Updated 7.12.19: New technology and daily advances are incredible. What once was only novelty details in sci-fi movies have now been normalized.
Let’s take a look at a day in the life of Tom the Techie. We will examine just how bizarre our lives today could seem when observed from the perspective of the past. This perspective can offer valuable insight into the ways that people use modern technologies in their daily lives. This perspective also serves as a reminder. It is important to analyze the value that modern devices bring to customers compared to 10 or 15 years ago.
A song faintly plays from a small speaker across a dark home, crescendoing in a melodic, upbeat wake-up alarm.
“Alexa–“, Tom Techie says while groggily pulling his mind from a deep slumber to force himself out of bed. “Turn off my alarm,” he grumbles, and the music suddenly stops.
Shivering, wondering why he ever left the comfort of his warm bed, Tom decides to remedy the situation. “Alexa set the thermostat to 72°F.” Alexa chimes from the other room, confirming that she has completed the task.
As Tom is still trying to will his mind awake, he opens the cupboard and reaches for the coffee only to find that he has two servings left. “Alexa, add coffee grounds to my grocery shopping list.”
As Tom prepares to leave for work, Alexa chimes, reminding him to start the car so that he can leave for work on time. With the remote in hand, Tom clicks and holds a button until he hears his car engine roar to life outside with the heater going full blast. He silently thanks his uncle for the 100th time for gifting him a remote start and keyless entry system for his car. While waiting on his car to warm up, a few quick taps on Tom’s smartphone is all it takes to have the perfect playlist queued up for the drive to work. The chilling walk outside to his toasty, warm car has never been less dreaded.
Tom’s in-dash receiver beeps at him as he swings the car door shut, indicating that it has automatically paired to Tom’s smartphone via Bluetooth. There is seldom a better way for Tom to start the workday than with his personalized selection of music.
It’s going to be a good day. On the way to work, he even saw the Oscar Mayer Weiner car on the highway! Once at work he decides to show his coworkers the wacky-looking car on his phone by opening the app for his dashcam, easily pulling a screenshot of the car to share in an email.
Speaking of hot dogs, Tom remembers the new specialty hot dog restaurant that just opened up across town. Unfortunately, an hour-long lunch break will not suffice with traffic factored in. But, there is another option. He opens the Postmates app on his smartphone and finds the restaurant’s menu to place an order. In the checkout cart, Tom notices the option to use Apple Pay. With Tom’s credit card info already saved, he doesn’t even have to get his credit card out. A short 30-minute wait later and the hot meal is on his desk without him even leaving the building.
The workday draws to a close, and it looks like Tom has to work on some documents from home. Luckily, they were all saved to Tom’s iCloud account, a cloud-based storage service, so it is as simple as logging in and opening the documents on his personal computer.
Once finished with his work, Tom just wants to sit back and relax. Maybe watch some old episodes of The Office or open YouTube to watch some funny cat videos to entertain himself. Fortunately, smart TV’s are a one-stop-shop for all entertainment needs and can seamlessly switch between different applications like Netflix and YouTube, much like on a smartphone. After a relaxing evening at home, it is time to get ready for bed.
Tom begins his routine shutdown of the house. After crawling into bed, Tom tells Alexa, “Alexa, please shut off the TV and lights and set my alarm.” Rather than flailing around trying to find a cable in the dark, Tom places his phone on top of his wireless charger to replenish itself overnight and slowly drifts off into a peaceful sleep.
Overall, it has just been a normal day for Tom and his new technology.
Many past innovators never thought that they would see some of the technological marvels that are used today. As a retailer, it’s important to observe how customers are using new technology. You should follow up by reminding them of the value that it adds to their lives. Comparing old technology to new is one helpful way of showing this to consumers. Visit order.petra.com to stay on top of the latest technology trends.