The 3D Future of Products and Marketing is Upon Us Courtesy of Steve Jobs and Apple

Steve Jobs has been quoted saying “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them”, and while waiting in line to pickup my new iPhone 4S that i saw something I never wanted until I saw it right then.

Underwhelmed by the iPhone 4S introduction effectively having only a better camera and being teased by rumored cool stuff on an iPhone 5 that did not materialize,

I went to a nearby AT&T store and put in my name to buy the 4S. While waiting for a salesperson I played around with the new LG Thrill Android phone, watching a 3D video, and playing the preloaded 3D golf game. I had heard that Nintendo 3DS had 3D glasses-free games, but never thought twice about it since I’m not a gamer (besides Words With Friends, of course), but seeing the 3D video and camera built into a smartphone, as George Steinbrenner said to George Costanza once on Seinfeld, “I’m blown away, George – blowowowowown away!”

I was going on vacation to New Orleans for the Voodoo music festival the next week, and I started pondering of all the cool 3D videos and photos i could take: concerts, French Quarter, fair grounds, food, etc. And I was right. You name it, I photographed or video recorded it, and all of them were so engrossing in 3D – it was incredible.

Then I thought what if Apple added 3D to its iPhones or the iPad? Nah, Apple isn’t that cutting edge, but a quick hail mary search produced

several articles and an Apple 3D patent application filed in March 2011. At fnding this my jaw dropped, and the future became wide open with new possibilities…

What this technology does is engage you in the media longer and more than you could imagine. I saw the movies “Avatar” and “UP” in theaters and was not a fan, finding staring at the 3D for 2 hours was very distracting from the storylines, and not ultimately enjoyable. But having 3D in your pocket, was a complete game changer – when its YOUR kids, YOUR vacation, YOUR photos, videos, or concerts, YOUR wedding, YOUR party, YOUR family gathering, you will be ever more immersed, amazed, and engaged with your media and memories. And I don’t expect you to believe me now, but I know you will believe me later…

Ultimately, this technology will result in marketers, digital agencies, companies, and the web itself redefining their products, websites, ad campaigns, and their overall strategies to reach and engage customers. Remember the 3D ads and amazing ad displays in the movie “Minority Report” in the mall? Yeah, it will be like that. You don’t even know it, they don’t even know it, but it will come. Soon.

Next I wondered, if Apple plans, at some point (and hopefully soon) to put 3D in to iPhones, why not iPads?

Even the long rumored and now unofficially offcial iTV in 2012, how is everyone NOT going to use this technology? And while I’m the first person to not listen to people’s predictions and pundits’ prognostications, it was impossible to NOT see the future of 3D entertainment, marketing, and people’s lives via toys, phones, tablets, laptops, computers, TVs, etc. Sure 3D TVs exist today, but mostly with glasses that are not well received, need recharging, and are expensive. Then I found a CNET review for a Toshiba 3D laptop . While not perfect according to CNET, it is currently available for sale, and the techology will only improve and proliferate.

Cellphones are about to come to market with Xbox Kinect like gesture recognition in smartphones, as well Apple just won a patent for 3D motion gesture tracking too. And did you know YouTube already has 3D capabilities, converting videos to 3D, and a 3D section of the video sharing site? Neither did I… These things will all converge to bring 3D off the screen and users interacting with things in

mid-air, a la the computer screens in “Minority Report”. But it will be you, me, your uncle, friends, and kids playing with products in 3D. And don’t even get me started on how this will integrate with social media connecting people all over the world in 3D in real time. Its all coming.

Steve Jobs may be posthumously launching a whole new set of products for us we don’t even know we want. The Apple Newton may not have taken off initially, but the PDA

market was born of Apple’s product, and the iPhone and iPad are products spawned into immature if non-existent markets. It may be deja 1984 all over again from Apple and others, as a recent article noted Apple already has “groundbreaking” 3D screens from 3.5 to 40 inches. Already as in NOW, today!.

Marketers and product companies will have to learn an entirely new medium to reach customers. While I won’t feign to predict the future, even Buckaroo Bonzai couldn’t predict the 8th dimension – you WILL want to the 3rd dimesion. It will be everywhere. And you will not only like 3D – you will love it.

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