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Entertainment has always been about teasing the public. It’s a well known device in film, comic books, television and theater.
Teasers and teasing is evident in every form of recorded exhibition you can think of.
From cliffhangers at the start of the show to the truly perplexing architecture in the form of leading landmarks designed to tease, frustrate, awe, perplex, make you scratch your head and solicit inspiration and contemplation from the public - teasers are everywhere.
The world of consumer electronics is no stranger to this device.
Display windows at leading electronics retailers are designed to do just that with lighting, display screens and voice synthesizers.
Some product displays are equipped with interactive features and micro A.I. systems to create additional spellbinding moments with the consumer and instant attraction that will culminate in a purchasing impulse or in a positive impression on the brand and retailer.
This year Apple did its best to dazzle the consumer and the “Retail Trade Alliance” (Mr. Lucas I was inspired by one of your movies) by presenting the Passbook at their own iOS 6 press junket.
The introduction of an Android-inspired PDA application with a little smart technology that allows its owner to benefit from electronic coupons that you can either download, receive through your mobile device or upload from your local retailer’s
store. Of course this software application is meant to be used in lieu of your wallet as it can hold your boarding pass/airline tickets and concert tickets, it can manage your store cards (from Nordstrom or Macy’s) and it can dispense the proper coupon for the right product, and you dont have to fumble buttons or scroll through a search function to display and use the coupon.
The Passboook operates with the new iOS 6 and for iPhones and iPod Touch, though not on the iPad.
The Passbook will search automatically through its storage memory and pull up the right coupon just as your drive by or pull up into the parking lot of your favorite store. Its artificial intelligence circuits will identify and match coupons to location based on store detail information you loaded and its ability to either use GPS or a store Wi-Fi ID.
Already a host of chain retailers such as Target, Starbucks, Staples and Walgreens as well as American Airlines, United, Amtrack and a few others have joined forced in launching this Apple application.
A few reviewers found the new product below par. Some found the store application from Starbucks more powerful that the Passbook which it purports to replace. Other issues cited are security and access, inconsistency in being able to use A.I. to ferret the right coupon or ticket or electronic document when you arrive the store.
Apple will most likely work out these bugs in its next edition of this gadget, however the question is, will you in the meantime be teased and incited in acquiring this product or will you pass on the Passbook?
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