Mall Rats: iphone Application
Iphone developers, step away from your 37,000th epic journey of World of Warcraft, take a deep breath, and help me conquer the “real” world, or at least a poorly designed mall near you. Keep this in mind: I will troll slap a nerd, if I hear about how he is too busy to do something, somewhat significant, because he is in the middle of leveling.
Here is the problem:
Trying to find a Cinnabon kiosk, cleverly tucked away in the northern nook of a 115,000 square foot mall (1,000 yards from the Food Court so the Cinnabon exec.’s can provide cinnanomy sweet solitude from the forever lingering aromas of Lil Sicily’s secret sauce), is reason enough to settle for an over-priced, over-salted snack from Mom and Pop’s Popcorn and Pretzel joint. Because, after I try on a hoodie from the Gap (I gotta keep it street), the last thing I want to do is track down a mall map.
I have an iphone, which sits at the upper echelon of modern technology ; why do I need a measly, mall map. If I’m in my car driving through some obscure, newly constructed subdivision in east Dallas, Google maps knows exactly where I’m at. I don’t have to rummage through the back seat of my Grand Cherokee to find a dilapidated DFW city map. To be honest, I threw that thing away.
Here is the solution:
Create an application that locates the mall I’m in, brings up a map of that mall, and pinpoints my location. Trust me, I know it’s going to take some time to create a database of all American malls, so start with the nation’s most trafficked. As interests spreads, so will the multitude of maps.
The biggest obstacle is overcoming the horrendous ability of GPS to locate me indoors. This is evident when I’m in my car garage; as far as satellites are concerned, I don’t exist. I’m practically Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. But you’re the nerd, you figure that one out.
Million dollar question:
How do you get paid?
Create revenue by placing adds below the map. I know everyone hates the intermingling of apps and ads, but it would be beneficial for me as a shopper to know that American Eagle is running a special on hoodies (AE’s not really my style, but a deal is a deal). As the app becomes more popular, ads can be centralized to the specific mall that the shopper is in.
Violah. Now I know exactly where that cinnamony morsel of goodness is located, no more sniffing it out like blood hound. Let us feast.
