This week I sat in on the Fred Jacobs webinar “Mobile Strategy for Radio: What we learned from Techsurvey 2019” and the #1 take away was “voice (not just smart speakers) is the next important user interface at home and in the car.”
I wasn’t surprised.
The Lowest Common Denominator
Here’s where we can expect technology to be headed to accommodate the next billion users that will be joining the digital media party. The next internet addicted people are those living in the developing world, the ones that will be shaping the internet over the next five years or less. They will be impacting ALL internet and mobile users.
What are the characteristics of these folks?
- Literacy: lower levels of literacy will require different interfaces.
- Language: a greater variety of language needs will inspire new content formats.
- Technology: varying devices & connections will impact content format.
- Motivations: new wants, needs, and desires will inspire new products & services.
Most of today’s internet is text based, but as populations of lower literacy levels sign-on, that will change this. Voice commands, image search and video content will become more dominant in the near future.
Economies of Scale
Technology companies are already working to have all devices and interfaces operate the same way on a global basis. Everything will be designed to cater to the lowest common denominator because it makes fiscal sense. It’s already happening on Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.
Why Apple won’t ever put FM receivers into their iPhones.
FM, HD Radio, DAB and DAB+ are all different standards for broadcasting OTA radio signals and do not meet the test of a global standard.
The Next Internet Revolution is Coming
Look for the next billion to drive the next internet revolution in the areas of:
- Search: SEO will look very different for voice-centric search.
- Social: People’s social media interactions will be more video than text.
- Shopping: E-commerce orders will depend on spoken word.
- Addressing: URLs & Hyperlinks will move from text to image.
Convergence
Something I researched back when I was an undergrad, convergence, is coming to fruition in my lifetime. Every form of media will be delivered over the same pathway and received on the same type of device plus it will be on-demand and on our schedule, not the creator’s schedule.
Fred’s latest webinar shows that were deep into this transition.
If you’d like to take a Deep Dive into this subject, watch this Hootsuite webinar from 2018 HERE
DickTaylorBlog 
I’m sorry. F.M. has been around since the beginning of radio.
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That’s simply incorrect Jeremy.
AM commercial radio’s beginning is marked by the licensing of KDKA in 1920.
FM radio was licensed in 1940 and the first commercial FM radio station began broadcasting in Nashville, TN in 1941.
Radios didn’t start including the FM band with the AM band until the late 1950s and 1960s.
And before either of these types of radio, there was the spark-gap transmitter which used Morse Code.
A spark-gap transmitter is a device for generating radio frequency electromagnetic waves using a spark gap. These devices served as the transmitters for most wireless telegraphy systems for the first three decades of radio (1887–1916) and the first demonstrations of practical radio were carried out using them.
Thanks for stopping by the blog.
-DT
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I haven’t quite figured out what Jeremy’s attempted point is/was.
The automobile has been around for even longer than radio, yet no one is even attempting to imply we should stagnate at the hand crank open cockpit version of same. To do so would be … folly.
Additionally, FM didn’t really come into widespread commercial success until the 70’s (some of us were actually alive then – and even employed in broadcasting)
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Thank You Geary for sharing your thoughts.
-DT
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Interesting … the thing that concerns me the most is the ‘lower literacy’ – the ‘dumbing down of Americans’ – very scary … and a big part of why our country is in its current status
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I worry about that too Bob & Deb.
-DT
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