Apple x Starbucks: Local Content and Services
More exciting than the new iPods and less frustrating than the iPhone price reduction was the partnership Apple and Starbucks announced yesterday. Buying Starbucks brand music from my iPod / iPhone while waiting for a Cappuccino is nice, but what's inspiring is how the device becomes integrated with the experience in that moment—I want to know what song is playing in the shop so I just look at the iTunes WiFi Music Store and see what it is.
Hopefully this is the beginning of a new wave of location specific functionality that iPhones and iPods gain to take advantage of the WiFi networks they join. Why not order a coffee from a menu on the device? Or buy movie tickets when you get close to the theater? Or change the song on the jukebox in a bar? Or leave digital graffiti in a public space?
