Metadata vs. metaservices.
The post about the iPhone got me thinking about the idea of metadata everywhere and I realized that metadata aren’t inherently useful. The Minority Report famously laid out a future for personalised metadata of sorts that accost you everywhere you go. (I love how in the film, this is used as a backdrop which turns a bad situation into a nightmare.)
Of course the problem with metadata as envisioned there is it is simply a futuristic version of the same old interruptive model of advertising that people have grown to despise everywhere else. What would be preferable (IMO) are metaservices. Things that I can call upon as needed.
Off the top of my head it seems that metaservices could take any form – i.e. digital or physical but would consist either of services that you bring with you – preloaded into your iPhone or wallet etc. or of services that you encounter out in the world.
The former could actually create a new revenue stream for Apple. In my previous post, I imagined iTunes as the distribution medium for new services. Apple could formalise this and create a new section of iTunes specifically for marketers to list their services. As with Google, this could be a directory as well as offering prime placement for payment. At the very least, Apple ought to create a formal space on iTunes for the distribution of the rapidly growing list of applications.
Services of the second kind (encountered and served out there in the world) would require a new international symbol to let you know a service is available here. This sounds like a fantastic design brief for someone.