studio J

It’s all about ME.

Isn’t that the message we tend to get from everyone these days? We all have a website, a blog, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn profile, a Twitter feed, a podcast… We customize our computers and our cell phones… All so that we can express ourselves and voice our opinions and hopefully people will hear what we have to say.

Of course if everyone is talking, who is left to listen?

Soon, all of our technology will not only be listening, but it will be paying attention:

You get home after work and start dinner. Your digital recipe box shows you recipes based on what foods you have in the house (no sugar, since it knows you used the last of that in your coffee this morning). It notices that you made something with garlic in it but knows from your home inventory that you don’t own a garlic press. It tells your TV, which later recommends a cooking show that has convenient product placement in it. When you log in to your email, your browser lists a few recommendations that might interest you. Among them is a website where you can order that Slap-Chop that you saw in the cooking show. Of course your digital recipe box in the kitchen will know when your order arrives and will download other meals you can make with that new Slap-Chop (and the free cheese grater that comes with it)!

While this may be a little over the top, I don’t think it’s too far off the mark. (Facebook is leaning that way with their latest customization, but there is a ton of backlash in the privacy department.) Technology is merging and combining. Look at computers and phones. It used to be that you had a home desktop computer and an on-the-go phone. Now, they’re interacting with each other, sharing information and soon may just merge into one device. Vizio is already marketing a TV that has internet apps to access Facebook and Twitter to tell people what you’re watching and gives you the weather report along the bottom while you watch Mythbusters.

Here are a few things that I hope will come of this:

• Comcast DVRs will get a recommendation engine that looks at what programs I watch (both on TV and online of course) and suggest other shows or movies that I might like.
• My refrigerator will recognize that I’m low on milk and put it on my grocery list. When I head to the checkout lane, my phone will text me, reminding me that I forgot to get said milk, thus saving me a trip the next day when I finally remember.
• Next time I’m watching Rachel Ray whip up a batch of amazing-looking potatoes and steak sandwiches, I will be pleasantly surprised to find those recipes in my suggestion box when I next check out the Food Network website.

What’s your wish list for this connected and personalized future?

Copyright © 2010 Jeanette DeHoff