'Real time discovery space' - huh?

There is an explosion in start-up's in the 'real time discovery space' - so what does that piece of jargon mean? 


You give an awful lot of personal information to Facebook and if you lay super-sophisticated GPS on top, it starts to mix a powerful cocktail and one which two companies are keen to serve up to you through their apps - Glancee and Highlight are the leading players thus far in this sector.


Here is what Highlight say about themselves (Glancee say something very similar):

'If someone standing near you also has Highlight, their profile will show up on your phone. You can see their name, photos of them, mutual friends, and anything else they have chosen to share. When you meet someone, Highlight helps you see what you have in common with them. And when you forget their name at a party a week later, Highlight can help you remember it.

As you go about your day, Highlight runs quietly in the background, surfacing information about the people around you. If your friends are nearby, it will notify you. If someone interesting crosses your path, it will tell you more about them.

Highlight gives you a sixth sense about the world around you, showing you hidden connections and making your day more fun.'

Now the immediate reaction of many people when they hear about this kind of app is to hate the whole idea and say they couldn't imagine anything worst but in my experience when something is vehemently hated like this, it tends to have a polarising effect and is loved with equal enthusiasm by another group.


So both these apps are growing very (very) fast and being adopted by hard core early adopters and geeky people who live in Silicon Valley and who do tend to meet in the same circles but don't forget it's from that part of the world that so much of what permeates our everyday lives (whether you like it or not) originates.


Next week it's the huge , music, film and interactive SWSX conference in Austin attended by a lot of genuine opinion formers - in 2007 everyone discovered Twitter at the conference and look where that went - will it be Highlight or Glancee in 2012?


I think this is going to be huge - not least because a lot of it will be driven by the most primeval of instincts - meeting the opposite sex!

Just one last thing - popularity doesn't mean it can make money.....