@espitia7 tweeted me an article from Frog Design, one of my favorite blogs. In the tweet he asked if I thought this new technology would be disruptive (as in Clayton Christensen's "disruptive innovation"). Thanks German.
Frog Design forecasts that most apps resident on a smartphone will disappear in favor of "just-in- time" cloud-based apps that provide information on the phone when you need it. For example, the cereal box in the supermarket sends a message to your smartphone and automatically nutrition information appears on an open browser page. Nice idea, but I can search that information in seconds on Google and see little value in an automated version. Where I do see value is in a scenario where I arrive at the airport, the airline recognizes I am there for a flight (like every other week) and sends the boarding pass automatically to my cell phone so I can proceed immediately through security. Or in my dreams, based on a statistical profile that shows I took fifty flights in the last two years, no planes blew up and I can go directly to the gate by showing a special pass delivered to my phone. These last two options would have value to me. This level of convenience would be disruptive.
Another benefit to just in time apps would be lower storage requirements on phones due to less software and updates. Phone manufacturers are looking to replace components through software as a means to lower phone cost in developing markets. These component replacement apps could use the space freed up from traditional resident apps.
Many thanks to all the people who have recently tweeted me interesting articles, including @miam_twopcharts, @john_menezes, @canningcollege, @siontele and @OLPC_Mexico.
Note: the Frog article includes a nice discussion of value creation and customer perception.