It happened on 29th June 2007, with this simple slogan; ‘This is only the beginning’. It really was the beginning, and suddenly the Apple iPhone leapt into the global consciousness, it was sleek, cool, expensive and everyone wanted one. Everyone except me. I really couldn’t see the point - I had my Blackberry for work and my very powerful, capable and awesome Windows Mobile for playtime.
“Why do I need to spend £400 on a poxy Apple iPhone? Oh I see, it does that too. Wow, it’s really easy to use, and I can ditch my iPod too. Ooh Angry Birds.” Sold, one iPhone to the man in the Panama hat.
A similar process happened in April 2010, with another simple slogan;
‘The iPad is...’ Is what?
Again, I couldn’t see the point initially, to me it was a big iPod Touch, it didn’t seem to do much. I was clearly wrong as Apple sold 1 Million units in half the time it took the iPhone to reach that number.
Then, with the iPad 2 it all became clear, I instantly saw the opportunities for it. I didn’t need a PC anymore - we were ‘Post PC’.
The term ‘Post PC’ was coined in June 2012 when Tim Cook, CEO of Apple proudly launched the 3rd Generation iPad, and, when you consider that the 4th Generation iPad launched in Oct 2012, Post PC also means ‘Apple have mastered the art of extracting cash out of you!”
A bit like children.
Anyway, ‘This thing is going to kill laptops’ I said confidently to Mrs RCS, waving around an iPad trying to work out how to spend £500 on a ‘toy’ without her noticing. Unlike the 1st Gen iPad, the iPad 2 just worked, it’s a beautiful piece of modern design.
We now have many iPads and there isn’t a 6 year old around who can’t beat me at Angry Birds.
I now know the truth, tablets won’t just kill laptops, they will within the next few years change everything to do with personal and business computing, become the main tool for browsing the net, checking emails, watching films, reading the newspaper and magazines, interactive educational textbooks, making online purchases and business operations.
Currently 29% of adults in the US own a tablet or eReader - 3 years ago that was only 2%,
Consumers want information, they want a lot of it and yet a small fraction of websites are mobile optimised, or “Mobilised” as I call it. If you have a site with an abundance of Flash animations it won’t work on an iPad. Ever. However they’ll work fine on Android tablets, and Google are also beginning to favour ‘Mobilised” sites in their search rankings, but currently around 70% of tablets owned in the UK are iPads, so put ‘Mobilisation’ of your site top of your 2013 list.
Once the Consumer has found you, you want them to buy something, so the next revolution to keep an eye out for is for ‘mCommerce’.
M, or Mobile Commerce will drive the web forward, as currently only 10% of all global internet traffic is through mobile devices, yet some observers in the IT industry expect mobile web searches to overtake desktop usage in 2014.
This unprecedented level of consumer uptake and investment is pushing development, with solutions like ‘PayPal Here’ www.paypal.com/here, that turn your smartphone into a credit card terminal promising to revolutionise small business transactions in the US.
You can buy from Ebay, Amazon, Tesco, Pizza Express, pretty much anyone on your phone, soon your customers will be able to buy from you. With the introduction of 4G in to the UK and pretty much everywhere having WiFi there will be no where that you will be unable to get a reliable connection to t’internet.
Everyone wants their own “App”, and there are great parallels with the late 1990’s when websites were ferociously expensive to build, but eventually as more people became capable of building low tech sites the cost reduced. This will happen with Apps, as there are a growing number of App Developers and demand for low capability apps is growing, but as long as Apple have an App Store this development will be slow for iPad.
The tablet has crossed over to become a legitimate business tool, that you no longer feel like a bit of a prat using to take notes in meetings. Evernote is an awesome notebook app, and recently has had a complete redesign making it very intuitive and highly recommended.
Despite being sat here using a MacBook to write this article, (Tablets are not great for word processing) my iPad has become to my business like Milk is to Cornflakes, or Baxter is to Ron Burgundy.
I use Dropbox to constantly ensure that all of my files are synchronized across all of my devices, which means that I can attend meetings without having to lug my laptop across London but if I need a file, I can access it without a panic. Brilliant.
Once I get home however, it is still swiped by one of the kids and begins it’s evening role by saving me from having to watching endless Peppa Pig. Apart from the TV, I can’t think of any other item I own that can be used by all members of my family, from aged 2 through to 68.
How did I ever doubt it?
If this sounds a bit like an iPad commercial, you’ll have to forgive me. There are advantages to using Android tablets such as the Google Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD and Samsung Galaxy Tablet - they are cheaper than the iPad and have very good reviews. Check out www.techradar.com for some really good reviews on the top 15 Android tablets.
You’ll just have to call me old fashioned, but despite Apple being the most annoying company in the world, I really like my iPad, and the iPad Mini is a great size.
So this is the this tablet revolution in action, however there is also the danger of forgetting the pioneer of all this; the SmartPhone. In the UK the majority of Smartphones sold are Android, and there is a still a big opportunity for them in the Post PC Era, there is opportunity for EVERYTHING, as it is all being reinvented.
So what are the opportunities that are specific to Medical Aesthetics? Well in short, lots.
Most would agree that the Healthcare sector in the UK is not that technologically advanced, nor is it particularly geared to servicing a ‘consumer’, and we have a great opportunity to be able to stop playing catch up with the rest of society and propel ourselves forward by fully embracing the ‘Post PC Era’ and leading the way.
The US is leading the charge with ‘mHealth’ and there is an abundance of Apps and technology to support the healthcare industry over the pond. Check out www.imedicalapps.com for a good guide and reviews.
For me, one of the strange truths that always exists in Medical Aesthetics is that the consumer is often treated as a patient from the moment they decide to enter the process.
Consumers vs Clients vs Patients. They have different goals.
Consumer wants information
Clients want value
Patients want an outcome
Different goals means they cannot all be treated in the same way.
It seems that the obvious thing to do, is to use the technology available to enable the individual to transition between these phases in a much smoother way and provide a far more compelling experience.
It makes no sense to me that in a cash pay environment, the consumer should not be experiencing the cutting edge of technological development, not paper based practices and handwritten notes. Surely it makes sense for them to be consulted using familiar technology, tablets can also take photo’s and record video, make notes and link into databases.
Recording images, video and data, such as consent, product, medical history etc would have a huge impact on patient safety and really engage them in the process.
Technology can also be used to raise standards, as what can be recorded can be measured, if it can be measured it can be audited.
Surely we can already do this? Well, apparently not. I have searched high and low for a solution that would help the Medical Aesthetics industry to capitalise on these simple truths and I couldn’t find one.
To achieve this I have been testing a new solution called iConsultAesthetic for a little while now, and it is ready for launch.
A wiser man once said that the best way to predict the future is to create it. So I did, I built iConsultAesthetic.
iConsultAesthetic is a tablet based tool that helps a busy medical practitioner capture patient data, perform a consultation and has a fully functioning digital consent process. It’s currently at beta test and will be due to launch early 2013. I am still happy to accept testers so check out www.iconsult-aesthetic.com if you want to drop me a line.
I hope that 2013 provides you with health, wealth and happiness, sort out your site and embrace technology.
Will this era of austerity also be remembered as the era of reimagination, and the era when personal computers really came of age?
I really think it will, and I am really excited about how we can use technology to reimagine Medical Aesthetic and shape the industries future.
It’s too good an opportunity to miss!
But who am I to predict the future?
Let’s have a go.
Next weeks lottery; 26,17,14,39,47,2,
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