Thursday 14 August 2008

City Boys

There was something in one of those free papers that litter the tube and stop me reading proper books the other day about how city boys have found a way round fumbling for their Oyster cards and instead, are hacking into them and inserting the chips into their watches for effortless swiping.

Instead of seizing this as a new merchandise opportunity or something, Transport for London are branding it "vandalism". This just highlights how some companies still think they can and should dictate to consumers how they should use their products, rather than observing how consumers are using their products and adapting to this (or better still, making them flexible and intuitive in the first place). 

I think the city boys have a point, and although they're responsible for the spread of All Bar One and contrasting shirts with white collars and cuffs, this could actually prove to be a useful, lucrative mass market product innovation.

Personally, I don't wear a watch (an Hermes Cape Cod would be nice and a future classic I think) but why not offer to implant handbags, mobile phones, even at some point I imagine, consumer's wrists?

No comments: