Capping IT Off

Because I started today on a new assignment I had to park my car in a parking garage I did not know. Well that wasn't too difficult, however paying to get my car out of this garage was. The only payment method that was allowed was per credit card, cash was not an option. Looking in my wallet I found cash, a PIN card, however no credit card, no surprise since this card is being taken care off by my wife. After searching for half an hour in this garage I finally found one machine I could pay with cash. Sadly enough the parking costs had become already 12 euro's and I only had 10 euro's in my wallet. Paying with a PIN card was not an option on this machine, only credit card and cash. Finally after I got some extra cash from an automated teller machine using my PIN card I was able to leave the garage.

Point being? I would like to choose or even better: I demand to choose. I want to choose where I use the service, when I use the service and how much I would like to pay for this service and how I would like to pay for it. Since a garage is rather location specific, especially in a city center, I do not mind that I do not have a choice on this part, however the other points are still in place.

I think it is important that I can choose how I prefer to use a service, like paying for the parking garage I want to choose how I would like to pay instead of being dependent on a decision (credit card only) made by someone else. The reason why a service like Twitter is succesfull is because it has a great open API which results in a great set of applications of which you can choose to use it with Twitter.

If I would like to use an online service I would like to choose where I use the service (see the Twitter example), when I use this service and if I would like to pay for it. It is just a little nuance in the blog posting Mark wrote earlier about SaaS. He suggested to not pay for the device but for the service. I would like to take it one step further: I only would like to pay for the service if the service is worth it.

It sounds as a daring business model, however it is already in use: Radiohead distributed 1.2 million records with an average price betweem $5 and $8 (well that is a nice cashflow). Nine inch nails generated 1.6 million in their first week release of their new album. Both bands offered a free download version of their product (which you could choose to pay for) and some special editions which should be paid for.

As you may have noticed this blog is rather 'I'-centric, that is just a matter of perspective. It is all about the so called 'YOU experience'. It introduces a new generation of user interface technologies and Internet-based collaboration platforms that make for a compelling, highly individualised experience. Through it, users connect freely to the outside world to act, interact, collaborate, co-create, learn and share knowledge. It’s ‘You, the people’ who are driving this global shift. And as consumers they have at their disposal a new generation of technology with countless features that change their buying and communication habits.

It is all about what YOU want.