The Next Big Thing Will Improve Communication
If we take a look at the way people communicated before technology became a prevalent part of our every day lives, it does not take much time to realize that it was a completely different world than it is today. Today, there are a multitude of ways to communicate with other people. Mobile technology is the current hot market and will (I’m betting as well as many others) be for years to come. Companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, HTC, and the list goes on, are all looking to build the ultimate mobile communication device.
Each of these new devices improves our ability to communicate with others. Whether it be due to better social integration, video calling, or various other features, we are now more connected to each other than ever before. We have access to the Internet, email, social networks, text messages, GPS, games, applications, and of course, a telephone right in the palm of our hands. It’s incredible. But what will be the next big thing?
The next big thing will be something which improves the way in which people communicate. If you look at all of the current big social startups (past and present) – MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. they all have one key component in common. They deal with communication. People are able to talk with others and express themselves. Other successful communication startups? Skype, GrandCentral (now Google Voice), UStream, are just a few.
We constantly see these startups which put together some kind of functionality that makes sharing better and easier or improves organization in someway. However, while they can potentially be somewhat successful, they are missing the key component of communication. Improving sharing is great. In fact, sharing is something that helped YouTube’s growth explode, but if it was just a place to find videos and then share them, it wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. The fact you were able to communicate with others on it by “broadcasting yourself” and then able to receive feedback was huge.
For example, look at the phone companies, for the longest time (and this is even true today to a large extent) provide a vital resource for communication which we cannot be without. Facebook is becoming dominate in the way we keep up and communicate with our friends both online and offline. VOIP services such as Skype have become huge communication platforms as well. Essentially what it boils down to at this point is how can communication improve? If you control a source which people rely on to communicate, you have something.
But what will it be? Well, I certainly haven’t thought of it yet, but if I do I’ll be sure to let you know. Could it be video calling? Maybe. Imagine FaceTime as the standard for video calling. Apple has something there. If they license the FaceTime technology to other companies, they can integrate it with their websites (e.g. Facebook Chat with video) and other mobile devices (e.g. Android phones). Apple would make a fortune off the licensing alone. It all remains to be seen, but remember, communication is the key.