Another thing I really like about this decade that we’re currently in is the revival of things from the past. I’m not sure if a lot of people are aware of it but this decade, the 2010’s, will most likely be remembered as the makeover/reboot decade.
This happened or is happening because people have amassed a large amount of literature and tv shows in the 20th century that was too great of an image to be communicated properly to the people of that time.
Then, suddenly, all of this advanced technology sprouted up and was able to make people’s imagination into a tangible thing that they could watch. Take, for instance, the ridiculous amount of superhero films that have come out in the last 17 years. There has never been a boom in one specific type of movie genre that has been so incredibly successful.
This phenomenon is by far in large due to the fact that technology is advanced enough to live up to the imagination of adults that read comic books when they were children. And it’s incredible because that is a seriously complicated thing to do.
This kind of rebooting can even be seen in music with different genres that are being revamped, and different clothes that are getting a new modern look. Those things don’t have to do with technology but they still happen because that’s the decade we live in. So, when we do develop the technology and have the creativity to mold it, we jump up on the opportunity because we now have that ability
Take, for instance, the app Pokemon Go. Entire generations of people were affected by the show ‘Pokemon.’ You either grew up as a kid when Pokemon was popular or you were a parent raising your kids when Pokemon was popular. So, the people at Niantic opted to use Augmented Reality to create an app that would allow someone to walk around in the real world and catch Pokemon spread out in different locations.
This is the height of the phenomenon I’m talking about. Someone literally took modern-day technology to make an app/game that would potentially fulfill the childhood dream of millions of people. Not exactly the most practical use of that technology, but still incredible nonetheless.
Recently, people have again revisited this theme by making an app the resembles the use of a walkie-talkie. Yes, the app Marco Polo allows you to video chat without having the full conversation all at one time.
This might sound like Snapchat, but the point of Snapchat is to send fleeting messages/pictures so that you don’t have to worry about substantial conversations. That might sound crazy, but it’s obviously a comfort to a lot of people because it’s really popular. But, people love convenience. Surprisingly enough, texting someone or typing out a message to someone can be more time consuming than expected.
Walking down a busy street and crossing over to other streets can be dangerous if you’re trying to type out a message to someone on your phone. Not only that, but once you commit to sending the message, you subconsciously agree to be present for the rest of the conversation until it’s over otherwise you could be perceived as rude.
Using a walkie-talkie, on the other hand, obviously isn’t the same as using a phone. You can pass messages between you and your friend at your convenience and that’s okay because that’s purpose of a walkie-talkie. Marco Polo takes advantage of this opportunity by allowing you to send a video message to your friend and they can pick up the conversation whenever they need to. You can replay the videos that have been sent so you never misunderstand the content of your conversation.
Let’s face it, we’ve all opened a someone’s message on Snapchat and accident tapped out of it before we could understand the context of the message. In some cases, that message is completely lost and you either have to ask the person to resend it or just not reply. Marco Polo allows you to have full conversations with convenience and you don’t have to give a good amount of your attention to typing out a message.
marcopolo.me
