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Tired of making trips to the bank to stuff legal documents in a safe deposit box? Now consumers can lock up their important documents online, thanks to electronic document archiving soon to be offered by banks.
Starbucks reported last week on its ambitious plan to provide free Wi-Fi at more than 7,000 company-owned locations across the nation beginning this spring. That means you can get your fill of a double-tall non-fat no-whip half-the-mocha mocha plus a serving of free broadband to boot.
I can’t think of any other product story quite like this. Can you? In just six short months, Apple has grown from a non-player in mobile to 2nd in the marketplace for smartphones. And that’s with limited availability.
I don’t have an iPhone (they are not available in our area), but I have its almost identical non-phone cousin, the iPod Touch. I can tell you that device delivers a brand experience that is refreshing in its form, simplicity, usability and usefulness. The difference between the iPhone and iPod Touch is a matter of feature/benefits. To me, what Apple is really selling here is a wonderful new interface to harness a crossroads of technologies, wants, and needs. The iPhone is like having a remote control for your digital life, and I am sure that is where Apple and the consumer will continue to prosper from this interface in the future.
Reports this week illustrate the yin and yang of the exploding arena of mobile payments: one study suggests that mobile payments will grow to $22 billion by 2011, thanks to technology which will turn your mobile device into a virtual ATM in your pocket; yet other reports cite significant security issues as banks scurry to protect data and dollars as more customers use mobile devices to make payments.
A recent article in the New York Times purported that as we acquire more knowledge, our creativity and our ability to innovate diminishes. The reason is the Curse of Knowledge: “The better we get at generating great ideas—new insights and novel solutions—in our field of expertise, the more unnatural it becomes for us to communicate those ideas clearly to others.” In addition, once someone acquires a certain amount of knowledge in a given area, the more difficult it becomes to see outside the box of the self-made constructs they’ve created to deepen their understanding.
It’s a powerful argument and it seems to be borne out if you look at many venture capitalists: they rarely invest in companies started by anyone past their 30s. VCs are looking for people with bold ideas that can be evangelized and clearly communicated to others. There’s more on this youth/knowledge/entrepreneurial thing here.