It seems that while the analogy between brands and APIs has got incredibly long legs, we are still looking at it from the wrong perspective: the brand perspective.
What if, instead of focussing on what the API allows the user to Pull we start focussing on what the API allows the user to PUSH, meaning allowing the user to ingest a controlled and owned selection of brand-relevant personal data into the brand API such as user context, passions, interests and behaviours?
What if I could feed for example my location data to the API of my mobile network operator (plugging in my mobile gps, Foursquare or Sonar data) and get the most customised international plan based on my travel habits?
And what if consumers could ‘sell’ this personal data to brands? Consumers used to pay brands for products. We are now heading towards a future where digital data abundance means brands are going to pay consumers for their personal data. Users get customised offerings while remaining in control of their personal data, brands increase their relevance by investing on live audience intelligence rather than push strategies.
Shapeways : 2011 in Review, and What’s to Come
The rapidly growing Shapeways community - comprised of designers, makers, hackers, enthusiasts and shoppers - demonstrates that “creative commerce” and the widespread demand for personalized products are rapidly on the rise.
Full Story and Prezi Presentation: Shapeways
For Siri to be really effective, it has to learn a great deal about the user. If it knows where you work, where you live and what kind of places you like to go, it can really start to tailor itself as it becomes an expert on you individually. This requires a great deal of trust in the institution collecting this data. Siri didn’t have this, but Apple has earned their street cred.
Developers are realizing that they can deliver amazing experiences when they understand more about the user. However, users today are careful to not give away too much of that information. With Apple’s strong reputation behind it, there’s a massive potential for success here.
