Is That An Apple In Your Pocket? Or Are You Just Happy About The Future?

There is an old saying among longtime techies that goes something like, "Technology alters every environment it enters." It's a happily simple concept, but hideously complex when viewed in real life. The changes brought about by technology range from barely perceptible to the unexpectedly seismic. So, in case you haven't noticed, those changes ushered in by smartphones and other mobile devices have been of the seismic variety. And the "environment" these devices have entered isn't a home, office or car. Those neatly drawn historical lines of demarcation simply are not applicable the way they were with say, telephones, calculators, fax machines and photocopiers.

The environment, in the broadest of definitions, is consumers themselves and every aspect of their lives as they move from office to home to car, as well as from work to family to friends. It should come as no surprise to anyone at this late date to say that the consumer now carries around unlimited access to a whole menu of entertainment choices, from music, games and books to movies and television shows. And there is the wholly reasonable expectation on the part of the consumer that their entertainment choices will continue to multiply.

When Apple recently introduced the iPhone 6S to great hoopla and record-breaking sales, the hoopla and sales dominated the headlines. Almost lost in the shuffle (but not the advertising) was Apple's 3D Touch feature. A highly sophisticated technological breakthrough, the system senses pressure to activate different functions on the same screen location without the need to return to the home button between apps. Creating the acutely intuitive 3D Touch was a very costly, multiyear effort, Apple engineers explained.

What does this mean for coin-op? Quite a lot. Apple has created a new user interface that will likely be incorporated into handheld games. It is also what engineers call "proof of concept." If initial widespread acceptance is any indicator, the public is receptive to new ways of interacting with their mobile devices, as long as the interface is intuitive and offers at least a minimal advantage. This is not always the case, as anyone who can remember the Teletouch pusbutton transmission shifter can attest. That particular consumer interface memorably debuted on Ford's Edsel. As it turned out, consumers hated it. And a good many traditionalists were unwilling to abandon their beloved "3-on-the-tree" for a fancy-pants button.

Another aspect of this mobile push is coin-op's slow but steady move to mobile device integration. To coin a phrase, let's call it MDI. To date, this has been a cautious process by a few companies. Some firms have brought out coin-op versions of mobile games, while others have launched their own apps that bring coin-op to mobile devices. TouchTunes and AMI, for instance, offer apps that work with their jukeboxes; Apple Industries and LAI Games are doing the same for their photobooths. There is also the move by family entertainment centers to integrate mobile devices into venue management.

For the coin-op industry, which is just now getting up to speed on the mobile environment, the prospect of new interfaces represents a particularly daunting challenge. Even more challenging than facing the competition against mobile devices for a consumer's attention, coin-op will now have to integrate what may turn out to be a new generation of widely accepted mobile interfaces and functions into their own apps. This means greater sophistication and functionality. Whether this will turn out to be a boom or bust for coin-op has yet to be determined, but there are clearly opportunities for those companies willing to take risks.