get much time on the bottom floor of the South Hall, but I did see a few things of interest.  The first was a robot window cleaner to complete your collection of the Rhoomba and the Mint.  I wish I could find more, but the company member who was there wasn’t too open with information.  One thing of note about that lower hall was that there was much more breathing room. There was an opportunity to have some fun with your booth design – which one company selling bluetooth enabled outdoor active speakers did.

The Main Event – Main Floor

This year, I entered the main hall in a way that I hadn’t before.  In addition to not being the first hall I entered, I only spent a short period in there on the first day and then didn’t go back in until the middle of the second day.

When we first went in, we just went into the LG booth because it has the best entrance – with the huge 3D wall.  This year, what really caught my eye (and was my most memorable technology from the show)was the Ultra HD 84″ screen that was just beyond the wall.

Obviously, it can’t be seen here, but what makes it spectacular is the fact that LG has seemingly mastered 3D over the past year.  Their glasses have always been great, but their 3D was only good for things coming out of the screen toward the viewer.  This monitor caught my eye because of the addition of a great depth-of-field.

Regardless of how blown away I was by the Ultra HD, I had to laugh when I got to a nearby screen for 3D gaming.  The screen looked great, but they highlighted the use of a mobile phone to control the gameplay. When I tried to play the game using it, I had to constantly look down at the controller – which wasn’t in 3D.  A cool concept, but with its flat screen, mobile devices as controllers just don’t make sense.

On the way out of the hall, I stopped at the Intel booth which seems to have literally blossomed without Microsoft being so close.  I sadly don’t have any images, but built an interactive Ultrabook display that looked like a tree.

The next day was the accidental discovery that was my favorite content of the show as well as led me to my favorite audio piece at the show – both of which were at the DTS booth.

My favorite content was the interview by Nic Harcourt with the engineer for most of the Beatles’ albums – Geoff Emerick.  Geoff’s frankness and stories from those days were fascinating in how they would create effects in an analog world that still hold their own in a digital one.

After the interview, we were able to sample a new DTS product called Headphone.X that effectively can turn any set of decent headphones into an 11.1 sound system.  Their demo did a great job showcasing this new technology.  But, as with many things shown at CES, it will take a while to even cycle the newer processors that can handle the technology into the market.  When I asked, I was told that Qualcomm is the only one providing a processor that can handle it – and then the audio still needs to be build in 11.1.  So who knows when we will actually be able to enjoy.

As for the rest of the main hall, it was even more about lights and action and overwhelming stuff.  The biggest players are Samsung, Sony and Panasonic.  Sony’s area was huge and provided a lot of room to walk around and see their version of the largest OLED.

Panasonic was throwing everything out there from screens to beauty products to a first-class cabin on Air Singapore.  They even had their own version of the largest OLED. Their booth was somewhat easy to move around, but the presentation was dry and I am still trying to figure out who would want the 20″ tablet they were showing off.

I will say this for Panasonic: they did a very good job of conveying how their technology makes it into people’s lives – both in the home and in business.  One example is their presentation of POS solutions through tablets. They drew people in with their organic menu and allowed the technology presentation to get people over their disappointment that there wasn’t actually healthy food available on the floor.

Finally, the booth that exemplifies all that is CES can be found in the middle of the main hall – Samsung.

Samsung has usually had the coolest things to show and have always generated the largest crowds.  Sadly, their booth design is an assault on the senses.  It is so overwhelming that you don’t know what to look at, where to go or why to care.  Taken in doses, the content is more palatable, but that controlled dose pattern is very hard to pull off.  Without a doubt, there were many great items that were missed due to the hubbub.

But, I guess in the end, that’s what CES is all about – and what drives people to come back – the exploration for that next great thing.