Sometimes the assumptions made by
creators and marketers of products in the world of the Internet of Things can be a little off.
I’m reminded of a business exec I was speaking to some time ago who was complaining about
his company’s customers. They just weren’t seeming smart enough to buy this company’s products.
He wanted to get new customers, some that really got what he was providing. I
suggested he might consider what he was providing was not what customers wanted, which was the furthest thought from his mind. Anyway.
There are some connected products here and coming along
that will be looking for customers.
One of the most visible is the self-driving car, which requires that the person in the car essentially be the backup system to the car’s
technology.
While marketers may be awaiting that free time of a former driver to market to as the car zips along on its own, researchers are suggesting that humans have a tough time
continually monitoring systems that rarely fail.
The current state of autonomous vehicles is that automakers are looking for drivers to stay somewhat involved in the automated driving. Things
like taking control of the wheel when the technology encounters something it is not yet equipped to deal with.
There are other examples, such as household appliances that are starting to come
with smarts built in. Some of these will be landing in households that never got around to figuring how to change the clock on a VCR (video cassette recorder, just in case).
The
potential gap in the Internet of Things is still about selling vs. buying.
There is what a company plans to market and sell and then there is what consumers are looking to buy.
Though
a relatively large number, there are only so many customers. Many of them will give something only one shot.
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Samsung, UnderArmour, Microsoft and Philips Lighting presenting at the MediaPost IoT Marketing Forum Aug. 3 in New York. Check out the agenda here.