Comments on: Bothered 2.0! By Tony Fish

By: PaulSweeney

PaulSweeney — Wed, 30 May 2007 17:23:46 +0000

Tony, I think that the horizontal platform’s as you have outlined are as safe to assume as you say. If two companies have equal access to platforms, and one platform is largely similar to the next (i.e. SMS, GPS, Payment), then where does the opportunity for differentiation lie? I think the technical term for this is “Structural Equivalence”. Perhaps the opportunity is fairly straightforward for the horizontal platform plays, but not for the Vertical plays that have no specialised assets.

By: tony fish

tony fish — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:58:23 +0000

Paul
Is it safe to assume that horizontal is a ‘platform’ (eg payment, location, SMS, GPS) and a vertical is a service category (parking, eating, entertainment)
I would like to understand how a ‘platforms’ will interact and be able to know what I want to do before I do it, ie find me that parking space…. as if freedom is a right to choose, does control over the digital footprint remove choice and remove my freedom, rather than deliver a service?
I think the question is therefore about how long should anyone be able to keep data on us, which enters the holy realms of privacy.

By: tobto

tobto — Tue, 29 May 2007 16:21:49 +0000

Thats correct. With our Digital Footprint absorbed around we shall lose freedom to resist to the personalized ‘happiness’.

By: Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:45:20 +0000

Tony, that’s a fair comment. Given GPS, and service categories such as lifestreaming (www.jaiku.com), and placesteaming (www.plazes.com)I am sure that their will be “pro-active communications” and “pro-active co-ordination” opportunities. But I believe that the competitive advantage will come from the ability to generate, share, and act on better quality data, and with finer grained data. If I want to be alerted as to the “availability of a parking space near me”, I want it to be the nearest space, at the best price, in a safe location. As in search, Vertical, Vertical, Vertical might well be the mantra here. I would be interested to hear your throughs on Taking A Vertical, as opposed to Taking A Horizontal Process.

By: tony fish

tony fish — Sun, 20 May 2007 18:02:59 +0000

Paul
thanks for the comment. I am not convinced that every interaction on a mobile device will start with ‘search, find or discover’. If I understands Ajit’s views and insights on Widgets/ Gadgets etc, it is possible that applications will already be live on the mobile device, removing the necessity of search as the route in and the search engines ability to get primary data. Interested in your further thoughts

By: Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney — Fri, 18 May 2007 18:50:33 +0000

Tony, I think pretty much everyone understands that mobile is a major opportunity. And you are absolutely correct to point out the “data inside” as the strategic asset. But if the “process” begins with search, then Google/Yahoo are going to have a massive advantage. Sure they might get there via a combo of organic growth and acquisition, but I would point some attention towards Bloglines/Google Reader, Technorati/Google blogsearch. Should you care? maybe you don’t have a real choice.