소셜 네트워킹의 미래를 표방한 서비스가 있다. “E“라는 이름의 이 서비스는 네델란드의 스타트업(Start-up)이 만들었다. “E”는 명함 대신 휴대전화를 이용해 연락처를 교환하…..

It’s great that consumers and bloggers are starting to look into this space, so we can initiate a real discussion about how social networking fits with real-world networking. Your post, mentioned in Allen’s article, is a great start.

As you and others comment, carrying around a dedicated fob is only one answer to the question. Some people say it may be a lot easier as mobile phone app. As founder of Poken, of course I beg to differ. One simple example: USB memory sticks. For the past 10 years one could have achieved the same ends using a mobile phone: store files to your phone either with the a USB cable (on some phones) or via Bluetooth/Wifi. Then, beam them to someone else using Bluetooth, and let them download them back to their computer. You could even cut one step out by simply beaming them from your phone directly to their computer.

Well, the market has opted for carrying around an extra USB fob because it makes it so much simpler. The mobile phone is a great device for certain uses, but when it comes to replacing something that’s simple to achieve by other means, it’s not the answer, even if it means carrying around another fob. Compatibility, connectivity, parametrization, etc. all get in the way.

We’re very excited to be leading the way to a new means of connecting people. We fully agree that success will all come down to implementation: simple, natural gesture & usage, and cheap. Regarding getting to the masses, it’s also about being innovative in terms of distribution… Keep you eyes peeled!

Brings back some neat memories.

If technology were where it should be, though, instead of still being stalled in the thinking of a decade (or two) ago, we could all have this capability with our cell phones and smart phones and pda’s, without it mattering what model you used. I am really miffed at the lack of interoperability between components, and sync technology is pathetic. Want to sync iCal, Outlook, a couple of PDAs and Gcal and RTM? Good luck. You’ll get all sorts of duplicate entries and a few deletions.

LIke someone else also said, it’s going to be hard only because it’s going to take time for people to adopt the idea and go out and get one. If it were integrated into something, it would definitely be easier to spread to the masses.

I think these products / services have two big market problems to solve:

1) Most people only use one social network (and it’s usually Facebook). As techies, this is easy to forget. The problem of adding a friend to 10 social networks simply doesn’t exist for most people.

2) Since these devices don’t solve a real problem, they don’t add real value (again – for most people, not techies). People won’t pay for them. Now these devices are cheap – Poken uses RFID and costs about $3 US per unit. But not cheap enough to give away. Poken is trying to forge advertising deals and integrate a bottle opener in their device e.g. you could have a Bud Light friend-connect device that fits on your keychain. But $3 per unit is very expensive advertising.

This is a problem best solved by add-on software for existing mobile devices. Everyone already carries a a phone and many are Internet enabled. The software could even provide real-time confirmation that you’ve added someone on all social networks. Somebody just needs to figure out the hardware gap and business model (which is not necessarily simple).

Why don’t they just give everyone an “online social security type number” that does the same thing? This way, I don’t have to use the hardware (or find someone else with it)

I second the commenters here that a mobile phone / PDA app could do this just as well, but that I’d also love to try it. We need something beyond the business or vCard soon.

What we need is for the iPhone 3.0 to have the exact same capabilities. I’d buy that. (Who wouldn’t?) To answer the question, if E was here and now, I’d be tempted to buy it; but I wouldn’t, because nobody else I meet would have one. I’m not cool enough to go to conferences. Yet.

The app could be SMS-based (text msg), Infrared-, Bluetooth- or Wifi- based, but (to extend skipc’s comment) it’d obviate the need for an additional device.

That said, your article does bring up the still-unsolved issue of being able to elegantly sync contact information between a mobile device (Symbian, Win Mobile, OS X), web-based email (Gmail, Y!), desktop email (Outlook, Notes, Mail, T’bird), and web-based services (F’book, Linkedin et al).

So, yes, I would give it a shot, since this product won’t be around for long…