DEMOmobile: Wireless Gets (Almost) Useful
from the very,-very-close dept
As mentioned, last week we went to DEMOmobile. While I've been known to trash most conferences, I have to say that DEMOmobile is a clear exception. It's one of only a few conferences I've attended where you get just as much out of the conference itself as the time in-between sessions when you get to talk to everyone else. The format (6 minute presentations from companies launching new products) is great, and the DEMOmobile team clearly has learned how to put on a professional, high production value conference. While the conference got off to a slow start, the overall picture was both encouraging and discouraging. I've written up more detailed thoughts at TheFeature, where I explain how DEMOmobile showed a number of companies working hard to make wireless technologies useful (finally!). For too long, we've been simply hearing about just how wonderful the applications will be for this or that new wireless technology. DEMOmobile actually focused on the applications of those wireless technologies. On the downside, however, the continued struggles the industry has with itself were evident. The walled garden mentality of much of the industry (protect the business model rather than opening up and letting innovation occur) was on display more than a few times, while some applications were simply too reliant on others to ever become successful or too hopeful that users would change their behavior at the first sign of a cool application. So, while I think that many of the technologies launched at DEMOmobile 2004 will eventually make their way out to the mainstream, it may not be for a while... and it may not be from the companies that launched them last week.
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grammar
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Demo
It's done every February and it's also an excellent conference.
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Re: Demo
Who pays $15k to demo but a company making a product that isn't that good.
Isn't it blogs like Techdirt that really matter when people choose products they will actually pay real money for, as well as users with little blogs and websites, and word of mouth from friends? If companies really wanted to be effective with social software and devices, they would go straight to the users to make it happen. But in that model, they actually have to have good products and get real -- no more messaging and marketing crap.
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No Subject Given
Who pays $15k to demo but a company making a product that isn't that good.
Isn't it blogs like Techdirt that really matter when people choose products they will actually pay real money for, as well as users with little blogs and websites, and word of mouth from friends? If companies really wanted to be effective with social software and devices, they would go straight to the users to make it happen. But in that model, they actually have to have good products and get real -- no more messaging and marketing crap.
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