Real quick-consumer phenomenon

Was in SLO this evening--March 11--walked past Apple Store and saw LINE of people and a big black out curtain hiding the interior. Took a second, but then I remembered TODAY is the day iPad2 is available. It was a cold day with stiff breeze, earthquake/tsunami distractions AND YET MANY fans were standing in line (not that common around here) and waiting to get inside and see/buy/be entertained. Amazing stuff!

I was amused at first. I still think the MacBook Air 11.6 is a better solution for most people (and soon, hopefully for me). THEN (OCD kicking in) I realized that you NEVER see anything like that sort of consumer excitement, devotion, enchantment with anything real estate related. NEVER. Real estate offices open (and close) all the time. Ever see a line of people standing in line waiting? Ever see fervent loyalty to a new business model or marketing approach or advertising strategy related to real estate? WONDER WHY?

You know it's got to be harder to develop an iPad successor than it is to create a better brokerage model able to provide unprecedented service. I know, Apple makes a huge hunk of change selling image and hardware and software, but if you add all the commissions up on all the real estate deals in the nation for a year---that's a pretty big hunk of change too. Oh, there are other types of computer platforms. You don't need to buy Apple. You want to--if you're a loyalist.

Back to the one side fits all world of real estate. Lots of subtle variations on a theme derived from trade association mantras and the everybody gets the same educational indoctrination program. Where are the Apple visionaries in real estate? It's not like there's no room for improvement. The public confidence levels in the quality of service received hasn't undergone remarkable change--mostly no one wants to know. The results of the bubble/bust cycle suggest that ratings might be lower than 8-10 years ago when we were all very brilliant.

Creativity, insight, innovation, exploration are not part of the real estate terrain. Even the vendors are mostly interested in being just a little better than the next vendor--that's why MLS systems have lagged so far behind the rest of Internet technology. Facebook, Twitter, Google and other firms not even in existence 15 years ago have changed the world.

Real estate isn't much different than when I started--tech is playing a roll, but not in very creative ways--largely because the measure of success in real estate is revenue, not outstanding service that generates impassioned loyalty among consumers. Member loyalty for the trade associations receives more attention than anything related to the public and, predictably, it's still looking for phenomenal service, excitement and maybe even a little entertainment in the way real estate is bought and sold.

When is the last time you stood in line to see a new product?