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Cutting edge tech is consumer tech?

I’m starting to pay attention to consumer tech because I have to: consumer tech adoption is a subtext to many of the themes I’m tracking.

Blogging is an inherently populist, human activity - its very ethos is to make editing pages easy enough for junior high girls and soccer moms. The uber-kewl iPod has, in a sweep, legitiimized the portable digital audio market (probably as much by providing a legitimate place to purchase music for mainstream users via iTunes) and become a fashion and lifestyle accessory. Then we have podcasting, the nascent phenomenon (of which I remain highly skeptical - I struggle with the aural format and hate talk radio). Then we have projects like Creative Commons, with their groundbreaking work with Wired to distribute a free ‘rip mix burn’ cd with major artists under the CC license, and also projects like OurMedia which are trying to create a ecosystem around CC-licensed media. Then there’s the crazy ringtone market.

I’ve been tracking some of these themes for a while now, but have only gradually become aware of some of the implications of this. I first noticed when I discussed with people their iTunes habits - people I’ve spoken with have been regularly spending $20-30 a month at iTunes. Then I started checking out the wireless service I will want when I get the Treo650 - TMobile’s all-purpose data+voice service package starts at $80/month, to which you can add SMS, video, Hotspots, etc. That’s a tremendous annuity - and just plain astounding. I’ve resigned myself to the fees because of the productivity gains I will enjoy, but am struck that this is presented very casually as the price of entry. Note that NECSAM doesn’t fund cell phone service that extends beyond traditional voice - so this is my assessment as a user paying out of pocket; I imagine many of those who use these services have their fees covered by their businesses so they might have a different perspective (but that’s a bigger issue - see this post for a sense of the general chaos all us mobile workers are bringing to enterprises) .

Then you look at gaming - the launch of Halo 2 topped $125 million in its first weekend - players pay a further $6/month for the service. The gaming industry just held a conference, State of PlayII hosted by the New York Law School - if you can believe it. Prominently featured is the game Second Life, where characters roam through a user-built 3-D environment (I actually signed up for this to see if I can understand what the buzz is about). Check out the blog set up to chronicle the happenings of the online world for a real sense of how deep the consumer connection with virtual worlds is.

What all this bespeaks to us is, in economic terms, a revealed willingness to pay. We can see consumers spending a huge amount of recurring money on new toys and services. Consumers are willing to buy cameras and cameraphones and mp3 players. They’re willing to subscribe to broadband and wireless services to use them. They purchase add-on services and applications to make them more usuable and fun. What an astonishing change - and so much of it is driven by the pursuit of access to information and entertainment.

And there’s data to back this up - all these disparate trends are being mirrored in the purchasing of content online. Consumers are consuming more as they get a taste for the way they can use it. ClickZ, a site for web marketing, discusses how paid content increased by 14% in 1H2004 - hitting $853M in the US.

Contrast this to the state of the industry documented in 1999 by Austrailian Roger Clarke and the change is startling.

Startups and enterprises are noticing and improving their offerings. Last week, at the IBDN Under the Radar event showcasing a handpicked cadre of startups, I was struck that at the number of innovative consumer companies. Roku is selling network music players for the home; Akimbo is offering a video on demand service of old series and niche programming; Mirra sells backup devices. These are all toys that will be found at major US consumer electronics stores like BestBuy.

It appears that a broad trend is emerging - that a fundamental shift has occured between US consumers and their media. As we heard from SBC’s CEO - people of all walks of life are making media their own - repurposing it, sharing it, and documenting their thoughts on it - via blogs or epinions or amazon comments. Broadband adoption and emergence of meaningful applications have opened up a huge new market, and the pursuit of that market is pushing the state of the industry forward.

Just in time too, because enterprise spending growth has shown no meaningful increase.
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