It was suggested to me by the ever clever marketer @sammartino that brands are, for the most part, cognitive shortcuts. Shortcuts that evolved to simplify choice in a world where information was both difficult to find, and then consider properly with our limited brains.

The question is this. What role will branding play as technology progressively compensates (as it already has started to), for these cognitive limitations? Will certain decisions based on functional criteria (financial decisions) become brand resistant, leaving those decisions with image/fashion criteria for the marketers to play with?

“The Machine Stops”, is a dystopian short story published in 1909 ago by EM Forster (free here) laying out a future where a segment of human society becomes terminally dependent on machines. Humanity loses both its capacity, and will, for a life free of technological augmentation.  The highest form of existence is sitting alone in a self-contained, underground room connected to the rest of humanity only through the machine. Ideas and thoughts are valued over first hand experiences of the real world.

Tempting, as it is, to generalise and join the hordes of well intentioned late adopters in claiming that the internet is incrementally isolating us, it might be worthwhile taking a look at what is actually happening around us.

In the same way that transport enabled us to engage more with unseen worlds, online communities are enabling us to engage with people located around us. Location-based applications are just beginning to make their way into our mental frameworks.

A hint of the near future of human engagement was evident at SXSW Interactive this year, where location based applications such as Foursquare and Gowalla began to reach critical mass adoption. With a location enabled mobile device individuals began “checking-in” at various venues, notifying friends and, often, strangers of their location. Up to 200 people were checked in at some locations.

On top of these platforms, strangers are beginning to be connected by matched attributes such as “I’m interested in mobile tech”. Pairwise.mobi was an application built by a two man team in 48hrs on thestartupbus.com which did exactly this.

In the same way that we have somehow miraculously become both comfortable speaking to complete strangers and desensitised to exhibitionism on Chatroulette.com, we will soon be more comfortable with these applications introducing us to relevant but complete strangers that happen to be sharing a venue.

This may well be the “threads of self-denial” referred to be EM Forster, but until technology advances to the point that virtual engagement becomes indistinguishable from physical engagement, we have an opportunity to take advantage of a new era of location-based serendipity.

Do you see potential, or do you think location-based apps are overhyped?

Humour detour.  @provoost just pointed me towards a peek at a future of less labour intensive aged care.

“…..as the cleansing bubbling action kicked in, Toshiko Shibahara, 89, settled back to enjoy the wash and soak cycle of her nursing home’s new human washing machine.”

I think it’s pretty self explanatory.  I think the manufacturers may have taken inspiration from Barbarella

Whilst my body is long gone, I’m happy to still have the opportunity to talk to you like this, in a way my great great grandparents unfortunately didn’t have to speak to me. Little did they envision the opportunities we now possess to have a permanent record of our every online conversation built into a relatively accurate personality construct that can speak to you in the way that I’m speaking to you now.

You might be accustomed to this transgenerational conversation, but let me tell you, we aren’t. Our parents are just getting comfortable with the idea of email, and our generation is just getting accustomed to the idea of public conversation on platforms such as blogs, microblogs, and open social networks. You will know more about our tastes in music, our interests, our passions, our foibles, and our lessons learnt than we ever knew about our ancestors.

I’m sitting here listening to a radio station based on a friend’s excellent taste in music. This is a small step, so I can’t even begin to imagine what will be possible in eighty years time. Eighty years is a long time, and if you’re reading this, its clear the human race has somehow figured out how to convince the machines not to eliminate us from this beautiful planet. Congratulations on a fine achievement, god knows how you did it.

If you’ve chosen to download my construct into your family pet robot, then thats alright by me. The only condition I’d place on this is that I get to go camping with you. I won’t mess up your car/hover vehicle/magic carpet or whatever it is you move around in. If I’m speaking to you in a virtual space, ask me to take you to the Abbotsford convent for a beer and some live Cuban music on a warm Friday evening in December 2008. You’ll love it, really.

If you’re a construct talking to me having already eliminated all the humans,
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