Is there a case for integration?

Each one of us is entitled to our own madness, because we have our own method for it. Order imposed by someone else usually provokes us to rebel. We revel in our fragmented existence, putting things into categories only we understand. I find it hilarious then the insistence of some people to make everything ‘seamless’ and ‘integrated’. I can’t imagine how they believe it will work!

Sure, there will be things that are so compelling that people will want constant access to it. But that is credit to those services. For instance, if we people want to access social networking sites, they will seek them on every screen. Because these are things that add value to people’s lives regardless of where they are seen. Integration adds value.

And then there will be things people don’t want to integrate at all. For instance, no matter how much you try, most people will not use the television to make a phone call—even in an emergency! Some devices are best suited for a particular function and completely unsuitable for others.

Of course, there will always be people who want to live in a seamless world where the real, the virtual and the mobile all weave in and out of each other. They will want their car’s air-conditioning to have kicked in 10 minutes before they sit in it. They will want their mobile to switch on the lights of their home the moment it is in range.

But the idea that people will want everything exactly the same way across all platforms of interface is an idea that belongs in science fiction. People’s lives are fragmented and trying to integrate everything is not a smart idea at all.
The truth of the matter is that integration will happen only if it makes sense to the consumer. As people in the industry, we must keep in mind that we will be dictated by the consumer and not vice versa. And it just might happen that we end up with more number of standards instead of less, more consolidated ones. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.