The business of touching

I have always been intrigued by the word "touch." The word is a chameleon; it can mean a number of things. Of course, in its most basic form, it refers to one of our five senses — the sense that makes us feel the physical world around us. But it can also refer to emotional feelings. When someone says, "Wow, pinadalhan mo ako ng gift. Touch naman ako," the word refers to a positive, warm feeling of appreciation. But when a 12-year-old girl is crying on TV and says, "That man touched me!" we all know what it means.

Whether it’s in our personal or corporate life, it’s important to always bear in mind the importance of touch. In the end, it’s not what you hear, smell, see, or taste that matters, it’s what you feel. You may be tasting a great meal, or smelling a great scent, but if you feel crummy inside, the good food you’re eating and the great scent you’re tasting is meaningless.

One person who’s fully aware of the importance of the sense of touch is businessman and musicman Bambi Fonacier. Most people who grew up in the ’70s would know Bambi Fonacier as one of the more popular FM radio DJs. Together with the likes of Bingo Lacson and Hillbilly Willy, Bambi lorded it over in the airwaves in the roaring ’70s. I first met Bambi through a common friend, Dr. Helen Milla. One day, Helen, who is my favorite dermatologist, was happily pricking my zits when she suddenly said to me, "Rod, you should meet this guy, Bambi. He has an amazing product. It’s a computer with a touch- screen monitor, and you get to press the songs you want to play."

Having worked for MTV for close to five years, I’ve become a little bit jaded when it comes to music players. But when I met Bambi and saw his product, "TMV," I learned a valuable lesson: "Never be jaded. This world has a lot to offer."

It’s hard to describe TMV. TMV stands for "Touch Music and Video." Simply put, it’s like an iPod and a jukebox — on steroids. Basically, you have a screen, a touch screen, with a very attractive interface showing colorful pictures of the various music albums/CD covers of countless artists. The albums/CDs scroll gently across the screen, giving you a glimpse of the menu of songs that are stored in the CPU. Visually, TMV is very intoxicating. But what makes it stimulating, and, in fact, almost addictive, is that you choose the songs by touching the screen. If you see a CD that you like scrolling on the screen, you simply tap on it, and all the songs in that CD are listed on the screen in big fonts. Then you just tap on the song that you like. On the side of the screen are the letters of the alphabet. If want to look for a particular song or a particular artist, simply type the letters of the song and/or artist, and instantly the song or the artist appears.

"I am passionate about music," said Bambi. "As a DJ, I was an avid collector of all kinds of music — from the classics to OPM and modern stuff. In the olden days, you had to collect albums, which occupied a lot of space. And then came the CDs, which also occupied a lot of space. Cataloging music and being able to play your favorite song with the least possible effort became a challenge for me. So, I thought to myself, ‘Why not come up with a software that makes cataloging and picking songs easy?’ What I wanted to create was a music machine for the living room that will cater to everyone, a contraption that a grandfather or a five-year-old kid could use and appreciate together with ease."

Bambi continued, "Ultimately, it’s the magic of touch. The inviting look, plus the touch screen, makes the machine usable by everyone. I made sure the interface really entices people to touch, scroll, and choose. It’s meant to be a communal machine, something that is shared by everyone. Most MP3 players kasi, medyo they’re a bit too personal to the individual user. To me, music is enjoyed best when it’s experienced together. Now, we’re getting orders from abroad na rin."

Ingenuity, creativity, practicality, quality: these are the four key ingredients that Bambi focused on. "My barometer for TMV is the ‘awe factor in 10 seconds.’ Kung ’di ka ma-impress sa isang bagay in 10 seconds, in all likelihood, that product will not be successful."

Indeed Bambi Fonacier is a prime example that, with a little ingenuity and lots of hard work, Pinoys can come up with products equal to, if not better than, the industry standard. And oh yeah, it does help to have that magic touch, too!

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Thanks for your letters, folks! You may e-mail me at rodhnepo@yahoo.com.