Vol 8 No. 29 (658), "More than 9,000 subscribers"
| |
|
|
|||||||
|
PikeNet
Dispatch, April 15, 2003 Vol 8 No. 29 (658), "More than 9,000 subscribers" |
||||||||
 |
||
| Subscriber: |
||
|
||
| Previous Dispatch / Next Dispatch | ||
| Do You Feel Like a Smart Bomb? | ||
 Is Your Brain
Too Full? ... "People have limited time, memory and
attention. So when they make buying decisions, they simplify their
choices." That's Virginia Postrel writing in the New York
Times (Jan 30, 2003). When consumers see 30 brands of toothpaste
or shampoo, they quickly reduce their selection to a "consideration
set" of alternatives -- brands they're most familiar with like,
say, Crest or Colgate.
You may remember the Dispatch Making a Presentation? Bring a Snake. (Jul 3, 2001) People learned long ago to avoid information overload to survive. So what are we to make of new technology designed to push yet more information directly to our grocery carts? (Business 2.0, What's Next? Apr 10, 2003) Cuesol makes a new tablet-like wireless computer that you snap onto your shopping cart. Swipe your discount card through this device, and you're set to go with infrared beacons locating your exact position as you roam the store. You'll see a map of the store and the items that you purchase most frequently. You'll receive new suggestions. You'll be alerted to nearby sales. Does this sound like progress? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sure that I want to feel like a geocoded smart bomb. Nobody would ever accuse me of being an avid shopper or even a competent shopper. My brain's on overload already. A live clerk at the right time would make the biggest difference to me. --Peter Pike |
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
| Peter Pike / PikeNet | Copyright © PikeNet
1996-2005 All Rights Reserved |
|
|
||
|
||