Pokemon

Augmented reality might be one of the worst names ever used to spark innovation. For years now, proponents have been tossing it out to blank stares. Quick! What does it mean to "augment" reality?

No one knew. Many AR startups just faded away, never making more than a ripple in any marketplace.

But now Pokémon Go is making it all crystal clear. People can hide digital characters in real places. Armed with your phone or tablet, you can go find them.

If you can hide, say, a Golbat in your local public library, then you can also place, a bottle of Coke in the corner of a Starbucks. You can put a recipe adjacent to the frying pan section of a Williams Sonoma cooking store. You can put a $2,000 discount Ford coupon on the sidewalk outside a Chevy dealer.

I'm old enough to remember Prodigy, which was a joint venture of IBM and Sears. I once stood in a fulfillment warehouse surrounded by yellow Prodigy software boxes, which were cued up to be sent to curious consumers. It was nearly impossible to explain what Prodigy did. You installed the software on your personal computer and then you could see content about lots of things like travel and sports and news. One-third of each screen was taken up by advertising. It wasn't a big hit.

Soon after, the web was born. People could see the Prodigy concept at work, minus the baggage imposed by its inflexible corporate owners. Do I have to tell you what happened next? Not really, or you wouldn't be reading this now.

Pokémon Go is going to spark an innovation race. Everyone is now going to "get" the power and potential of putting digital creations in the real world. Your industry will change, and so will your career.

Back in 2012, I co-authored a book about this, and we called this concept the Physical Web. No longer will the web be limited to your screen; it's broken free and will soon be everywhere: stores, restaurants, factories, schools, parks...

Let's all agree to finally get past that horrible "augmented reality" name. Instead, just go check out Pokémon Go, and then figure out how to leverage its approach for your career or business. There's still time to be one of the first because innovation takes much longer than breathless proponents want to believe.

And don't forget to look both ways before crossing the street, even if you are chasing hidden treasure.