2010 – Year of the Man Purse
by Braden Kelley
I’ve been trying to decide whether to make any 2010 predictions, and I never thought that this would end up being the one that I chose, but here goes:
2010 will be the year of the man purse – thanks to the proliferation of netbooks, e-readers, and a new generation of tablets launching this year from Apple, Plastic Logic, Google, and others.
It probably won’t happen in the first half of the year, but by the time back-to-school and christmas roll around, man purses will finally start to catch on.
Some people will call it a satchel to make themselves feel more manly, and others will see no shame in calling it a man purse, but the fact remains that people will want a way to keep close at hand the gadgets that they are beginning to see as an extension of themselves.
Way back in 2006 celebrities including Robert Downey Jr., David Beckham, and Cuba Gooding Jr. were using man purses, but they didn’t cross the chasm because there wasn’t enough value created for the average joe. But now, don’t be surprised if by the end of 2010 you see more celebrities like possibly Shaquille O’Neil, LeBron James, or Chad OchoCinco sporting a man purse to help carry the gadgets they choose to use to connect with their fans.
For my money, the biggest unknown is not whether man purses catch on, but which devices will be their main residents. Which devices will earn the right to be worn?
Apple is not going to have this market to themselves, no matter how cool their tablet might be.
So, what kind of device will Google come up with?
Can Amazon counter with something to keep the Kindle relevant?
What do you think?
Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.
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