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
It was only 11-years ago that Steve Jobs took the stage and held in his hand the future. It was an iPhone.
Most research today indicates that since the introduction of the smart speaker, the device that’s getting a little less use is the smartphone. I would concur that is the case in my home as well. Our 3 Amazon Echoes are the way we access at home radio listening, get flash briefs, find out the time and latest weather forecast.
What the smart speaker and the smartphone have in common, are both devices give the user what they want, when they want it. On Demand is the real game changer of the 21st Century communications world.
It’s only been about two months and Alexa has changed the way I interface with my devices.
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