I’m at the Social Media Influence conference today, taking in talks on a variety of topics such as ‘The Future of Online Listening’, ‘Social Analytics and Customer Insight’ and ‘How to Talk Your Way Out of a Crisis’.
But more on that tomorrow.
What inspires me now is a figure that was just given on stage that:
“By the end of 2010, the average American will own six connected devices. People in the UK will, on average, own 4.5.”
Unfortunately this stat wasn’t attributed to any source so I can’t validate it [I’ll look for the slides tomorrow], however – I thought I’d throw the question out onto Twitter –
From my own collection, I count seven. But fifteen minutes (and 30-odd responses later), I’ve managed to pull together an average of 8.7 devices per person.
Which – aside from a few random cases – is quite telling and raises a few points and questions:
- My followers tend to be a bit more tech-savvy/heavy (and would therefore own more devices). Fair enough.
- If pushed, would the average person know that their internet radio or their TV is ‘connected’?
- In this constantly changing, yet ever more connected world we live in – what challenges will this present to the marketeers of tomorrow?
My point is – the internet of things promises a lot. It turns out that your average Joe’s data is going to be contributing a lot to this also – where are the opportunities?
Have a think on that and, while you’re at it, how many connected devices do you own?
