Forget the "Internet of Things"… is the "Internet of YOUR Things" next?
Intriguing news from TechCrunch where it has been reported that a company called MakeSpace have just received an $8m investment. What do they do? Well, it’s a bit like Dropbox but for real life.
The company have what appears a fairly lame product: green boxes. That you pay a subscription fee for. Where the cleverness comes is that they will then take the boxes away and store them for you – for you to be able to order back “on demand”. Boxes As A Service (BaaS?).
It’s another interesting example of apps “disrupting” an existing industry: like how Zipcar has changed car rental and TaskRabbit is attempting to change hiring people for domestic services, MakeSpace are challenging traditional storage companies.
So all you have to do is pack your stuff into the boxes (which are 27″x17″x12.5″) and they’ll come and pick them up, and index them online so you can view on the website. If you want your stuff back, you just have to hit a button, book a delivery and they’ll be at your door within 24-48 hours.
Sounds like a pretty good idea if you’ve got a box of DIY equipment or Eurovision supplies you’re only going use once a year, right? The stumbling block might be price: at the moment for $25/month (about £15) you get four boxes of storage and the boxes aren’t that huge… so unless you live somewhere really tiny, then the appeal is perhaps slightly more lacking.
The company only exist in New York at the moment – but presumably the cash injection will enable them to consider expansion. Surely London is crying out for something like this given the average flat is approximately the size of a shoebox?
