Everyone Wants One Device

At a recent dinner meeting a CEO of a prominent company was saying how everyone wants a single software package that consolidates all their activities.  He said this is true in agriculture the same as it is other places.  He told a story of carrying a PDA and phone and how he wished they were one in the same.  I remember those days and thoughts myself quite clearly.  Everyone told me I was crazy... first for carrying the Palm Pilot and secondly for thinking people would like such a combined device.

Ironically, it was pointed out that he was carrying two smartphones now... or should I say, had two smartphones sitting on the dining table of the restaurant.  He laughed and went on to talk about tablets and laptops and how at one point he had so many devices he couldn't fit them in a single briefcase.

I didn't want to write a blog post about devices however.  What I wanted to reflect on was the desire of people to use technology to consolidate, streamline and simplify their lives.  This is a noble ideal, however, almost every disruptive technological wave is wrought with desire to do something that was either a) not capable before or b) totally new way of doing what was done before.  Example... now that you've got a wireless connection on your PDA, what type of programs can you build now?  It's revolutionary stuff.

Combining devices or software is a bode to creative intellect and ambitious visionaries.  The trouble with this however is the new device or software is much like the main character in a Shakespearean tragedy.  He suffers from an undeniable ending...  whereby that which defines you, destroys you.  In some modern movies the same rings true.  We love these stories because we see it coming but can't stop it.  It relates to our lives in a very personal and frightening way.

In precision ag and modern farming I often hear requests for a single display in the tractor cab.  Or, perhaps a single software that would manage both their financials, their grain marketing and their variable rate precision ag files.  There have been a few programs that strived relentlessly to obtain this nirvana.  However, they just never quite have "enough" features... and ultimately the feature creep in trying to obtain this vision ultimately kills them.

Instead of bemoaning the  hopelessness of our state, I believe we can learn from other industries.  How is it that Google, Apple and Microsoft can all share calendar apps and yet compete with each other?  They use API's issued by their competitors.  The original goliath builds an API so that smaller innovators can build on their foundational technology.  But in so doing, they open up gates to giant competitors in other industry segments.  Why would they do this?  Because it is ultimately in their best interest to do what they do best and provide opportunity for customers to start swimming in their pool, regardless of what device or software platform is currently the customer's favorite. 

For precision ag to "go mainstream" at the farm level, we need both goliaths and startups cross-referencing each other's API's.  In so doing farmers themeselves can stitch together systems that work well for themselves and access the best features of each... and do so fairly easily. Sure there will always be problems to solve but this simply creates opportunities for new innovators to step in and fill those new gaps.

Who is in the best position to promote this culture?  Software purist companies.  They have no incentive to move product through their software, but instead must move their software for the sake of the software's value in and of itself.  With that said, it probably is NOT going to be a software company that aimed at being all inclusive themselves.  I'm personally on the look out for software companies that want to do one thing really, exceptionally well and are open to playing well with others.  Those fine companies will reach more users faster, and deliver greater value propositions versus their price.

Here is another way to think about this "one device" desire... we already have just one device!  Our own brain and body.  We stitch together various technology and hardware to accomplish our goals at the appropriate value.  I urge you to look for components that talk to others as a core requirement.

What programs do you wish talked to each other?   How would YOU stitch them together?