移动颠覆科技行业

    网络业务曾颠覆传统业务。但如今，没有哪家网络巨头能免于“移动优先”颠覆者的侵扰。著名的颠覆性网络公司——比如Facebook、谷歌（Google）、Flickr和亚马逊（Amazon）—— 现在也正受到专注于移动业务的公司挑战。

    以Facebook 为例。同Path的优雅和密切关注相比，Facebook感觉就像是一个松散的、无序蔓延的烂摊子。又比如，谷歌地图是世界上最流行的网络服务之一，但与更好玩、更个性化、更移动优化的Foursquare相比，谷歌地图就显得功利而乏味。网络照片共享服务Flickr和Picasa则被拍照分享软件Instagram这样灵活的移动服务所颠覆和挑战。

    移动优先企业被迫划定优先级，同时专注（于一点），而且为了生存，他们必须设计简单而有品位的服务。这使他们在当今这个迅速移动化的世界中具备核心优势。当今世界，清晰的战略重点与一流的服务设计至关重要。

    最近的数字显示，手机的使用不仅是在增长，而是呈爆炸式增长。在其最新的财报中，eBay首席执行官约翰•多纳霍透露，eBay移动和贝宝（PayPal）移动预测今年各将有100亿美元的交易。今年6月，约有1.02亿人仅通过移动设备访问Facebook，比3月猛增23％。Facebook首席执行官马克•扎克伯格在7月份表示，移动连接的用户比仅通过台式机访问该网站的用户更活跃，该公司目前正试图转变为“移动优先”。（收购图片共享软件Instagram应该会有所帮助。）

    移动游戏开发商Rovio的《愤怒的小鸟》（Angry Birds）游戏下载次数达10亿次，近来该公司最新的游戏作品《神奇的阿力》（Amazing Alex）也荣登榜首。移动支付初创公司Square每年处理的交易额已经超过60亿美元，这家成立仅2年的公司目前的市值为32.5亿美元。移动业务潜力无限，而现在商界有证据来支持这一说法。

    在经济全球化时代，野心勃勃的公司不仅着眼于国内市场，也更注意到世界上许多国家越来越多的用户正通过移动设备而不是电脑访问互联网。俄罗斯、印度尼西亚、印度、非洲和巴西，这些国家的移动市场都非常庞大。

    对于世界上绝大多数人而言，手机不仅是访问互联网的主要方式，更是其唯一的方式。为了接触到这些用户，必须先建设移动基础服务。我们观察西方社会经常忽略的一个事实是，即便在这里，许多人仍然只能使用手机访问互联网。31%的美国手机用户只使用或主要使用手机访问互联网。超过三分之一的美国人没有家庭宽带，不过90%的美国人都拥有手机。

    西方社会的一个普遍观点是，移动互联网服务通常是传统互联网的缩小版。这种观点大错特错，原因很多，尤其是你打算瞄准多个市场时（通常移动优先市场）。通过手机，你能为用户提供更加私密和个性化的服务。

    与其它传统媒介相比，移动媒介本身更具有情感色彩和个性色彩。用户们成天和手机呆在一起，就连晚上也不例外（五分之四的美国青少年睡觉时都把手机放在床边）。人们把最重要、最私密的东西都保存在手机里。他们精心装扮手机，将其贴身携带。而且最重要的是，手机是人们联系朋友和家人最常用的工具。

    让我们看看大受欢迎，极具功利性的某些互联网服务，他们大都专注于手机使用者的情感生活，不过透过手机，这难免有些冰冷和机械。而用心设计，为心设计的产品同样能带来巨大的经济效应。如果能成功捕获用户的心声和情感，他们就会用忠诚和金钱来回报。苹果（Apple）就是这样的典型例子。

    就像“忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开。”平板电脑的普及速度超过了手机等一切消费电子产品。平板电脑有许多其它技术所不具备的特点。绚丽的大屏幕，这对视觉体验要求很高。直观的操作和基于手势的互动同样是必须具备的，任何类似桌面软件的玩意在平板上都显得那么的格格不入。除了手机，平板是唯一可以在人们经常活动的三个场所（家中、工作和移动）中都使用的设备。

    Web businesses used to disrupt traditional businesses. But today, no large web business is safe from mobile first disruptors. The celebrated web disruptors – the likes of Facebook, Google, Flickr, and Amazon – are now being challenged by mobile-focused businesses.

    Take Facebook (FB). When compared to the elegance and intimate focus of Path, Facebook feels like a generic and sprawling mess. Google (GOOG) Maps, for another, is one of the most popular web services on the planet, but it feels utilitarian and bland when compared to the more playful, personal, and mobile-optimised Foursquare. Web photo sharing services Flickr (YHOO) and Picasa are disrupted and challenged by nimble mobile offerings by the likes of Instagram.

    Mobile-first businesses are forced to prioritize and focus, and in order to survive they must design simple and elegant services. This gives them core advantages in a world that's quickly going mobile and where sharp strategic focus coupled with first-class service design is critical.

    Recent figures show that mobile usage is not merely growing, it's exploding. In its latest earnings report, eBay's (EBAY) CEO John Donahoe revealed that eBay mobile and PayPal mobile are predicting $10 billion in transactions this year -- each. Some 102 million people accessed Facebook solely from mobile in June, a massive 23% increase over March. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in July that mobile-connected users are more active than desktop-only users, and the company is now trying to turn itself around to become "mobile first." (Buying Instagram should help.)

    Mobile games developer Rovio, with a billion downloads for its Angry Birds game, recently also claimed top spot with its latest game sequel, Amazing Alex. The mobile payment start-up Square is already processing over $6 billion in annual transactions, and the 2-year-old company is now valued at $3.25 billion. The most significant action is in mobile, and the business evidence is now there to back up this general claim.

    In a global economy, companies with high ambitions look beyond their domestic markets, and in most countries in the world, significantly more people have access to the Internet via their mobiles than via computers. Russia, Indonesia, India, Africa, Brazil -- these are examples of large mobile-first economies.

    For most people on the planet mobile is not only the primary way to access the Internet, it's theonly way. To have a chance of reaching these customers, mobile services must be built. What we often overlook in the West is that even here, many people only access the Internet through mobile. Of Americans with mobile phones, 31% only or mostly use the Internet on their mobiles. More than a third of the people in the US don't have Internet access at home, but nine out of ten have a mobile phone.

    In the West a common starting point for mobile services is to shrink down a desktop web site. This is a bad idea for many reasons, and especially if you're targeting more diverse – and often mobile first – markets. Through mobile, there's a massive opportunity to create more intimate and personal bonds with users.

    The mobile medium itself is emotional and personal -- to a much larger extent than any other medium. Users have their mobiles with them at all times, even at night (four in five US teenagers sleep with their mobiles in or next to their beds). People collect their most important gems and intimate secrets on their mobiles. They accessorize and stroke them. And crucially, the mobile is their constant connection to the important people in their lives.

    A perfectly popular utilitarian service that makes great sense on the web is likely to feel cold and machine-like when experienced through the emotional beacon that the mobile represents. Designing for people's hearts makes perfect business sense too. If you manage to design services for user's hearts in addition to their minds, these users will reward you with loyalty and profits. Apple (AAPL) is the obvious example.

    Tablets are being adopted at a faster rate than any other consumer technology in the past – including mobile phones. Tablets also have some properties that other technologies don't. The large, lush screen puts very high demands on the visual experience. Direct manipulation and gesture based interaction is expected, and anything that resembles desktop software will feel out-of-place on the tablet. The tablet is also the only device in addition to the phone that is of use and relevance in the three main places where people tend to spend their time: at home, at work, and on the move.