AirRun, a new iPhone app that is perfect for folks who are either lazy or unemployed, is a pioneer in a new generation of social media applications that enable peer-to-peer (P2P) commerce or "crowd commerce" as it is sometimes called.

It's a bit like Napster was for music. Remember how Napster allowed perfect strangers to exchange music online. That was a P2P music service. This is a P2P commerce service.

The idea is that if you want anything, you hop on your iPhone and place a request via AirRun. Maybe you want somebody to bring you a Snickers bar. Maybe you want somebody to come and mow your lawn. In addition to defining the task, you also note how much you are willing to pay for somebody to do the task for you.

In AirRun parlance, you are a Seeker -- a person who is seeking somebody to do something. Once your request is posted, anybody *in your area* who wants to do the job for the price you've offered can let you know that they are game to do it. Those folks are called Runners -- they make money by running errands or doing similar chores.

It's all very localized. A Seeker's jobs are only seen by local Runners. This makes sense. There's no reason for a Runner in Tokyo to see a Seattle Seeker's request that somebody go to the store to buy them a bottle of Gatorade.

To enable localized commerce between individuals, the service uses the advanced geolocation features of the iPhone. In the past, you needed to know somebody who you could call to do something for you. Now, you just put an AirRun request out and it magically happens as soon as you select a Runner. Runners are rated by Seekers so over time the best and most reliable Runners will be well known to Seekers.

Nationally, here are just a few AirRun requests that have come in recently that I thought were interesting: Get in line for me at the DMV; Traditional Kung Fu Lessons; Personal Assistant for the day; Beginners Ukulele Lesson; Flowers for my wife; Bluegrass fiddle player; Help me get rid of snakes; Change grandma's diaper; Help Me Get a Date with Kobe Bryant; and Come to Our Office and Sing Happy Birthday to Kim.

With the service just transitioning from an early beta program to being up and running, the trick for AirRun now is to get a critical mass of local Seekers and Runners. Obviously, the first Runner in a given area who signs up might not see any Seekers online. The first Seeker to post a request might not get a response from any Runners.

But, this is a fun new (and 100% free) iPhone app, and word of mouth seems to spread pretty fast.

So how does this app help the lazy and the unemployed?

Put simply, AirRun's founders created an app they thought they would use because they often feel "lazy" and want somebody else to do something for them. At the same time, it occurred to them that P2P commerce could alleviate the unemployment problem that is ruining the country. By matching up lazy Seekers (some Seekers prefer to call themselves "efficient" or "time-constrained") with unemployed Runners, the founders thought they could kill two birds with one stone. It's early days for P2P commerce, but there's huge potential for this new way of doign business and for AirRun's location-based community job hub.

p.s. You can find some additional information at http://www.airrun.com but the best thing to do, if you want to understand AirRun better, is to download it from the Apple App Store (provided that you own an iPhone) and give it a try yourself.
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Andrew Cross
Walker Sands Communications
www.walkersands.com
Direct: 312-235-6982
Cell: 309-231-3023
Email: andrew.cross

For More Information: http://www.airrun.com

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