There need to be app mash-ups. I remember in the mid aughts when site mash-ups were the thing. Mix real estate sites with google maps, mash CRM with calendaring. Web application hybrids. It all seems a bit plain now.
The new thing should be app mash-ups.
I have about 20 different viable lunch options within 2 minutes of the office. Probably 50 different places if I extend it to 5 minutes of the office. I go out to lunch everyday. Today, I went to Chik-Fil-a. (Glad it’s not Sunday.) I want my lunch options to compete for my lunch business. Not just on price, but on timeliness of the offer (Today I think I want nuggets!), an issue I hadn’t thought of (Our chicken is organic!), or even the weather (It’s beautiful out! Walk over to our spot).
I don’t shop on price. Maybe for big ticket items. Not for lunch. But I don’t spend two when I can spend one. All other things weighed evenly, I’ll go for the cheaper option. It’s ingrained. I’m grateful to my parents for that, no matter how wealthy I become. Bottom line, of course price will always be one differentiator. But my lunch utopia app needs much more than just price as a differentiator.
Think urban spoon, mashed with groupon, mashed with google maps, mashed with weather.com, mashed with my girlfriend who knows I like to walk when the weather is nice, eat organic, and, occasionally, have my mind made up for me.