From: Gregory Alan Bolcer (gbolcer@endtech.com)
Date: Wed May 24 2000 - 08:51:20 PDT
Why don't Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson just
stick a Magi server on their smart phones?
M-commerce standards....hoo, hah.
Greg
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By Steve Harmon
CEO
2000.05.23: M-Commerce? Welcome To Location-Based Commerce (LBC)
The new buzz word for venture investors is 'm-commerce.' Mobile commerce.
The notion is that your cell phone will be your portable Web device.
But the fact that you're moving around using a Web device isn't the value
proposition in our view.
Al Pacino says it best 'hoo haa.'
Welcome to what we have dubbed 'Location-Based Commerce' (LBC)
In other words, commerce opportunties present themselves all the time but
we have no way of being notified as we navigate through a city, town or
province. Random billboards are it.
Nothing in communication matching mover with shaker.
Think of trying to find a restaurant on a business trip but not knowing
where, not sure of the menu or specials and getting a phone call from the
restaurant that displays its exact coordinates and reserves a table for you.
Or your cell phone storing your personal interests and notifying you of
things to do and see on vacation.
But rather than think of this as simply mobile commerce, we think a clearer
way of thinking about the cell phone as portable Web device may be as a
"relevant Web device."
Context. Location-based Web. In contrast to the stationery Web device, the PC.
In other words, cell commerce knows where you are, knows enough about you
to fish for things you're interested in, and brings you commerce,
investments and other monetization events as needed.
Easier said than done. While a handful of Web startups ply the voice portal
game this is deeper, smarter, more relevant to users.
If you think about it, the PC lacks intuitiveness, context, interpretive
skills regarding each one of us. Most people accept it as 'advanced
technology' because there's not a lot else better. Yet.
The problem lies in using the PC metaphor to define information and
commerce flow.
Right now that approach may taint the few companies that take stabs at
mobile commerce. And locations globally have no connection in this future
Webscape. No identity on the network. No IP address.
How will the dry cleaner blip your cell phone while you walk past to remind
you that you left an old shirt there last week? The dry cleaner will need a
server on the wireless network to match customers with mobile IPs. Sort,
sift, schedule, record, forward, delete, store, negotiate, transact,
notify, remind, each one of its customers, vendors, suppliers?
Wireless giants Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson met recently to seek ways to
standardize mobile commerce protocols. Nothing definitive.
There are 500 million cell phones in use today, dwarfing Palm and
Handspring by orders of magnitude. Eventually we think the cell phone could
become the device of choice for not only mobile (relevant, contextual)
commerce but also as a electronic wallet of sorts, storing credit/debit
payment systems.
Location-based commerce.
Are you LBC ready?
Copyright(c) 2000
e-harmon.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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