So much of our association with brands is now happening in the digital world that it is time to consider how this is affecting our quality of life.  Services that are typically provided offline are being offset and augmented by their digital counterparts.  Without even getting into augmented reality, I’d like to look at how some simple interactions have changed in recent months.

Back in February, I used my first completely digital boarding pass on my iPhone for a Delta flight heading to Boston.  The process was extremely smooth and allowed me to breeze through check-in without the normal hassles of lines at the kiosk or a crumpled piece of paper in my pocket.  I’ve really come to detest paper for meaningless functions like this…not to mention that I always end up wrinkling boarding passes almost beyond recognition and receive the strangest looks from the airline agents.  When will this kind of thinking work for airline security?  My phone and my license were all that I needed.  Beautiful. (more…)

After seeing the recent Motorola DROID smartphone commercials over the past few weeks, I have been remembering the days in 1977 when Star Wars first came to the theaters.  This film represented not only a new era of special effects but also a story and characters that people, real people, could relate to in their everyday lives.  Luke’s old Landspeeder was like the muscle cars that continue to be driven in whatever condition because they give the owner a sense of personal freedom and driving them provides a visceral feeling of power.  Even though they break down on occasion, suck a lot of gas, and cause you to spend much more time with them than your loved ones understand, they bring you joy.  Joy in the everyday act of driving.  Technology and art united to elicit human emotion.

A Droid is not a muscle car.  The Droid marketing looks at technology through a lens that portrays the technology taking over you.  In fact, many technology engineers would prefer total technology domination in a world driven by a rigidity that places logic over emotion and function over form.  These engineers treat their everyday world as if the technology itself is more important than the life that it supports.  Apple, on the other hand, understands how technology fits into your life.  OK.  We’re already there.  It isn’t some mythical future where you carry around a multifunctional device in your pocket.  It is today.  And guess what?  Having more technology to handle the regular routines of life leaves more space and energy for creative and open thoughts, ideas, and actions. (more…)