Technology in Parking
A Means or an End? By Alex Israel and Sam Friedman
PT Editor John VanHorn asked us to put together an arti- cle on emerging tech. Of course, we could have taken the
approach of self-promotion; instead, we decided to go in another direction and talk about the difference between technological innovation (emerging technologies) and business solutions poised as innovation. JVHhad asked readers, in a Sept. 30 PT Blog post (“IBMand
IPI – Wow!”): “Does a ‘gizmo’ on a post or a new app actually help the parker, or add to the frustration?” Our response is quite simple:Many of these gizmos add to the frustration! In an industry riddled with innovation, we’re also inundat-
ed with companies “muddling the water” with gizmos that just add to the frustration. As the late Steve Jobs said, “Innovation…[sometimes comes
from] shoot[ing] holes in how we’ve been thinking about a prob- lem.…”While many of these “innovations” propose a solution, many fail because they forget the problem!And what’s the prob- lemin our industry? Parking – for the driver – is frustrating! The first step to innovating within the parking industry
is to truly understand the aforementioned problem. This is an intensive and iterative process: talking to drivers, engag- ing focus groups and systematically analyzing consumer parking behavior. How many gizmo inventors, app developers or solution
providers actually spend time talking with drivers (and with parking professionals) to understand the market before deeming it “broken” and releasing their solutions? Many of their solutions are riddled with inefficiencies and
almost always lack consumer-user adoption. When we first entered the industry, we faced an uphill bat-
tle. Many “tech start-ups” that had come before us – not all of them – had left a wake of failed promises, ineptitude, ill-con- ceived solutions and a plethora of dead applications. Technological innovation should be pursued in an attempt to
increase the efficiency or effectiveness of an existing industry (e.g., iTunes for the music industry and Expedia for the travel industry). Innovation should address the zeitgeist, evaluate a problemand provide a solution. So, let’s get tangible and evaluate a few facts about the prob-
lem: We’re in a recession, location-based services and smart- phones are growing in abundance, and in the eyes of a driver, parking remains frustrating. As such, we in the parking
industry need to concentrate on developing technologies that are low-cost, location-based, and avail- able via applications or devices that drivers are already using. This is as opposed to products
Solutions that work understand the market, understand
user behavior and take a disruptive approach to change pre-con- ceived norms. We’re not sure how to end this piece, so we’ll leave you with
a quote from the Apple Inc. “Think Different” advertising cam- paign on innovators, created with the LA office of ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day:
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The
Does a ‘gizmo’ on a post or a new app actually help the parker, or add to the frustration?”
that are poised as emerging technol- ogy but are, instead, repackaged old tech (inefficient, expensive and clunky), and are, therefore, ineffective at solving the problem at hand.
Parking Today
www.parkingtoday.com
misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things.…”
Alex Israel and Sam Friedman, Founders of Parking In Motion, can be reached through
www.parkinginmotion.com.
PT 27
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