gmtPLUS09 | live from Seoul

Seth provides a brilliant primer of what Web 4.0 can be in this post.

The opportunities of the semantic web are limitless, and I can’t wait. But that’s not Web4. Web4 is what I’m really waiting for. And it’s entirely possible that Web4 will get here before the semantic web even though Web 3 makes it work a lot better.

We start with this:

• Ubiquity
• Identity
• Connection

We need ubiquity to build Web4, because it is about activity, not just data, and most human activity takes place offline.

We need identity to build Web4, because the deliverable is based on who you are and what you do and what you need.

And we need connection to build Web4, because you’re nothing without the rest of us.

Web4 is about making connections, about serendipity and about the network taking initiative.

And screen snapshots displaying how the iPhone could be like Web 4

If the Apple (i)Phone or the much heralded reinvented mobile as it is called, could achieve all the wonderful things as Seth says, life and the means of communicating would be something out of the Truman Show, or exemplified in John Maeda’s book/blog, Laws of Simplicity.

By "adopting a strategy of simplicity that will set your product apart", the entire value chain of user experience could indeed be simplified. This is where Apple comes in with its storied legacy in simple UI, but we can also dream to hope for more…

1. Consumers purchasing the type of mobile that best compliments our lifestyle or functional needs much like how we buy a notebook, and selecting ISP and their service plans on our preference. Significance: we are not limited to unaspiring products that the mobile operator has made available.

2. Our mobile is branded with one less badge. The operators’ badge would no longer disrupt the designed surface of the exterior and one less eyesore casted away from the GUI.   

3. End-user mobile services (see: Seth’s list) could be easily launched if Apple ever wants to become an MVNO, or does something truly innovative with the iPhone’s Wi-Fi capability.

4. Apple decides to open up its system to third party software application developers so that the iPhone could truly be called a smartphone. This can have reaching implications to #3.

The ’simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction’, REDUCE would be the optimum solution to unwiring the current state of the mobile phone industry. In leveraging the SHE (Shrink, Hide, and Embody) System, the iPhone could revolutionize how things are if certain aspects gained traction:

Shrinking: Thanks to miniaturization, devices are getting smaller yet features and functions are increasingly growing in number. Shrinking is a great way to under-promise and over-deliver. The next version of the iPhone (hopefully soon) will sport 3.5G (i.e., HSDPA) data capabilities which will definitely help it to over-deliver. Good news for us.

Hiding: This could be the killer feature in the iPhone. Balancing the features and accessibility so we can do talk on the phone/distracted by games or live TV/take images or video clips/etc., the way it was intended to be. Hiding complex features underneath a physical barrier (like a clamshell/folder-type mobile provides) or strategically through layers of menus, ultimately leads to simplicity. Based on an as-needed basis, users access functions only when needed. There is the obvious of alienating value-add features that is lost hindered by the clamsell, or multiple menu-layer steps required to access it. Then however, a form of unhiding would be required - the introduction of designated hot-keys would enable accessing specific functions simpler and easier to use.

Embodying: simplifies complexity because the highest quality components and materials are fused into a high build quality. All of which guarantees for a rich user experience, inside and out.

One way of turning the tide of customers into passionate, and true believers is allowing them to participate in product innovation. What better way than listening to your customers, and taking their ideas and concerns to improve the product or brand?

By harnessing these conversations, companies can fully harness customer and end-user innovation as leading companies (BMW, Staples and Bell) have successfully done to improve or discover unmet needs.

Best of all this collaboration does not require compensation. The motivation to get involved also becomes their incentive.

Link: Brand Autopsy: TRUE BELIEVERS | article abstract.

Finally the iPhone is here. After a year of speculation, its official: a sleek and slim, 3.5" touchscreen device.

A device with a wide range of implications. Just as the original iPod changed the way we listen to music, the iPhone will strive to change how we communicate.It’ll be setting off a huge battle: Apple vs. everyone else. (Interesting to note, the company is officially known as Apple, Inc., sans "Computer")

The price point is a bit risky. Even with a 2-year contract with Cingular Wireless, the iPhone  ($499 for 4GB/$599 for 8GB) won’t be cheap and the mainstream market won’t be the first to buy. The Mac faithful will be part of the early-adopter. (Cingular is clearly the big winner here in the operation services…it was the first to bring the Razr and now its the first to sell the iPhone.)

In hindsight its not the first time that Apple charged a premium for a commodity. The iPod is a highly glamourized hard-drive. With Apple’s design and name value, it can obviously command a premium and consumers will be buying. Speaking of buying, Apple is in talks of buying the already taken "iPhone" moniker owned by Cisco Systems.   

Initially the iPhone is targeted to those willing to fork out the high price point. The device is foremost a consumer electronics that takes on the corporate-oriented features that RIM/MotoQ/Treo offers.

It is unknown how Apple will enter the wireless market which has very different markets dynamics to its consumer electronics domain. Where Apple connects directly with its customers through its stores and its own web site, access to wireless customers is controlled by the wireless carriers.

Another issue is how Apple can be successful in this wireless game. Apple currently relies on hardware sales with its iPod, and computers. This will be difficult to replicate where carriers typically lure customers with discounted handsets via 2-year service contracts.

On the device end, there is already heavy competition with many sub-$100 handsets offering music-playing capabilities. The iTunes connectivity is a sure distinctive benefit that extends the iTunes experience to the iPhone. This is what Sony Ericsson is banking on with its Connect music store.   

It is presumable and clear Apple will experience similar fronts Sony-Ericsson has seen in positioning its products, lets just hope Apple will do it with more flair and personality.

Today began quietly enough. I checked my emails and got something from Skype which was in Korean. The email had a Korean flag icon to symbolically say, "Skype is Korea friendly." I had downloaded Skype in 05 but never used it because it meant having to sit down at my notebook at all times. The previous version disappeared without notice from a formatting session. I was in a "trial behavior" and decided to install Skype version 2.0 and  give it another chance.

I’m wondering why Skype would send me an email in Korean and "talk" about all the goodness of the product when the Skype credits aren’t available in my local currency AND lacks the most critical component (to me at least) - availability of local regular numbers for SkypeIn. The fact remains if the latter was not the case, I would have splurged for instant gratification. Today’s experience with Skype did not meet my expectations and I don’t know what to make of it. It reminds me of something I read recently, the experience is not the brand.  I could subscribe and wait for them to offer services tailored to people like myself. Or not, and find something that is. But then I would risk getting into something that is not a perceived market leader and end up getting burned in the long run.

The Skype store offers a Bluetooth-enabled Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit which comes right down my alley. However, due to Motorola Korea subtracting the Bluetooth in the RAZR, the Wireless Kit would be half the device it could be. What the hell…