Thought of the Day

Skeleton Key - Billion Dollar Idea

Everyday I walk to the department. On my arrival, I am supposed to find the right key then unlock the door. I have to spot the one out of a ton of keys.

What if I have only one key, and one key for all doors?

I could set up a company that provides e-lock system as a service. Here is the workflow.

1. The company provides locks and key cards.
2. The company provides a easy-to-use server for the building which manages all the key cards with a nice and friendly admin interface.
3. The server can be set up to sync with the central server of the company but it’s up to the manager.
4. The card can be reused to be authorized in other buildings. So that we carry only one card.
5. Organize an association that associates every one of such companies and make up some standard. No matter where you get your key card it’s gonna be universal and can be used in other systems.

So I told this to Josh. He immediately responded that we should use phones with apps instead of key cards. Many phones comes with some sort of security measure even biometrics. Then the goal becomes

1. We build locks that can be unlocked with phones;
2. The manager can choose between a centralized service as user management or a dedicated server for the building only.
3. If they choose to use centralized service, we provide them with a admin interface on our website.
4. If they choose a dedicated server inside the building, we provide the server and the software. Something like plex.media like software is very useful, that the admin can choose to use a universal account to manage many different buildings.
5. Sell locks to every building managers.

So how to make cheap and reliable locks that can be unlocked with phones (NFC maybe)?