Where Is Mobile Going? (Part 2 of 2)

Posted by: Jessica Richmond, Director of Client Services Feb 16, 2010 0 Comments

Earlier today, I posted Part 1 of this two-part interview with PointAbout’s CEO Scott Suhy. Now, it’s time for part two, where Scott and I discuss how his company stays on top of the ever-changing world of mobile, how the Apple iPad may have an impact on mobile, and what government agencies need to know when it comes to mobile.

What is your company doing to stay on top of this ever changing environment?

At PointAbout, our business has two sides—we offer consulting services and we also make a product. The consulting side of our business keeps us in close contact with customers and lets us continually take part in a dialogue with them. We then take that information back to the product side of our business and use it to help us drive improvements and upgrades.

Another way that we stay on top of what’s happening with mobile is that we stay involved in the local and mobile communities: we’re involved in several Washington, DC, meetups, including DC Mobile. We also serve on different boards—for example, my colleagues Sean and Isaac are on other boards that allow them to keep up with what other mobile developers are doing.

Finally, we try to keep an open mind and an open door. We encourage our developers to research and build interesting technology (on company time) that may or may not be related to a specific client need. We’ve also been experimenting with our office space, making it into an entrepreneur center where smart people can come in, rent some space, and work. Through these actions, and a monthly speaking series that we host, we’re really trying to do everything we can to stay at the forefront of mobile apps.

How is the Apple iPad going to have an impact on what you’re doing? How should brands respond to it?

The iPad is a really interesting device. Microsoft and others have had tablet PCs but they never made it easy enough for people to do something with them. Apple did a great job of designing a tablet that ergonomically works well for a human being. Apple’s timing is excellent, too, because Amazon’s Kindle device has made a dent in the market and has introduced the concept to people but Apple has once again perfected it. Less than 24 hours after the iPad unveiling, we’d already had three clients ask us for iPad applications.

Tell us a little about your most recent product, AppMakr.

When people build high-end applications for mobile devices, they may spend anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000 for one application for one device; then they have to spend time and money rebuilding the same application all over again for a different device, and then perhaps another device. It makes no sense! So our company looked around and figured out that we could help the world by taking applications and templatizing them.

There are tons of new applications out there, but many work in basically the same way. By templatizing the app process, we allow local newspapers, bloggers, and anyone who has content to put together an app that is just as effective as the apps developed by the New York Times or USA Today.

We initially thought that the audience for AppMakr would be almost exclusively mom and pop newspapers and bloggers, so we’ve been surprised to see the variety of organizations that have been downloading and using AppMakr. Huge newspapers, government agencies, and tons of colleges and schools are using AppMakr to build applications—some of the biggest brands in the world are using it. In fact, more than a third of our traffic has been from international sources.

AppMakr sounds like a win-win situation! If people are interested trying AppMakr, how do they go about doing so?

We’ve recently made it free to use AppMakr. All that you need is an existing iPhone developer account and you can log in to AppMakr and build applications for yourself and others to use. There’s only a charge if you decide to make it available in the iTunes App Store. Just visit http://www.appmakr.com to try it out for yourself.

And now, one last question: What is the most important things that government agencies need to know about mobile?

They need to realize that mobile is the way that things are moving. I walk out of my house and head to work, and while there I may go to my laptop a few times, but my phone is always with me. If I walk out of my house and leave my laptop, I may just decide to skip it for the day, but I will definitely go back for my phone. People can and are getting information on their mobile devices all day long.

Government agencies also need to realize the dramatic productivity increase that can be achieved by facilitating mobile work. From simply answering an e-mail while you’re on the go to using geospatial applications to clock in at a specific job site, mobile devices are helping workers become more effective. For example, a government case worker could use a series of mobile applications to make notes, take photos of the property or family, record audio or video, and even note a location via GPS—all without needing to get out their laptop. Then, they could press one button and move all of their information into the central database. When you think about the practical applications of mobile, it’s easy to see how it could be a huge productivity booster and timesaver.

Scott, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate your sharing your mobile knowledge with us!

My pleasure. Thank you.

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Jessica Richmond

Director of Client Services

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