My favourite presentation at Toronto’s DemoCamp this afternoon was by the guys at TaskAve.com.
TaskAve is a simple but brilliant web app that combines maps + tasks + alerts. It allows you to set a mobile alert that will trigger when you are in a particular location. The alert reminds you of a task that you should do at that location.
In other words, if you keep forgetting to pick up your dry-cleaning when you’re at the mall, you can set an alert that will remind you as soon as you enter the mall - or walk by the drycleaners. The alert will appear at a distance from the target of your choosing.
There’s even a business model. If it achieves a decent amount of scale, TaskAve will have loads of location and purchase intent information. That would be of great interest to retail advertisers. If Lowes knows that I intend to buy a new faucet at Home Depot, they can send me a special percent off deal on faucets. Or, Home Depot can send me an add-on deal, perhaps for bathroom tiles or paint.
Love. It.
TaskAve has some potential. But that’s not what was most impressive about the presentation. What’s truly jaw-dropping is that TaskAve was created just two weeks ago at an event called Toronto Start Up Weekend.
A group of five, made up of developers, designers, and product and marketing people created TaskAve in about 48 hours. 48 HOURS! Complete with a monetization plan!
Phenomenal.
Compare that to a newspaper I heard about recently that has been working for over six months on their iPad app. They have not one, but two committees working on it: a steering committee and a working committee.
Pathetic.
Newspaper executives need to wise up soon and allow real innovation to occur, without committees, from the bottom up.
The barbarians are at the gate.
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