Google is how we discover and explore the world. Amazon is how we gear up to best navigate through that world. Facebook governs our social lives and LinkedIn our professional lives. Our thoughts are shared on Twitter. Our pictures on Instagram. Pretty much every aspect of our lives are already accounted for by a major tech company. And yet I still feel underserved by technology. Still feel like I’m on my own pretty much all of the time.
Just take a look at my personal life. Sure, technology plays a part. There are plenty of dating apps for me to swipe through. But that’s not working for me. I don’t need yet another dating app. What I need is a makeover. And a stylist. And a nutritionist. And then finally a matchmaker. But not until I get the rest of my life in order first. Which I am, as time has proven, either unwilling or incapable of doing myself. Which begs the question: why isn’t there some evil conglomerate to do all of that for me, enhancing my life, collecting my personal data along the way, and then profiting off of my ineptitude and laziness? Why is it that the Big Four (Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook) only care about what we do online? Watching our every move. Data mining our newsfeeds. Customizing targeted ads. Shouldn’t they also care about what we do offline? Why isn’t anyone trying to penetrate this market? This untapped resource of fear and despair, where we spend most of our time, stuck in our own heads, wallowing in self-pity, dreaming of the better life that no one want to give us. If I was a major tech company this is where I would want to be operating. Out in the real world. The one place where everyone is acting naturally, not putting on a show for Big Brother. As Jimmi Simpson said on the most recent episode of Westworld, “There’s a business in that and if you can’t see that then you’re not the businessman I thought you were.”
What I’m envisioning then is a startup built around a subscription based model that would charge users a monthly fee and then leverage various technological solutions to enhance their lives. It would be like having your very own headhunter, matchmaker, financial advisor, personal trainer, mentor, realtor, and life coach all rolled into one. Any service you can think of. At your disposal. Anytime you need it. For one low monthly fee.
As part of your subscription you’ll get job recommendations, stock tips, dating matches, inspirational quotes, etc. Anything that you need to enhance your life. But the service wouldn’t just be feeding your information. It’ll also connect you with a network of real-life support staff to actually meet with you and help you out of your rut as needed. You could never afford all of these services on your own on your lowly dead end job salary. But thanks to this company’s freemium model, that aims to make money off of advertising and data mining, now you can.
At the end of the day, would we really be okay with turning over our day-to-day lives to an evil conglomerate? I think so. We already do that now when we post to Facebook and search on Google and we don’t get anything for our troubles. Doing it through a life enhancing company would make a lot more sense. This way we’d actually be getting something in return. The better life that we’ve always dreamed about but never knew how to get.
Is a tech company dedicated to actually improving our real lives the Greatest Idea Ever?
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