Mark Kolier’s Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Starbucks’

Having blogged about it a couple of times, I have also been ‘using’ Foursquare’s location based platform to ‘check-in’ over the past five months. I am dubiously proud of being able to claim that I am the ‘Mayor’ of the Acela club at CitiField in New York.

And I have been to the Acela club exactly three times this season which leads me to think that people who visit the Acela club do not subscribe or care about Foursquare. In fact the few people I asked who work there had never even heard of location based services like Foursquare. As Acela club ‘mayor’ I have not been offered the key to CitiField or even a free drink – alcoholic or not.

In an article in today’s NY Times http://nyti.ms/aDGgmn, it was noted that Loopt is offering people a mobile game that rewards people for checking in frequently to particular places. And as such one can become ‘boss’ of certain locations – sort of like being the mayor. The key thing is that companies like Gap, Burger King Etc., plan to use Loopt Star to reward loyal customers. Foursquare is also working with its partners to offer real-time rewards for check-ins and frequencies of visits.

One thing the article fails to mention is the vagaries of GPS check in on these platforms. I know for example on Foursquare when I attempt to ‘check-in’ I am given a list of nearby locations even if I am smack in the middle of one on the list. (Somehow I find it really odd that if I am sitting in a Starbucks it tells me that the one I am sitting in is somehow 137 meters away). But I can also check-in to any of these GPS-enabled locations whether I am actually physically there or not.

GPS technology is set to make a major leap forward with the advent of High Accuracy-NDGPS which will enable accuracy to the centimeter level. This will be a critical enhancement since it appears that I can check in at any number of places simultaneously/concurrently (or at least in quick sequence), so that I could gain reward points at places I actually never visited.

Think about it, you are sitting at coffee shop in the middle of the city, but you check in at Burger King (for the third time that week) even though you have been to the Burger King. Now Burger King sends you a coupon for a soda with a sandwich purchase. Retailer margins will be squeezed. People will game the system – that can be guaranteed.

I understand that companies can counter that talk about the fact the patron actually purchased something, but at the same time product is being given away for nothing. And how is that a good idea?

So join up now and get free stuff – while you can.

Hong Kong is 12 hours ahead of New York.  15 hours ahead of L.A. and San Francisco.  By the time we start our day back in the states it’s evening in Asia (and a bit later than that in Australia).   They say the sun rises first in Asia.  Many things happen first in Asia.  The rampant usage of mobile was one of those things.  People all over Asia can use their mobile phone while on the subways.  Something that is sadly lacking in New York and I’d imagine in many other American cities. 

Business is also done differently in Asia.  I sat in the JW Marriott yesterday afternoon having tea looking out over the Kowloon Peninsula and Victoria Bay.  It was about 5PM and there were several business meetings going on all around me and they were conducted in a number of different languages.  There was French, German, Russian, of course Cantonese as well as a bunch of Brits and Aussies.  I overheard snippets of several conversations and all of them seemed to be about making deals, investing in different projects and properties.  Because HK is full of people from all over the globe, business meetings take place in many public locations – hotels, coffee shops (Starbucks and Pacific Coffee Company are particularly popular meeting locales).  This happens to some degree in the United States but Americans are still more married to their offices and desktops. 

But creative innovation is Asia is behind the curve.  Traditions die hard here too and Asian history is so much longer than that of the United States that the ability to break with traditions can be very challenging to say the least.  Attitudes also are difficult to change.  Although people from many different cultures interact on a daily basis, there are outwardly visible prejudices and judgments made not only by the Cantonese but many of the people in Asia.  The U.S. has prejudices that remain as well but in contrast to Asia they are not as deep rooted simply because the U.S. has not been around nearly as long. 

The U.S. continues to have an advantage in bringing new ideas to market and overall how to manage business development.  Hong Kong is an old city with lots of old money.  Shanghai and Beijing represent the future in China.  Do you wonder what will happen to Hong Kong in 37 years?   I do.

I move around a lot. More and more I rely on my PDA to communicate. But here I am in a Starbucks in NYC having finished a meeting and preparing for another one. I don’t have a Wi-Fi access card ($ 50 or $ 60/month is way too much as far as I am concerned for something that I will use maybe 5-10 hours per month.

Yet today when I wanted to get on line I was able to access AT & T’s Wi-Fi network for 2 hours for $ 3.99 (plus tax of course). I did not have quite 2 hours but that was a reasonable charge for a la carte internet access – $ 1.50/hour.

Over the weekend I flew Delta and was able to access the internet on the flight for the first time. It worked well and was pretty cool in general. The good news is that for the time being VOIP calls from the plane are blocked – I was worried about that.

Since I also ride the train to New York City frequently I would really like Wi-Fi access to be available. It is said that this is coming but I wonder at what cost? For a trip that takes about an hour and costs $ 10.00 or less it will really bug me if the charge is even $ 5.00! And if you are traveling by car there should be an inexpensive service that allows internet access from wherever you are whenever you want.

It’s more than time for a national Wi-Fi system to be put in place that works cross carriers. The cost to maintain these networks continues to drop and the overall rise in people’s productivity makes this a no-brainer. The cost to the user should be MINIMAL – not $ 50 or $ 60 per month but $ 10 or less.

In the meantime when on the road I will (like most others) hope to catch a signal for free, and then upon failing to do so will pay by the hour or 2 hour session. But I am more than ready for Wi-Fi access 2.0 – aren’t you?