• by August 23, 2001

I thought I would touch on a few of the more popular examples often used to describe "post-PC" platforms such as PDA's, wireless and iTV:

1. No matter were I am, I can use my PDA to trade stocks on eTrade, buy a book on Amazon or check my latest bid on eBay. 2. I'm walking past Starbucks and my cell phone beeps alerting me to 25c off a Latte. 3. I'm watching Friends and I am informed that I have the immediate option to purchase Jennifer Aniston's sweater.

Why is it that in order to sell something so new and even revolutionary, we resort to examples that demonstrate that the people powering the development of these platforms are really not in touch with their target audience and their needs?

Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) are in essence an electronic version of a Filofax. Besides being able to sort and filter names and numbers, the unique benefit is actually continuity - never needing to retype or revive your Rolodex again as your data is synchronized and backed up forever. Your numbers stay with you for the rest of your life.

Don't get me wrong. The rest is cool. Dope wars. Downloadable Subway maps. Avantgo. Vindigo. But these represent the periphery, not the core. Think about it - take out the Filofax functionality, but keep in the modem. The result is very different.

Unless we spend the bulk of our daily lives on the road, such as in typical sales or consulting roles, the "wireless warrior" scenario seems to be one in which we do a good job talking to and convincing ourselves how important we are.

Personally, I don't need to trade stocks on the road (mainly because I have no money left to invest). I don't need to purchase books on the road (I'd rather spend my time on the road reading). I don't need to check the real-time status of my latest auction from the road (as exciting as this seems, I'll wait for another Playstation II to become available at the price I want).

Sidebar: I recently purchased the new Palm m505, which comes with a color screen and expansion bay. To me, the killer app wasn't the ability to further transform my PDA into a PC; it was the ability to view pictures of my baby. Simple is better.

Segue to another mobile panacea, the wireless Web:

If I ever do walk past a Starbucks and am offered $.25 off a latte via my cell phone, it'll either be the last time I frequent Starbucks or the last time I use my wireless provider... or both!

GPS-powered wireless communication may sound like a dream come true. In fact it is, to a MARKETER! To a consumer, it sounds like the realization of a worst nightmare. Imagine that! Advertising that follows you around! Ironically enough, the Starbucks example is possibly the worst one to use. Its brand is resilient and differentiated to the point where it does NOT need to lure people off the street on a whim and a coupon.

Then there's the iTV example. Two words: Passive Interactivity. When I watch TV, I lean back and sit far away from the screen (as opposed to the Web, which is an interactive experience: leaning forward, positioned close to the screen). I don't want to concentrate when I'm watching my favorite programs. I want to relax. I want to be entertained. If I really wanted the scoop on the latest Friendly fashions, I'd take a walk to my nearest Gap or visit Gap.com.

Commercials are different. Because passive interactivity is still better than zero interactivity, iTV does promise to inject a new lease on life into television advertising (TIVO is a four-letter word to traditional media folk), through the ability to reward a more empowered consumer (largely thanks to the Internet) with a contextually relevant and actionable message.

We've seen so much hope and at the same time, so much hype regarding the post-PC era of PDA's, wireless and iTV. All three were heralded as the inevitable replacements to the defunct PC. But at the writing of this article, these "post-PC platform" promises have been largely unrealized. Perhaps if we stopped comparing them to the PC, we might get a little further? Just a thought.

All three platforms have their own special place and serve a distinct purpose. Provided they stay true to what it is that makes them unique and do not lose focus in what it is that makes them different, they will all evolve to live up to the (failed) promises that introduced them to us not so long ago.

- Joseph Jaffe is Director of Interactive Media at TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York. His primary focus is to highlight interactive's value and benefit to meeting his clients' business and branding objectives.