I got 99 apps but connected is none
2.65 million. That’s not just a random market value of a third-rate football player or the sales figures of a rap album — no, 2.65 million is the number of apps available for download on Google PlayStore in June 2019. If you add Apple and Amazon numbers, there are currently around six million smart, fun and helpful extensions available for smartphone users in our digitalized and networked world. I feel that half of them are on my smartphone.
Meeting interesting people all over the globe, traveling is part of my job
As a journalist and moderator, I am on the road a lot. Whether within a city, within a region, within Germany, throughout Europe or even beyond. My profession allows me to see the world. Last year, I drove more than 1,000 kilometers across Germany in nearly five days with the Panamera, following the footsteps of German hip-hop culture and history for Porsche. For Viva Con Agua I was in Uganda recently to experience a completely different world of mobility there. Now this week, I have the honor to accompany the final of the Porsche NEXT OI Competition on June 6th in Ludwigsburg.
The Porsche developer competition deals with the three scenarios “Home”, “Drive” and “Arrival”. Specifically, it’s about how we imagine a networked future, at home, but also on the road. During a panel discussion at re:publica in Berlin, I learned that intermodal mobility is becoming increasingly important. In other words, this means the use of different means of transport within a single route. Infrastructure plays a decisive role here. And speaking of that, I, of course, have completely different possibilities in Hamburg than, for example, in the countryside. The diversity of mobility has developed rapidly along the Elbe and Alster rivers. From ridesharing with MOIA, to well-developed public transport, my own car, carsharing with Car2Go and DriveNow, smart taxi solutions and electric scooters — everything is within reach. Or rather just a click away. What matters to me is not necessarily the service, but how I get from A to B as quickly, efficiently and conveniently as possible. Similar to Markus Herrmann, my smartphone is the key to the city.
Not only one navigation app
I would like to show in more detail which apps I use and what perspectives I have on mobility — today and in the future.
For me, many things begin with the planning of a trip. Of course, map apps like Google Maps or HERE help me to plan routes, mark favorites and estimate distances. This won’t surprise anyone as they’re an important basis. At least as important for me are various mobile offers from airlines. To the online check-in, for the boarding pass, for flight information or updates to the gate. A new addition to the portfolio of my smartphone is “Hopper”, an AI startup that I got to know last year on an innovation trip together with the band “Chefboss” and the Porsche Digital Lab.
In addition to solutions that integrate artificial intelligence, I’m also interested in solutions that offer me real added value for my journey and consciously follow the serendipity principle — enabling me to discover something I didn’t know before or wasn’t necessarily looking for. One example for me is the Groundhopper App, which combines the pleasant, one of my biggest passions, with the useful. Wherever I go, the app shows me where and in which stadium, no matter how small, someone is playing soccer. Roads by Porsche works in a similar way with the idea of scenic routing.
Scattered apps on connected devices vs. (my) vision for a networked future
The big problem — and with that I’m coming to an idea for the future — is that all these apps are scattered on my smartphone. When I talk about intermodal mobility, I also mean intermodal app use. Almost every service has its own app, each service has its own registration procedure — there’s rarely a direct connection between them. At the same time — leaving out operational and political hurdles — it should be so simple. At least that’s how I would imagine it.
A great use-case is intersections where two mobility services (actually) interlock. For example, at the train station or at the airport, when I take over a rental car. When the flight or train is delayed, my plans get mixed up at the latest. Not (only) because my primary means of transport leaves much to be desired in terms of punctuality, but because the subsequent service does not react appropriately. The queue at the counter is still as long as before, there’s no personal service and the data that I have already entered online, I have to laboriously present again. Is this the future? I hope not.
How convenient and at the same time progressive would it be if not only my suitcase was smart, but also the service around it. If the car rental company knows exactly where I am and when is the perfect moment to hand me the key with a smile, while my app is already connected to the board navigation and my Spotify playlist starts on time for the first turn….
Niko Hüls a.k.a. Niko BACKSPIN has been a hip hop fan since the early nineties. He turned his passion into his profession at the turn of the millennium: as a journalist, moderator, and head of backspin, he is on the road for urban youth culture and always on the hunt for good stories and exciting people.Hip-hop as an art form and way of life has always accompanied his everyday life. As a blogger, he is accompanying the Porsche NEXT OI Competition 2019, which focuses on the three categories “Home”, “Drive” and “Arrival” this year. Five finalists will have the opportunity to convince the jury of their ideas on 6 June. For more details, get in touch with us on Twitter (Porsche Digital Lab Berlin,Porsche Digital), Instagram (Porsche Digital Lab Berlin, Porsche Digital) and LinkedIn (Porsche Digital Lab Berlin, Porsche Digital).
