The Business of Screens Is More Than You Think
For most people in developed nations, we have three main screens in our daily lives that we look at throughout our day. Smartphone, laptop/desktop and television. For many in knowledge work today, they likely have two monitors for their work. The other screen that’s beginning to ask for more of our attention is in our cars. Then there’s all the other adjunct screens we see every day; fast food menu screens (some we even order from by touch screen), digital billboards, hospital and doctors or dentists offices as we wait. And more screens are on the way. What’s behind this?
There is a new business model evolving around screens. It’s getting interesting. Why?
Screens, from small to large are a whole new business model. The first screen to impact our world was of course, the television set. Black and white. Bulky. It took a while for the business model to evolve as well. First, brands mainly sponsored shows. The first TV ad was for Bulova watches and it ran July 1st, 1941 during a baseball game.
Today, the average American looks at screens seven hours a day, Canadians 6.4 hours and Brazilians a whopping 10.19 hours a day according to these studies. One study finds we spend 44 years looking at screens, including our smartphones, PCs and tablets and now of course, watches. Should VR headsets take off at a massive scale, that will be more.
The next big screen push? Cars. Increasingly, automakers are expanding the screens in our cars. A major selling feature now across all brands is the size of the screen in the centre console and the screen space in front of the driver. No more simple speedometer and tachometer with gas gauge and engine heat. Automakers have been slowly adding more info available to us, but now it’s reached an exponential scale.
Imagine in about 15 years as we move more into the EV world and less combustion engine vehicles, if you view a 2 minute video from a brand, they’ll give you a free charge at a local charging station or one of a network across the country. The ad plays right on your dashboard in your car.
Apple and Google saw what was coming years ago. They dominate the in-car experience today and likely will tomorrow. Screens are playing an increasingly important role in how we navigate our daily lives. Smartphones dominate today, followed by our laptops/desktops. Car screens are getting there. The question that does need to be asked is if adding all this information will distract drivers to a dangerous degree. And research is supporting this.
While advertising may seem the obvious business model behind all these screens, there’s more to it than that. Take Apple and Google for example. They want to keep you using their devices and being as much in their ecosystem as they can, so as cars ad functional touch-screens, they want to get into your car as well.
As WiFi connectivity increases in cars, various IoT and other device makers want that car connectivity as well. Start your heating or A/C from your car screen or monitor the slow cooker, check home security cameras. So many possibilities arise.
Augmented Reality is still nascent but opportunities arise there as well. Using the cameras in cars, especially newer EVs. Your car windshield could display, in the right context, much more in front of you.
Do we want all these screens? Business does. But do consumers? We can’t know for sure, but it is more than likely we do, it’s just about how much?
The human species has survived because of our ability to process, make context of and share information. Screens and the computers behind them, serve a vital role in our society. Yes, they’re bad, but its arguable that overall, they’ve done us much better than not.
We’re going to be adding more screens to our daily lives. We’re only just figuring out how to leverage them beyond smartphones, TV’s, tablets and desktops.
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