New colors of old technology

Think back to the (dot) com boom. Technology was changing in drastic ways, new ideas, new platforms and innovative applications. Think back even further to the launch of the web when connecting millions of devices to a single over arching platform was still incipient. Long ago was the last time we as consumers have seen something as game changing as the Internet introduced. All too often the new gadget, technology or innovative "must have" is simply a reincarnation of an already existing device or function of technology branded to appeal. In a sense, the design and application for existing technologies is what drives a large majority of consumer based products.

The idea of technology innovation slowing may seem ridiculous, and while in some industries that may be true, such as in healthcare, biotechnology for instance which is making epic progress.
However, in the consumer world while focusing on the (265 Billion dollars) per year spent on technology gadgets, wireless devices etc. I find it more and more difficult to abdicate a "wow" when I see a new product, gadget or wireless device coming out. In fact, over the past few years, even though more and more are being sold, profits are up and the market continues to grow, I feel as though we are trending backwards from where we were pre 2005. While I could spend hours writing out comparisons, let’s look at a few of the larger companies and where they were and are now.

Of course, with all the hype around the (iPad), you already knew I would have to mention Apple. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think what Apple did with the iPhone was fantastic. They opened up the world of multi touch, App Stores and media all within a mobile device. However, that was probably the largest advance in the consumer market for wireless devices in many years. Of course, after the iPhone came replications for Windows, RIM, Palm and now, Android. This is a prime example of altering the design a top the same technology and branding to appeal I mentioned earlier. The iPad in all aspects is a large iPhone. It is an iPhone that Apple said, “how do we make the iPhone to appeal to a different group, the baby boomers”? As a young guy myself, I have personally seen my parents, who are in the 45-55 age group go crazy when they learned about the iPad, for the simple reason that the screen on the iPhone is too small for them to really do any web browsing. Here we have the same technology, the same platform, made larger with a different design but same capabilities.

This example ties directly in to my next topic, wireless devices. While mobile phones have become the most typical device in everyone’s pocket, it was not that long ago that the brick sized, 6” pull out antenna phones were first introduced. That is our “Internet” scale introduction; it was at that point the designs would drive the market forward. From the candy bar to the flip to the slider and touch screen. Simple device design changes paired with minor alterations in the network operations and applications have driven a consumer market that makes up more than half of that large figure mentioned earlier, each year.

Now that manufacturers have all but exhausted the different ways to package the inner workings of mobile device it is time to explore the user design. How we interact with the phone, how we as consumers manipulate the same applications on the same technology in a more intuitive fashion. Touch screens have become more colorful and robust. Navigation has become nothing more than an extension of our appendages. Intuitive interactions is now what drives this commodity and it is the operating system with more speed, quicker touch controls and higher resolutions that wins our business. It is the phone that has more applications available in an app store, the device that has more customization capabilities and gives the consumer that sense of “my device” that wins the market. Yet, with all these “changes”, all these factors, how much of this is really about the technology itself? Anymore you can find a laptop, a PC, a gadget or device that is comparable to the next. So what is the real selling point? It is the personal association to the device itself. iPods in different shapes and colors, laptops with skins and gadgets which are sleek and sexy. All with the same inner workings as the next, but designs that reflect us as consumers in a way that we can associate our personalities to, but when will it be about the technology? When will we as consumers once again be amazed at capabilities versus the aesthetics and fabricated branding of the next big thing? I anxiously await the arrival of something new, something never before seen, a device that truly explores and intimidates innovation amongst rivals. While I myself will continue to welcome the new colors of technology, the new designs of old gadgets and will be a part of the consumers across the globe for the next “must have” device. I only hope, one day, innovation lives again in the consumer technology world.