On the demise of the iBeacon fad...

I don't know if there are that many people who remember the splash announcement of iBeacon from Apple couple of years ago, but I highly suspect if anyone outside of the industry would remember or care. It thus comes as no surprise - almost to be expected - on the news that, two years later, iBeacon hardly catches on which sounds like an obituary in advance.

For something coming from Apple, it must have doubled the disappointment. The iPhone users are a much more coveted crowd, they generally have higher spending power, they are more loyal (to their phone and Apple), they tend to embrace newer trend (afterall, having a popular app on the Apple Store is every developer's wet dream). Startups and retailers must have expected iBeacon to deliver the nirvana that they're been looking for, tracking users every step of the way, aisle by aisle, pushing coupons, news and more to them, staying in "constant contact" with them. Perfect, right?

Yes, it's perfect, to advertisers and retailers. To users and consumers, it's beyond creepy, one more step toward Minority Report.

No one wants to admit it either, but the whole online coupon fad has fully played out, as evident by the spectacular rise and fall of Groupon, falling to only 1/10th of its IPO value in three year's time.

Maybe no one wants to admit it, but everyone should be fully aware that the younger generations, the crowds that retailers most wanted, coming of age in the Edward Snowden exposé, and being much more tech savvy than their parents and grandparents, are much more cognizant of privacy concerns. While they might put themselves out there, in the age of Instagram, that's not the same as being tracked for every step one makes.

I never bought into the Groupon craze, I have better things to do with my time. Turning off bluetooth was among the first thing I did when I got my iPhone, and I never intend to turn it back on, for the sake of some iBeacon that I fully do not intend to use (or be tracked). I hate finding anything about myself online because I take privacy every seriously, and I mean to keep it that way. To that end, I'm not sorry to see the demise of iBeacon, and for good measure.