The Santex Editorial Team
At Santex, we constantly help companies thrive in the Digital Ecosystem. The Digital Ecosystem refers to technology that disrupts how the world conducts business while connecting individual human beings to one another. For businesses, surviving the digital ecosystem necessitates a level of technology and information that matches market demand. Take the Gi FlyBike, for example: the fast-folding, smart-phone integrated, electric bicycle that recently took Kickstarter by storm. As a company dedicated to seamlessly and meaningfully integrating technology into the lives of individuals, it only makes sense that Santex would be the brains behind Gi FlyBike. I was reminded of why even the simplest of products like bicycles need technology to be successful while checking into JFK International Airport.
A massive, centralized billboard in Terminal 8 of JFK International Airport explains further, “Welcome to the application economy, where every business is in the software business.” While a large sign stating, “Welcome to Terminal 8,” may be more appropriate, JFK International’s current billboard does not even feel slightly out of place. Consider the people within the airport: they efficiently pre-purchase their flight tickets on their phones and then receive continuous updates regarding delays as their departure time nears. They might order a driver to bring them to and from the airport through a mobile application or have a bracelet that estimates the amount of calories they burn as they walk from gate to gate.
Gi FlyBike is no exception to these technological advances. The electric bicycle has its own mobile application that syncs to Android and Apple smartphones. Through the app, riders have the ability to control the level of electric assistance they receive and to choose their preferred cycling route. Riders can even create a user profile and share both fitness statistics over social media and the bike itself with friends and family through the mobile application. Last but certainly not least, Gi FlyBike has a built-in USB port so you always arrive at your destination with a fully charged phone.
The bicycle, a 200-year-old invention and the iconic cornerstone of all childhood mobility, is no longer just a hardware product. Instead, Gi FlyBike has innovated the bicycle to another level by combining hardware and software to create a new bicycle experience, one that meets the needs of the modern commuter. And the modern commuter responded with a resounding “yes.” Gi FlyBike met its initial goal within its first five hours of launching and has since raised well over $500,000.
The fact that the billboard is in an international airport is a particularly telling metaphor because it speaks to the digital age as a global phenomena. People from all over the world are drawn to webs of connectivity because it makes their lives more productive. While we may think of bicycles as simple modes of transportation, Gi FlyBike challenges the traditional bicycle design and makes the claim that even the simplest of things can be successfully integrated into the digital ecosystem that surrounds all of us.
