A new operating system is becoming possible through the fusion of five forces: sensors, wearables, location databases, social media and data, says Robert Scoble, chief start-up officer at Rackspace, futurist and blogger.
Scoble, speaking during Software AG's Innovation World 2014 yesterday morning, says "it's not Bill Gates' world anymore," referring to the changing landscape when it comes to connections between people and objects.
What this shift means is that products will become highly personalised and, while people will be tracked in terms of their behaviour, their needs will be catered for, says Scoble. He cites the example of Tapingo, which offers a mobile food ordering system that is paid for via the handset.
Scoble says another consequence of the fusion of the five forces is that new anticipatory services and products come to the fore, such as services that target people based on their location, or calendar entries.
For businesses, this means they will have to see "everything about everything," says Scoble. This could include, for example, a train company using data being fed back from tracks, he says.
Companies will also be asked to have deep insights into customers, Scoble adds. "This stuff is happening."
Scoble notes the shift will also lead to changes in marketing, such as pinpointed selling, and profiling based on social media. He says, although this means people will live under "surveillance," it will lead to improvements in areas such as healthcare and transport once apps cease to act in isolation with each other.
* Nicola Mawson is in New Orleans courtesy of Software AG.
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