“High-Tech” telegraphist operating a wireless telegraph

Telegraphy is the science or practice of using or constructing communication systems for the transmission or reproduction of information.

The mode of communication has changed in modern times with the advent of technology and thereby, the information exchange, more drastically than ever.

Constrained Information Flow

Invention of an electric telegraph was revolutionary at that time, especially when you realize it took 10 weeks for a message to reach India, and for a reply to be sent back — while with a telegram, the same message could be exchanged in just 4 minutes. Yet, the message had to be concise and you were charged for every word. (Sounds familiar? Telecom players?)

20th century saw the proliferation of wired telephone system. For the first time, a bi-directional and real-time communication medium was available at scale, opening up possibilities. It changed the way how people communicated with others and services — from calling up plumbers/technicians, inquiring stock availability at stores, to ordering a pizza. Information exchange is still explicit, like mentioning your home address for pizza delivery, for instance.

Emergence of Identity

Internet was even more profound in serving as a democratized solution for information exchange. Web as a medium took off, breaking away physical limitations and also giving anonymous identities at the same time, resulting in Brownian flux. An identity system resolving into legitimate entities was required to sift through the chaos and also, to bridge the virtual world with the physical one. Email — to certain extent, Google and Facebook started giving an identity at scale and devoid which, we would have to suffice with vestigial traces of digital footprints — so much so that we had re-targeting platforms flourish briefly.

Adding Context to the Flux

With the introduction of app store, smartphone apps started growing as a channel and accentuated those services that leveraged mobility and utility factors of having our phones all the time. For the first time, implicit data such as location and other metrics from phone sensors could be captured, for the apps(services) to help serve their users better. As an example, Identity(smartphone is one, although physical) and little context(location) helped a great way in how we started using Uber, Google maps and on-demand delivery services.

Now when you combine the digital identity with more context, new platforms could emerge. For instance, the notification center could have potentially turned into one (go read Intercom blog), while solving 2 things:

App-ennui (How many new unknown apps have you downloaded in past 6 months?). A solution for services to match users’ need proactively — a distribution channel based on context and identity.

Imagine getting a list of options to book a cab at the airport right at your notification center, and requesting it without even having the app installed. This was what I was trying 3 years back and as you would imagine, this is quite a hard problem which hasn’t been solved till date, more so when you don’t have your own identity nor context.

Connected Devices: Extension of Identity & Context

Every connected device brings its own sensors and serves as data points to add context to your identity better — just like how a Fitbit helps understand your activity or a Nest thermostat (and affiliates) help diagnose your energy consumption usage.

While many connected devices have a clear boundary of why they need to exist, some could turn out to be a platform in the way we consume information. Google Glass, Smartwatches, HoloLens, Snapchat Spectacles and Apple’s EarPods could(and certainly will) turn into an enabler for other services to add value — by leasing context from the landowners.

JetBlue sample use-case for Google Glass

These devices need to provide more context(more implicit data) for the platform to thrive, just like how smartphones provided location data to start with. This is precisely where AI takes over and completes the transaction loop.

Enter Intelligence

Apple, being an exceptional product leader, design things so holistically that it requires special talent to foresee their trajectory. Imagine the possibilities that could come out of information exchange of iPhone, Apple Watch, EarPods to maybe even connected cars, all working in tandem — carefully interwoven through their unifying layer Siri (agent and not just the voice) and seamlessly executed by Continuity.

You could imagine ordering a pizza just by talking to Siri and very soon, that is all that you might have to do. Location details would be pulled in from your iPhone/watch and your identity might be authenticated with voice recognition by Siri, while the payment transaction could use Apple Pay(using your watch/iPhone) or even your voice. If you think these are all vague stuff out there in the future, you couldn’t be more wrong. Brian Roemmele saw it coming 5 years back here and he has a working solution already.