2009 was certainly a big year for Twitter. I consciously used it more jumped into some more conversations, including some with a few companies. One of the nice things Twitter does, in my opinion, is give individuals and companies a greater ability to communicate so in the spirit of it all, here are a few ideas/products/projects that I wish my favorite companies would produce in 2010;
Mobil / Exxon –
Exxon/Mobil needs a trip planner for the iPhone. I have a Mobil/Exxon fuel card for business which is great in New England where there are a lot of stations but when I travel outside of New England, however, especially in Pennsylvania, it’s tough to find Mobil stations along the way.
I’m looking for an iPhone app where I can input my current location, my destination, and my estimated fuel range and the app will return options for gas stations sorted by distance off my route and filtered to those within my range. An added feature would be to alert you of the distance of future gas stations so you can plan in advance. This would also open up a lot of potential for customer loyalty programs, rebates, station pictures/reviews, etc.
There might be room for a developer to produce something like this, as it could most likely easily be re-skinned to be applicable to Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, et al.
Sony Playstation (aka PS3) –
For me, the PS3 is a social tool, not a media tool. I have no plans to store pictures or movies on it. We have Netflix, TiVo, iPhones, and computers for that.
Simply put, Microsoft is beating the PS3 at the increasingly important social aspect – so much so that, after being a dedicated Sony gamer starting with the PS1 in 1996, I’m actually thinking of purchasing an Xbox 360. Using MW2 as an example, compare server down time for PS3 vs. Microsoft. That isn’t my biggest complaint, however. What Sony needs immediately, and is a relatively easy add-in, is the ability to import your online address books to screen for friends. I’d love the ability to enter my Google Gmail login to have my PS3 scan my address book for additional friends. The process used to find friends now is basically dependent on an off-line conversation.
I also rarely play with the PS3 unless I know friends are going to be online, so the ability to ping me with an SMS or email alert when friends log on would be great. Web or iPhone app access to a list of who is online and their status would also be extremely helpful and add to the value of the PS3.
Another gripe; “DNS Error 8070102†tells me nothing except to go Google it. With such an amazing piece of machinery it should be able to tell you something more helpful, such as “server failure – try again later.â€
Amazon –
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I would LOVE the ability to auto-subscribe to authors and/or TV series. At a minimum, automatically add them to a wish list.
The back-story; My dad loves Clive Cussler. He has dozens of his books and reads each one multiple times (unlike me, he has the ability to read 2+ books per week). A few years ago, as a holiday gift, I took on the challenge of making sure he had every single book Clive Cussler ever wrote or co-authored. The challenge now is keeping up with Cussler, who in 2009, had four book published. Each year I need to do some searching and order comparison to see which books are new and un-purchased. If I could subscribe to have every Clive Cussler book automatically shipped to me on its release date I certainly would.
Alternatively, Amazon could automatically add them to a designated Wish List for future reference. I would most likely use both options for various products from Clive’s books to Seinfeld & Curb Your Enthusiasm series releases.
Another nice feature I’d love: saved searches. I’d love the ability to save a search query, much as you can do with eBay. If I can have new results emailed to me or added to a Wish List, all the better.
So what do you think? These products would certainly add value and loyalty for me – Would they help anyone else?
