My kids were restless last night, which means I spent a decent chunk of the night half-awake. As I was falling back asleep for the fourth time an idea popped into my head for an iPhone app that I have no intention of building, but that I think might actually sell. Here’s how it came together:
- Obama has a *huge* following among tech-savvy young people (i.e., likely iPhone owners)
- He’s an inspiring speaker with a beautiful grasp of language
- There’s a ton of public domain content about him – including transcripts and audio recordings of his speeches, etc.
- Given the above, it would be pretty easy to build a “Hope Machine” that serves up inspirational audio and/or text snippets from his speeches, accompanied by photos.
- The primary interaction mode would be random – shake the phone to get a randomly selected “dose of hope” – but you could also browse by topic or keyword.
- Since apps fall out of fashion quickly, and Obama speaks often, you could extend the franchise by doing serialized editions: e.g., Campaign 2008, First 100 Days, etc.
- It would help to partner up with the DNC or some other organizing / fundraising body to get marketing air cover – and some portion of the app proceeds should go to the cause to tie the marketing story together.
I just did a quick search and there are around 10 existing Obama apps, but none of them offer this combination of entertainment and inspiration. Maybe someone should build it…