Are smartphones actually the first robots?

A Smartphone can do many things, beside being a phone, game console and a web terminal. It can do things that no previous device could. Some are quite simple, like knowing where it is - well, as simple as a connection to a global space based positioning system could be - I'm always amazed of how naturally we take such things - anyway, the phone can do this, but can also, for instance, understand spoken languish or recognize a typical phone-to-ear movement. Both of the above (quite impressive) features are part of Apple's Siri - used by my brother to tell his smartphone things such as "Remind me to turn on the water heater when I get home". 

So Siri listens to my brother's voice (not an easy task), understands what he said (with a little help from server-friends), traces his location, and reminds him to turn on the heater when he gets home. If Siri had fingers, she'd turn it on herself - and actually, all you have to do is to get your heater an IP address, and Siri will turn it on, too.

So you verbally describe a task to a computerized device, like a small companion you carry with you. It listens and complies - by communicating with you, other people and machines.

Sounds like robots to me (: Hey, what do they need to walk for? It's a beginning, sure. But we can already see that the online Smartphone is a whole new device, that could lead to even greater revolution than personal computing. It's not about information anymore. Not even about interaction. We're starting to actually expending the reality sensing and interpretation by human... with the help of metal pals, and they're getting smarter by the second. No three rules are needed. Billions of people already on board. Great, really.

(And yes, I do think that Picalogo is one of the first truly robotic features... :)

U.S. Coupons: Distribution cost 250% of Face value?!...

I might be making a fool of myself here, and would be happy (or, as you'll see, maybe not too happy business-wise, but still - would like to) hear corrections by coupons/promotional marketing experts - and as happy to get links to a wider coupon market research than what my amateur Googling efforts resulted.

Anyway, it seem to me that an actual U.S coupon distribution cost is more than double than it's Average Face Value - and almost 200 times of the coupon production/distribution cost. Here goes:

      - The cheapest coupon channel in the U.S. is FSI (Free Standing Insert), via Shared ("Junk") mail - or Newspapers. The distribution cost per 1,000 (CPM). is $5-$60 - or $0.005 to $0.06 per single distributed coupon.

       - Any other distribution will cost much more. Direct mail, for instance, costs $0.40-$1.50 per single postcard - or up to $1,500 CPM.

        - Coupons have to be printed. Basic printing cost is $10-$20 per 1,000, or $0.01-$0.02 per coupon.

         - And here's the main point: Average FSI redemption is 0.57%! It means that only one of about 175 distributed coupons is redeemed.

So? Let's take some minimal per-coupon costs into consideration. Say:

$0.01 for printing
$0.01 ($10 CPM) for Shared Mail/Newspaper distribution

Total is two cents. Doesn't sound much, ah?

Now, let's imply the 0.57% redemption rate - or double the two cents by 175 - and we're getting $3.5 per redeemed coupon. That's over twice as much as the $1.43 average U.S. coupon Face Value! 

And no, as you can see in the chart below - no other common coupon delivery method is cheaper. On the contrary.

Considering the above outrageous cost, and contemporary coupon delivery methods in development and/or currently on offer, this looks like business opportunity - ask ShopKick, they'll tell you. But does it worth the effort? Is there enough market, even at much lower cost? Well, over 330 Billion coupons are distributed annually in the U.S. Let's take the minimal cost of 2 cents per coupon - we're talking $6 Billion a year, easy - actually substantially more, since many of those coupons are distributed at much higher CPM than our junk mail friends. So the answer is - yes, there is. Definitely worth the trouble.

As some of you know, one of the main features of Picalogo (www.picalogo.com) is coupon delivery merely by taking a picture of the business logo - faster, easier and more idiot-proof than anything on this emerging market. If you're in this (or some relevant) business - contact us. We're just getting out of the shallow Bootstrapping waters, are looking for partners - and will go a long way to start and establish ourselves as a leading coupon delivery solution.

marketing@picalogo.com