“Yeah Josh? Ya know, what could be more boring that looking at trends?… especially ‘interweb’ trends?… la..ame. Move on!”
I kinda agree, trend watching is a bit DULL, but they can be oh so revealing when it comes to technology. Here’s the golden egg, Internet Trends are technology adoption trends. That’s key, cause those people adopting the tech are the same people buying software and designing the fine accoutrements of modern village living you enjoy.
Hey, look, those people are also you.
So, all this is why I’ve been totally devouring a report Morgan Stanley put out last month detailing internet trends that is actually very interesting.
Connect the dots please
This report shows how communication is changing and who’s using more technology. It may be hard to connect internet trends to CAD when you first look at the report, but as soon as you notice where online time is being spent (pg. 9) and peer into the margins of internet users (pg. 61) you can see 1) a huge market segment if you’re a CAD vendor and 2) the way you as a designer or engineer work (and possibly, where your jobs are going) changing rather drastically.
Here’s an example. I like the iPhone Facebook App. I’m not saying ‘raaaagggh!! CAD needs be on the iPhone in the future!!’. That’s just stupid… and also totally possible. (“you can draft an E-size sheet on a computer you fool. HAHAHAA.”)…. But anyway, when I use a Facebook app on an iPhone or spend time on a site with a easy-to-use interface, it makes me wonder why computer programs (that apparently have more programming capabilities) don’t work as easily. Ya know…I’m just sayin. You may be one of these people too. What do you think?
Does anyone think internet trends relate to CAD in any way?
Last week on June 20th, Google Trends for websites was launched to allow a look into competing sites and aid your plans for worldwide domination. Similar sites, like Compete (my favorite) and Alexa already exist, but this leverages the power of Google’s simple, yet masterful use of analytical data.
