I have to admit that when I was first asked to attend CTIA on behalf of my company, the first thing that came to mind was “oh no, not another freaking trade show…I have better things to do with my time”. Well, while I could certainly point to portions of the show that made me long to go swimsuit shopping with my daughter again (see previous post), the majority of the show was quite insightful. Enjoyable, even.
I started sessions on Monday, one day before the official start, and participated in some great discussions on mobile marketing and promotion. Panelists discussed whether mobile apps would still be relevant, if mobile advertising would finally get its groove both here and across the world, and how and when major brands should make their push into mobile.
But perhaps the best discussion of the first day was around the whole “ecosystem” process, and it if really works. People went around and were asked to rate the performance of the ecosystem, with scores going anywhere from 5-8. About half way in the discussion, the statement about control of the user came up and how different parts of the ecosystem weren’t willing to relinquish control, rendering the system less than efficient. I challenged the panel on that, and asked a simple question: ”Why?” I mean, if the ecosystem is designed to make all these players work so much better as a team rather than individually, then why is this failing. I know as an industry we are really struggling with this, and it’s perhaps because there really isn’t a true ecosystem, but instead, there is just a bunch of companies all vying for a part of the same end asset – the customer. Doesn’t sound/seem very collaborative.
I sense there is a better way. There has to be.
During the sessions, it was great to connect with folks from a lot of major brands and share with them where Nuance plays in the aforementioned, uh, “ecosystem”. I really believe that speech will play an important role moving forward in mobile experiences, and it’s not just because I work for Nuance and run the Mobile Developer Program.
So that was Day 1. And it was good.
Day 2 started off with a keynote from Dan Hesse. I don’t remember much of what he said. What I do remember was the moderated discussion between Dan Hesse, Dan Mead, and Ralph de la Vega, all moderated by Jim Cramer. It was a great exchange, especially the zingers from Dan Hesse (he was definitely the scrappy third wheel in the middle, but he played it well). It’s funny; I was a Sprint customer for years due to their cheap plans and decent network coverage. I finally had to give up my service when my company wanted me to get on the corporate plan with VZW. I’ve had no complaints with VZW, but also never really had any complaints with Sprint.
The rest of the day was filled with client meetings, and a few informative sessions. More discussions on mobile marketing, app store strategies, and retail. Also got to catch up with my good friend and old colleague Assaf Baciu, who now works for Upstream Systems in the UK. They really had an amazing booth – felt very much like something out of some utopia movie.
Tuesday night, Nuance won the MobileTrax 2011 Mobility Award for Dragon Dictation, and I attended the MobileTrax award banquet and received the award on behalf of the company. I also met up with some familiar faces and met some new ones.
On Day 3, my fearless leader Scott Taylor had an impromptu invitation to participate on a panel to discuss the future of device interaction. Right in his sweet spot, he did an amazing job fielding where alternative input mechanisms (other than keyboards) will become necessary as apps become more complex. The other panelists concurred, and I bet we will continue to see the benefits of collaboration in this area between speech, haptic, and other technology providers.
Day 4 was the WIPJam day. This was amazing. It was focused solely on the app developer community. It was my first WIPJam, and I met so many interesting people, and learned a lot about what different people are dealing with trying to create, market, and profit from apps that they build. Bottom line – it’s not a cakewalk, and not for the faint of heart. It may seem easy to just go out there, build an app, and put it on the app store, but unless you just want to be app #300,001, you’ve gotta be a LOT more creative about what you’re actually selling.
So, that’s a very quick wrap on the week. I have to say I was glad at the end that I had attended. I’m hoping that many of the meetings I had will turn into business opportunities, but beyond that, I’m just really excited about how the mobile market continues to evolve. I’m not sure you can ever get completely current on everything that is going on (well, unless you’re my friend Gary Clayton – he does a pretty good job), but it’s an exciting time for the industry, and I’m glad to be a part of it.
Final, shameless plug: if you’re interested in getting speech technology integrated into your mobile applications, visit my program’s site at http://dragonmobile.nuancemobiledeveloper.com.
THE AARONXPERIENCE 