It's Out There, They Are Evolving, They Are In Your Browser :)

 

(1) Thomas Otter at Vendorprisey has a great idea: link Lastfm.com to the conference call waiting space: dialing into a conference, why not hear something you actually like ? :)

(2) Want to use your mobile phone to keep track of what you've just read, or where you are in that book? Bkkeepr allows you input some simple commands against an ISBN number. It uses a twitter channel feature. (HT: Damien Mulley)

(3) Hey, a number of people in your business are using Twitter to comment or micro-publish, why not get them into a company directory and let people in the company connect to each other and share, or even let customers connect directly to the employees? (HT: FastForward Blog).

These examples have a number of points related to them IMHO :)

- They understand fragmentation, and the power of widgetization (i.e. a widget on your blog, on your website, on your phone). Like a beer add might say "widgets reach those parts that other beers just can't reach.

- Many products are actually platforms: Twitter is a pipe powering Bkkeeper, GetSatisfaction.com, and it will empower many others. Right now, good reliable API's are key to any product. (My predication is that GetSatisfaction will become a platform for managing customer conversations).

- The granularity of interaction between your company and your customers will increase; and this interaction is not private and is not owned by your company (Jeff Jarvis has a twitter today asking people do they know of companies that have come out and been honest about a screw up, and come out stronger, i.e. been authentic. This is a natural outcome of being scrutinized, as they say in politics, "sunlight cleanses".) And oh, god, as if to prove the point yet again, that you don't own the conversation with the customer, check out Paul Greenberg's response to Sony misrepresenting their product offer.

- Companies that become "magnets for conversation" will become very, very successful. Conversation are magnets for collaboration. Collaboration creates Actions & Information. In turn, these create Insights. Insights are very very rare, and good insight has the potential to create massive value creation. (note: not value shift along the value chain, but real value creation).

The Telco2 Guys today have an interesting point around products being extended, enhanced and differentiated by service. Yes, people talking to people, people interacting (well) with others. And they give a nice hat-tip to VoiceSage, so thank you very much.

Conversation, Collaboration, Community... mmm.... the force is strong with this one....