The Adnostic

At dinner the other night a friend of mine and I were talking about how excited we are for SXSWi and making plans when she asked me about what I thought the breakthrough app was going to be this year. I thought about it a moment and told her that I didn't think there was going to be a white hot web service this year. Seriously, I don't.

It's not like two years ago when I had a vague knowledge that there was this service called "twitter" that people were using, but the concept of telling everyone what I was doing at any given time of day seemed pointless. Then Ms. Jen pulled me aside and explained how it would be of use for SXSW-

"At WDN people were on the mountain twittering where they were and telling other people to meet them there."

Then it made sense. SXSW is a disperse simultaneous zoo of parties. You could go one place, but what if no one's there? You could go another place, but what if too many people ar there? What if the panel you're in blows, how do you find out if there's another panel nearby that's much better? Twitter. Your friends will tell you what's up. That's why SXSWi was such a proving ground for the now famous social app. It was necessary.

I don't hear about anything quite like that this year. This year has been much more subtle. This year seems to be inwardly than externally focused. I've had my ear to the ground and the rumbling in the distance that is bound to catch on is Ambient Data Collection and Measurement.

Lord Kelvin said, "If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it." This is true of most things, but it is especially true of self improvement. This year there are numerous ambient data collection applications that live on the web or your mobile device that were created to help you measure and improve your own personal statistics:

WeightBot - keep tabs on your weight via your iPhone.

Daytum - measure and track, well, anything, and then make beautiful charts and graphs.

WattzOn - so how big is your carbon footprint really?

WiiFit - measure your exercise progress and receive real-time feedback.

Ego - track your web statistics with your iPhone.

Bedposted - track who you're sleeping with.

Google PowerMeter - track your home energy usage.

Some were not designed with self improvement in mind, but to increase more social interactions, like Twitter:

Google Latitude - uses your phone to let your friends know where you are.

Loopt - pretty much the same thing as Latitude, but without the Google muscle.

We still have Ambient Intimacy, but we've added a layer of Ambient Self-Awareness to it. We are now more aware of each-other and ourselves. This gives us the power to change ourselves, how we use things, and our relationships. That can be incredibly positive and powerful.