Micromegup joins the wave of services integrated in our mobile devices.
The successful app today has narrow bandwidth of functions, doing one thing only, and doing it very well. There are more of these apps on the market than could possibly be tested in a lifetime. This format will survive as it is in the DNA of OS for mobile. However the still small and effervescent world of apps for smartphones and tablets is opening up to a wider use of connected services. The dynamics of these apps are getting closer to those of the now traditional world of PC applications.
Indeed the success of pocket devices, the excessive offer giving rise to often-unnecessary competition and the need for greater interconnectedness with PC – notably with the widespread usage of tablets and larger smartphones – drives the market towards a general integration of services and implementation of more functional tools.
The natural downsizing trend initiated a few years ago with PC replacing the mainframe, followed by the laptop replacing the PC continues. B-to-C companies each developing their own personal app were pioneers in this respect. Accessible information is reduced, the user interface is redesigned, but we find almost the same intricate features as traditional software. Menus far exceed the 5-pictogram limit for smartphones. The most telling example is that of Facebook.
1- Has a Facebook account.
2- Still uses it after 3 months.
Now who are his/hers “virtual” friends? Are they not 99% family and “real” friends before which he/she already had before signing up?
Ahhh, but things appear very different in the “social networking” generation! However time will tell whether this experience has changed our habits that much. What will remain of these virtual friendships once time passes, meetings multiply, friendships are strengthened and viral tribalism reigns supreme.
Ahhh again, but things appear also very different in specialized “professional” social networks. What remains are relationships based on “real-world” shared interests.
In conclusion, except for the irascible critics of digital innovation, there can be no boundary between a so-called “virtual world” and the so-called “real life”. Connectedness enrich us, it facilitates human sharing and bonding.