Earlier I posted about SXSW and the change over the past six years. Yesterday, I asked  several people what big themes they see coming out of this year’s conference.

The ambient apps came the closest to anything in terms of buzz. But they did not overwhelm SXSW like Twitter did in years past.

Why is that? I think it has a bit to do with the fact that the market is maturing. Many of the apps leverage existing platforms. That means they don’t have a singular technology foundation to grow from. Forecast, for example, leverages the Foursquare API. I stopped using Foursquare.

I think that in itself makes the apps less appealing. There is nothing transforming about them.

Services Angle

Nonetheless the concept of proximity does have applications for the enterprise that is considering how mobile apps affect their business, especially in the context of the ways they may be used in setting where proximity is a critical factor. I think in particular of apps like Geoloqi which can be used to warn people in dangerous places about areas that may be unsafe.