Drinking Too Much Kool Aid

I am delighted to be in the San Diego area this week attending the Rutberg Wireless Influencers conference. Not only is the weather amazing, it has been a great way to feel the pulse of the wireless industry during a very interesting time in the consumer adoption curve for broadband data on mobile handsets. As the industry continues to predict the trends and possible winning technologies in the areas of location based services, mobile payments, mobile advertising and paid content, consumers are assumed to be ready and interested in each and every innovation that technology enables. 

Business models forecast unbounded adoption of smartphones within the next two years. Venture capitalists vote with their dollars and business development leaders consider that proof positive that they were correct about the next new thing simply because they've been funded. But where's the consumer in this discussion? The industry leaders must remember that while they may wish to influence consumer behavior, they can not prescribe it; consumers look for value and they need to simply understand the benefit they gain from changing to their existing behaviors or engaging in a new one.

Because over the years I have attended many conferences like this one in a variety of exotic locales and resorts without my husband and have been unable to convince him they weren't all boondoggles, this time I agreed to bring him along. He is not a technologist. He is a former COO who recently retired after the sale of his motion picture equipment rental business and lives comfortably amongst the laggards on the opposite end of the technology adoption curve than me. He reads every instruction manual, and doesn't know the difference between an email and a SMS message on his phone. "Aren't they all messages?" he'll lament. He's the guy that says "no", whenever his PC asks "Are you sure?" after he performs a deletion or submits a change. He's never sure.

Seeing the industry through his eyes, as he mingles at the receptions and social activities that supplement the conference experience, has been incredibly helpful. I know him to be a bright and capable leader, who has started business and worked in large companies. And yet he still doesn't purchase apps or pay for content or buy ringtones on his phone. His mobile device is not where he focuses his attention when he is bored. The perspective he offers me has been invaluable. Where I see possibilities, he has seen broken promises. Great intentions are not enough for him. He needs great execution. He needs an experience he can love. Which always reminds me...so do I.