The most convenient way that mobility is getting built into products is through the convergence of capabilities that previously existed as standalone products into the cellphone. That way, those products are now with you and available for your use whenever you need them wherever you go.
- Cellphone as image-based search interface
- Cellphone as TV (again) (and here)
- Cellphone as social network (and here)
- Cellphone as SpongeBob viewer
- Cellphone as wallet (again)
- Cellphone as web browser
- Cellphone as people tracker
- Cellphone as raceway scanner
- Cellphone as scoreboard
- Cellphone as stoplight warning system
- …and for a change of pace… Cellphone as cellphone (what a radical concept!)
While convergence of different capabilities into a tiny device such as cellphone is generally a good thing as law of mobility implies, we need to pay attention to law of diminished return as “feature fatigue” could emerge. Researchers have found that consumers are tantalized by those extra gizmos and functions on products they buy, believing they make them more useful. But soon frustration sneaks in, even with the most skilled users. Alienated consumers abandon those products in favor of others that do less better. “Feature fatigue” probably is not directly related to the Law of Mobility, but if it decreases the value the law brings, careful planning of the convergence will be warranted.