• by Lasse Lindstrom , March 12, 2016

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- I was flying to Austin from London and had plenty of time to think about what to expect when arriving at the SXSW Interactive Festival. It’s my first time at the festival, or even in the U.S., so I’m really open about all the new experiences I’ll get to be a part of. I had on-flight Wi-Fi, so I was able to learn a lot about what’s happening in the next few days in Austin. The fact that I was able to be online throughout my flight made it really pleasant, and I actually do not mind the long overhauls anymore.

Technology is invented to do things so that man doesn’t have to. It’s all about making our lives easier. Think about it: If you take photos, would you be bothered to physically take the memory card from your camera and have the pictures made? Would you even use a camera for that? Most likely not, because the companies who produce film or photos have become specialist service providers. Smartphone manufacturers want to have the latest technology features to support native application and software provides.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is turning pretty much everything into a smart interface. You can control these to help make your life easier (i.e., smart refrigerator). Or they are automated to send information about you to another application, which can then perform actions based on rules (i.e., running apps).

Technology itself is great, but it starts creating value when it’s connected to something else. So I think connectivity is what will drive and shape all major innovations moving forward. The devices are getting smaller, connection speed is faster, and data charges cost less. The next big thing is most likely packaging info and data in such a small space that it’s fast to send using, for example, just your smart bracelet.

The rise of ad blockers in online advertising started from media publishers, who stated they have too much heavy external content on a page, resulting in poor load speed. Some applications work using just local networks or store data and then share it when a connection is available. This way, the speed to content or service is a lot faster. What if the entire Internet could be packaged and stored in your local device memory cache and you could browse everything even offline?

Having connection is key, but the applications and services need to work fast to offer a nice user experience. Even the smallest glitch could ruin the moment – even if, while working, the experience would far exceed your expectations.