March 5, 2003
behavioral demographics
I was intrigued by the discussions of Microsoft's new 3° project, and in particular by Michael Gartenberg's observation that this software targets "a behavioral demographic not just an age demographic."I never thought of it that way. I used to think that if we create compelling experiences for people on the internet -- virtual places that give back more than people put into them, then this real-time online stuff would finally prove useful to the general population. Over time I've recognized that a lot of change needs to happen before any sufficiently new technology catches on. Email was around for decades, but it was the web which drove most people to hook up their PCs to the Internet.
Instant Messaging has emerged as the killer app in this category of connected applications. The buddy list and its expression of presence fundamentally changed the nature of chat. I find it interesting to think in terms of a behavioral demographic. If you don't spend much of your time sitting in front of a connected PC, then Instant Messaging certainly loses its appeal.
With my archaic Win2K system, I can’t try 3° myself, but I checked out the online feature tour. The musicmix reminded me of the Shockwave musicjam by SS7X7. I love this stuff. I don’t know why –- I just think it is fun. However, for me it is a rare experience, rather than regular activity. Will the easy creation of personal on-line spaces complete with “winks” and desktop icons popularize this kind of experience? I’m not sure. Maybe I’m not NetGen-enough, but I still believe we need to work on a more diverse set of compelling applications.
Is it just me, or does anyone else think that the MSN people icons look
like little ducks?
They look like yellow penguins :-)
3° looks like a lot of fun, but the user interface appears to dictate usage by offering very limited tools for the specific task of "hanging out". It's like the designers deliberately want to exclude the possibility of deriving any practical usage from this product. Would you ever get bored with simply hanging out though?
I think the coolest toys are the ones that give users the freedom to find their own uses for that toy. It's like the difference between model airplane kits and Lego blocks: dictated outcome versus infinite fun. A more compelling approach to 3° might include offering plugins for collaborative tools, allowing users to mix and match combinations of new tools in their environment.
Posted by: Samuel Wan at March 6, 2003 11:30 PMI think that the software will be there way before what is necessary. What is really necessary is the hardware and networks. There must be high speed wireless networks EVERYWHERE! And the cost must be fixed regarless of usage. I think that if the government really wanted to create an infrustracture for the future, this would be all that they would do. Create the Wide EVERYWHERE network. Right now I feel like a person in the rural areas way back when they started putting in telephones. But at least the gov. made the companies get access to everybody.
I have been in the Web industry for many many years now, but at my home I still cannot receive ANY sort of high speed network. Not cable, not ISDN, not DSL, not wireless, nothing.