The bugs in my life...

Something out there bugs us all.  It gets under our skin, frustrates us or in some way frustrates our calm.  The idea of a person in traffic going too slow; some one in line at the store asking far too many questions while you watch the lines around you stream forward.  All of these instances lead to the same dilemma in our minds.  That the world has interrupted your plans and slowed down your progress as a result.  We want it faster; with things like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.  We want it cheaper; with things like Groupon, Amazon, and Expedia.  Each of these amazing innovations was actually born as the solution to a problem either experienced or witnessed by the entrepreneur responsible for bringing it to us; the consumers.  Today I want to explore the bugs that I have seen in my life... Those things that frustrate me; slow me down or make my goals more difficult to achieve.  Let's take a look at the top 20 (in no particular order):

Problem (1): Programmed obsolescence in modern day technology keeps sales up but leaves customers bitter at the need to continually replace hardware.

Potential solution: Cloud hardware… Why not have an iPhone that is essentially a shell; all the processing happens on a central virtual apple machine, allowing consumers to pay for the virtual power that they need and not have to continually replace their hardware.

Problem (2): Software is selling alpha products now and then cramming (DLC) downloadable content down the users at $1.99 a pop… by the time you realize you’re in for a ton of money for a product that you’ve been demo testing.

Potential solution: UBER Games… joking… sort of; but seriously create a community of users that subscribes to these alpha tests and gets PAID through the collective mind to do the demo work and bug identification. 

Problem (3): Driving to the mechanic to drop off my car is a pain; especially when they need to have it for longer than anticipated. 

Potential solution: Let me pay a premium to have someone come pick my car up and drop off a loaner for me to use in the mean time.

Problem (4): Organizing the cloud is a part time job.  I have music, movies, photos, applications, saved files, scanned documents.  Loading up a half dozen clouds.  I know how I want it to sit work and follow me on my multiple devices but I have no idea how to set it up to do that.

Potential solution:  Clouding as a service; set up my virtual world so that it works for me so that I can just enjoy my purchase with little hassle.

Problem (5): How am I supposed to help my daughter practice Spanish or Karate after school / practice?  I read to them, I exercise with them, but when it comes to the special classes and sports they participate in I don’t know how to help.

Potential solution:  Curriculums that are linked to apps so that I can see progress on my child and know what they should work on. 

Problem (6): Where have all the people gone? It seems like every place I call I have to sit on an automated line for 10 minutes answering a very specific set of questions to get to the person who has to eventually transfer me anyway. 

Potential Solution: Customer Service as a Service; that’s almost a joke but so funny that it might be genius.  Apple’s genius bar is half the reason it is so wildly successful; Intelligent and kind support is a lost art that should be found again.

Problem (7): Road planning and construction seems to go on forever and have multiple projects going on simultaneously in the same area. 

Potential Solution: Supply chain logistics for city infrastructure planning has got to exist… right?!

Problem (8): Genericized automobiles… ok this isn’t a time saver and I’m pretty sure I just made up a word; but it frustrates me to watch a commercial about the brand new amazing <insert mid level car brand here> that people can’t tell isn’t a(n) <insert more expensive luxury car brand here> only to find out that the start price of $20k would require another $20k of upgrades to look like the one in the commercial.

Potential Solution: you got me on that one… but it made me feel better to rant for a second.

Problem (9): Every other time I’m at the pharmacy the person in front of me requires an in-depth understanding of their insurance process making my 2-minute need turn into a 15-minute transaction.

Potential Solution: Redbox pharmaceuticals; this actually already exists in hospitals; where a nurse can plug in your info and have your pill dispensed.  Why can’t I drop off or app in my prescription and then swipe my card on a little box for pick up.

Problem (10): Remembering all the things that grind my gears in the moment can be a bit cumbersome… How am I supposed to remember all the things that bug me when I have so many other things going through my mind. 

Potential Solution: Problem Jar… An entrepreneurs dream would be an app that essentially allows people to Instagram, Vine, Blog, Tweet or otherwise shout into the intra-webs a problem that needs to be solved.   

Problem (11): Am I the only one that can’t find a good grocery list application that shares between multiple devices? I’ve tried about 10 of them now and they’re more concerned with the tiny little pictures than they are the functionality of the list.

Potential Solution: Seriously… a to do list that syncs between multiple devices so that we can add, edit and remove the things we need at the store as we go.

Problem (12): Here is another one that I’ve looked through a dozen applications trying to find (I sort of have but it boggles me that there are so many broken ones out there); a family budget application.  I’m not talking a savings, retirement or mortgage calculator but a “here’s how much I make and here’s what I spend each month” application that creates a forecasted check register for you so you can plan for day to day spending and savings.

Potential solution: Just what is described above; marketed as such.  Who needs assistance organizing their bills? More money more problems right?

Problem (13): Can we not make a Bluetooth or WiFi enabled remote control?  We’ve been using IR technology for at least 10 years now and I feel like someone somewhere is working on this… where are they?

Potential solution: a WiFi / Bluetooth enabled smart remote and hub that attach to your enabled devices and sit in the cabinet with your non enables devices and blast IR signal.

Seriously; this is harder than I thought…

Problem (14): I drive for 60 miles a day to go to my office where I sit in a different build that the rest of my team and interact with no one. 

Potential Solution: Virtual offices.  Why can’t I go to a virtual office and interact with my boss’s avatar?  Have group meetings around an avatar filled conference table.   Second Life but for real life.

Problem (15): Going back to the problem of knowing the problems I face on a day to day basis. Just a general understanding of many different aspects of my life could be organized in a much easier way. 

Potential Solution:  A virtual white board; that takes all of my white board ramblings and organizes them as chores, homework, ideas, issues, reminders and then distributes them as such.  Why isn’t Siri working in the background on this.

Problem (16):  There is SOOO much information out there that it is literally a Tsunami to search through to find the thing you need.  Then once you find it you have to determine if it is a scam…

Potential Solution: Angie’s list, Wikipedia and Amazon have a pretty good market here but the reality is I can still spend an hour researching.  What I’m thinking here is a (DIY) Do it Yourself toolkit that focuses on the (YNA) You’re not Alone model.

Problem (17): How many cords do I need to have to charge all the devices in my house… I wish I had a buffet that was just a recharging station for all the household gadgets…

Potential Solution: invent a kinetically charged battery for a FitBit… or a proximity battery charger for small devices. 

Problem (18):  Websites, stores, everyone… are all driving me bonkers with their need for big data as it pertains to me.  I don’t necessarily care if they have my zip code or other identifying characteristic so that they can get my shopping cart data but I’m sick of having to answer at every transaction.

Potential Solution: Opt In/Out through Apple pay.  Here’s the basic info on me so that you can do your market research (give me my discount) and I will happily give you a thumbs up or down survey on my experience at this transaction as a part of my payment.  Now leave me alone J

Almost there!!

Problem (19): Can we not do better than the regular mail? I understand the desire to have a physical birthday or Christmas card but I’m extremely frustrated that even our current email system is based on the pony express mail delivery system… just not using ponies anymore.

Potential Solution: You’re trying to get a hold of me for a reason; either you know me and want to chat… you need something from me or you want me to buy something from you.  Here is my drop box for those that don’t have permission so I can scan through their junk for a ‘Ken do this message’ and everyone else can open conversations J There is no need for Outlook to store my back and forth communications with the electric company the same way it does with my old roommates.

Problem (20): Speaking of virtual communication; have you ever had a email sent to you that your read with the wrong tone and misinterpreted?  It probably happens every minute in the world right?

Potential Solution:  There’s a grammar and spell check; so why not a tone check?  Word can highlight the importance of sentences in a document and isolate important words so why not program in the connotation of word choice so that people can get a red/yellow/green of how their message is coming across before they hit send.    

Well there you go.  It was a challenge that’s for sure. When I started the list I thought: “Man there are a ton of things that drive me bonkers” but about half way through the well of bugs started to run dry.  I’m sure in a week I’ll be thinking to myself “I should have said that!!”