‘Hey Alexa, make me a custom corrugated display package with a four-color logo that’s guaranteed to hold up through cross-country shipping’.
There’s a battle going on among the world’s technology giants for the minds, hearts, attention spans and (most importantly) wallets of average Americans.
Personal digital assistants were this year’s hottest holiday gifts and are certainly the rage. These little companions map out our best route to work, tell us the weather in Naples (Florida or Italy), order virtually any piece of necessary (or completely frivolous) merchandise and play our perfect Springsteen set lists on demand. The reason they’re becoming so popular, some say an essential part of the American household, is that these voice-activated butlers are so very, very easy to use.
By continuing to learn and perfect their voice recognition it’s fair to assume Amazon’s Echo (“Hello Alexa”), Google Home (“Hey Google”), the soon forthcoming Apple HomePod (“Yo Jonathan?”) or their competitors will be part of the daily American experience for most of us. If you doubt that, you probably didn’t see the smartphone coming, either. That’s OK. Many of us didn’t.
In and of themselves, these gadgets are, by and large, good things. By performing simple household tasks on command, they make our lives easier and save us time. If Alexa can have that eight-pack of double-roll Charmin on my doorstep by tomorrow evening, more power to her…er…it…and me. But let’s be honest about what artificial intelligence cannot do.
There is no app or personal digital assistant that can, by itself, think, ask the right questions or be creative.
Yes, our society becomes more automated by the day. In fact, our business thrives in part because we invest in state-of-the-art technology. Maybe that’s what fascinates me about these new home gadgets.
But in the design of custom packaging, our team of professionals know what questions to ask our customers in order to meet each of their unique needs. Then we step back to think, breathe, consider the art, the fit, the form and the function before we program our machines to deliver the goods.
Let’s not forget that these incredible gadgets still take orders from their creative creators. How ‘bout them apples, Apple?
John