Welcome to the Summarin - your weekly dose of commentary and summaries of the most interesting topics from the world of culture, media and commerce. If you are new around here and like what you read, hit the subscribe button below.
In today’s (30.4.22) edition:
Focus and innovation at Snap
Amazon is also working on AR
A Web 3 through the prism of culture report from Complex
The Snap ARgument
Today, I want to share a few short thoughts about Snap - a seemingly silent tech giant which keeps impressing with results and innovations on a regular basis. The focus with which the company is operating in its lane has allowed Snap to build a leading AR/XR platform. In time, there is a potential for the company to establish itself as the leading AR launchpad that will give rise to new businesses and economic models.
With all that said, I still cannot find much use or appeal for Snapchat the app. Every once in a while, after a suite of exciting announcements usually, I end up downloading the app but after a few tries to use it, I end up deleting it. The format of the content and lack of connections on the app simply do not appeal to me. You can safely say that I am not impressed with the app.
Everything else, however, around the company, the camera hardware, AR software, location and shopping integrations are the things which make me stop and appreciate Snap. We should be paying attention because there is a detectable user-obsession emanating from the company. In addition, staying the course and avoiding getting distracted with trends such as metaverse talk has resulted in a roster of tools and products launched that have the potential to make an industry-wide impact.
Here’s a summary of the things that Snap announced this week:
version 4 of Spectacles - the AR eyewear
Pixy - a tiny drone camera that follows you around (very excited about the potential of this one)
the next iteration of their AR suite of applications you can use to build applications for the Snapchat app.
The pace of innovation coming out of the LA-based company puts it in a league of its own and evokes stark comparisons with Twitter - a platform regularly criticized for its lack of innovation and features (basically, operating on the foundation of strong network effects and the habits of prominent users).
There’s a lot to be optimistic about when one looks at Snap. Time will be the judge if it reaches the full potential and ends up the platform that powers the world’s augmented reality. I think the road to success lies in the implementation of utility apps that make the use case of the Snapchat app appealing to a broad array of users. There is already signs of this with the integration of AR shopping and sizing solutions which exists within the app. There are also interesting opportunities in the live events space, and the company seems to be on top of that too:
SPS 2022: Snap and Live Nation Partner To Enhance Concerts and Festivals with AR
One final note, I will not be surprised if Apple tries an acquisition of Snap at some point. The iPhone manufacturer is working on its own suite of AR tech and has a powerful platform of devices upon which it can build a solid product. Whether the capabilities and know-how are present inside the company is not clear though and in my opinion, it is reasonable to consider an acquisition path (or a close technical partnership) if Snap ends up the dominant player in AR.
Amazon is quietly developing a 'new-to-world' AR product (Protocol)
“Add Amazon to the long list of companies looking to build a more immersive future: The ecommerce giant has been looking to hire a number of people for an unannounced AR/VR product in recent months.”
Staying on the topic of AR a little longer, it seems that Amazon is also working on its own products in the space. Shopping and augmented reality are a good fit on paper, yet the experiences users are faced with today are underwhelming. As I mentioned above, only Snap has gotten the closest to a usable solution, but the company has a tight partnership with Shopify. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Amazon to pursue its own implementation of an AR layer over its e-commerce platform. Read story
“If you are a brand, a creator or a builder already in web3, eager to jump in or just thinking about your overall digital transformation strategy - this study is for you. It’s a gut check to make sure the excitement about this space is shared, and more importantly, understood by all, to usher in the next 20 years of web3.”
This Complex report on Web 3 tackles the following questions for the crypto-curious:
How many people talking about crypto and NFTs are actually buying them?
Do people think web3 is breaking or repeating the inequities of web2?
Who is believed to be trustworthy in this space?
What do people think is more valuable - digital or physical?
What exactly got people to buy crypto or NFTs for the first time?
Tweets
That’s all for this week.
Don’t follow your passion,
Marin