Ruminating
Time for another "stuff" article.
I've been doing a lot of ruminating lately about where our computer technology is taking us, and lo and behold, this pops up in my inbox: "Tech is a commodity. While Google leveraged its superior tech to build the world's greatest ad business, few companies have managed to emulate this move. To Facebook, for example, tech is a means to an end. In online video, tech is a commodity -- YouTube is the leader, but its core asset is the audience. "It’s the YouTube community that manages spam, makes things go viral, etc. The tech is an afterthought." (From Seven Realities that Affect Video, Ashkan Karbasfroosha, Monday, Jan 21, 2013 Monday, Jan. 21, 2013)
As one who has always believed that the message is the message, not the medium, this quote couldn't help but make me smile. I don't mean to downplay the importance of technology - far from it. Tech will continue to be an awesome force in our world, and it we'll continue to see innovations, and boldly go where no one has gone before technologically.
But when you really sit down and give it some thought, what's it all for? The same old stuff that's been at the heart of it since man first put chisel to stone, ink to paper, chemicals to acetate, and electrons to wiring.
It's about messages. Communication. Ideas. Exchanging thoughts, creating communities, making contact.
As human beings, we don't just want to communicate, we need to. Watch an infant struggle to understand, and be understood, while lacking the more sophisticated tools of speech and gesture. Somehow, it manages to get its message across - and we all pay attention! We desperately try to figure out what that little one has to say, and we go into raptures when its first words are spoken.
Technology, for a while, seemed to eclipse everything else. First radio, then telephones, then television, then the email and the Internet. They were astounding tools that seemed like an end unto themselves. Remember how thrilling it was to boot up your computer and hear "You've got mail!" It didn't really matter what the mail was, what mattered was you had this magical message composed of bits and bytes. I would imagine the sensation was similar when our great-great-however-great grandparents first phone rang, or they tuned in to their first radio show.
And for a while, it didn't really matter what the content was - it was just the thrill of getting it at all in this mystical new way.
But we're beyond that now, and back to "good content versus bad content." Spam versus really valuable email. As 3D movies become more the norm, we'll start demanding that they actually tell a good story, too, and not just throw something at us so we can duck as if we were really in danger of being hit.
I love technology, but I have to admit, I, for one, am happy to see it once again take a back seat to the message it supports, instead of the other way around.
On to another topic: what's your shopping pattern these days?
While visiting family in New York City, I watched as a grocery delivery was made to their apartment. I asked when was the last time they'd actually been in a grocery store, and they realized it was the last time they'd visited me and had to make the pilgrimage to Wegman's. And while I don't think grocery shopping is going to go out of style for many but the big-city dwellers among us, I do think that shopping as a chore (as opposed to shopping as a form of entertainment) is losing ground.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about Amazon Prime, and the benefits of free, two-day shipping. Amazon has always been a leader in its space (online retail), but surely other large volume online outlets will follow.
I realized in making my decision to fork over the $80 annual fee that I have not been to some of my routine stores in months. I don't need to go - I've got Amazon. I can shop, compare prices, read reviews, add something to a wish list to decide on later, buy in large quantities or small, and when you add to that the benefit of almost-instant gratification (I'll have it in two days!), and the cost of gas and the value of my time, and it's just a no-brainer decision.
But more than that, it really dawned on me that my shopping habits had significantly changed. It wasn't an overnight process. I think I first began to use outlets like Amazon to comparison shop - what else was out there, how much did it cost, and what were people saying about it?
Then I began to see the benefit of not having to stop at the store. If I didn't need the item right now, it was just as easy to spend 15 minutes every morning doing my shopping: vitamins, pens, gifts (delivered for me!), hard to find items, even electronics.
Soon I was doing pretty much everything but immediate need and grocery shopping online. And I'm definitely not alone, or Amazon wouldn't have invented Amazon Prime!
My final thought for the month was this: how long before most, if not all, of our books and movies and tv are delivered to us via our computers and/or tablets? Yes, I know, there is a sensual pleasure in a real book in your hand, and sometimes TV and movie watching are communal/family events, and yes, it's still fun to go to the theater and see a movie on the huge screen. These things won't, like bricks and mortar stores, go away. But more and more I find that I don't watch even my favorite, most-anticipated TV shows when they're aired. I DVR them and watch them when it's convenient, or better yet, I wait til an entire season is available via Hulu, or Netflix, or (yes) Amazon Prime, and watch it all at once. And certainly there are movies that just aren't worth the $10+ and the trip to the theater, but are enjoyable enough when watching them On Demand or via Netflix on my iPad (while other family members watch something else!).
And more and more I head right for the Kindle edition of a book, even though I do still love rummaging around a bookstore. Again, the instant gratification of having the book downloaded to my iPad right now, even if right now is 10pm, or in the middle of the workday, is hard to beat. I guess what I'm saying is that when I'm goal directed (I want to see this movie or read that book), I'm much more inclined to use an Internet-delivered version). When I'm in the mood to browse, or just want to be entertained, I'll still channel surf, or visit my local Barnes and Noble.
But then I grew up with channel surfing and the local bookstore. What happens with our kids, and our kids' kids, who didn't have such activities as part of their cherished childhood activities?
And a bigger question? What's the next big technological change that will impact the way we go about our daily business?
I've been doing a lot of ruminating lately about where our computer technology is taking us, and lo and behold, this pops up in my inbox: "Tech is a commodity. While Google leveraged its superior tech to build the world's greatest ad business, few companies have managed to emulate this move. To Facebook, for example, tech is a means to an end. In online video, tech is a commodity -- YouTube is the leader, but its core asset is the audience. "It’s the YouTube community that manages spam, makes things go viral, etc. The tech is an afterthought." (From Seven Realities that Affect Video, Ashkan Karbasfroosha, Monday, Jan 21, 2013 Monday, Jan. 21, 2013)
As one who has always believed that the message is the message, not the medium, this quote couldn't help but make me smile. I don't mean to downplay the importance of technology - far from it. Tech will continue to be an awesome force in our world, and it we'll continue to see innovations, and boldly go where no one has gone before technologically.
But when you really sit down and give it some thought, what's it all for? The same old stuff that's been at the heart of it since man first put chisel to stone, ink to paper, chemicals to acetate, and electrons to wiring.
It's about messages. Communication. Ideas. Exchanging thoughts, creating communities, making contact.
As human beings, we don't just want to communicate, we need to. Watch an infant struggle to understand, and be understood, while lacking the more sophisticated tools of speech and gesture. Somehow, it manages to get its message across - and we all pay attention! We desperately try to figure out what that little one has to say, and we go into raptures when its first words are spoken.
Technology, for a while, seemed to eclipse everything else. First radio, then telephones, then television, then the email and the Internet. They were astounding tools that seemed like an end unto themselves. Remember how thrilling it was to boot up your computer and hear "You've got mail!" It didn't really matter what the mail was, what mattered was you had this magical message composed of bits and bytes. I would imagine the sensation was similar when our great-great-however-great grandparents first phone rang, or they tuned in to their first radio show.
And for a while, it didn't really matter what the content was - it was just the thrill of getting it at all in this mystical new way.
But we're beyond that now, and back to "good content versus bad content." Spam versus really valuable email. As 3D movies become more the norm, we'll start demanding that they actually tell a good story, too, and not just throw something at us so we can duck as if we were really in danger of being hit.
I love technology, but I have to admit, I, for one, am happy to see it once again take a back seat to the message it supports, instead of the other way around.
On to another topic: what's your shopping pattern these days?
While visiting family in New York City, I watched as a grocery delivery was made to their apartment. I asked when was the last time they'd actually been in a grocery store, and they realized it was the last time they'd visited me and had to make the pilgrimage to Wegman's. And while I don't think grocery shopping is going to go out of style for many but the big-city dwellers among us, I do think that shopping as a chore (as opposed to shopping as a form of entertainment) is losing ground.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about Amazon Prime, and the benefits of free, two-day shipping. Amazon has always been a leader in its space (online retail), but surely other large volume online outlets will follow.
I realized in making my decision to fork over the $80 annual fee that I have not been to some of my routine stores in months. I don't need to go - I've got Amazon. I can shop, compare prices, read reviews, add something to a wish list to decide on later, buy in large quantities or small, and when you add to that the benefit of almost-instant gratification (I'll have it in two days!), and the cost of gas and the value of my time, and it's just a no-brainer decision.
But more than that, it really dawned on me that my shopping habits had significantly changed. It wasn't an overnight process. I think I first began to use outlets like Amazon to comparison shop - what else was out there, how much did it cost, and what were people saying about it?
Then I began to see the benefit of not having to stop at the store. If I didn't need the item right now, it was just as easy to spend 15 minutes every morning doing my shopping: vitamins, pens, gifts (delivered for me!), hard to find items, even electronics.
Soon I was doing pretty much everything but immediate need and grocery shopping online. And I'm definitely not alone, or Amazon wouldn't have invented Amazon Prime!
My final thought for the month was this: how long before most, if not all, of our books and movies and tv are delivered to us via our computers and/or tablets? Yes, I know, there is a sensual pleasure in a real book in your hand, and sometimes TV and movie watching are communal/family events, and yes, it's still fun to go to the theater and see a movie on the huge screen. These things won't, like bricks and mortar stores, go away. But more and more I find that I don't watch even my favorite, most-anticipated TV shows when they're aired. I DVR them and watch them when it's convenient, or better yet, I wait til an entire season is available via Hulu, or Netflix, or (yes) Amazon Prime, and watch it all at once. And certainly there are movies that just aren't worth the $10+ and the trip to the theater, but are enjoyable enough when watching them On Demand or via Netflix on my iPad (while other family members watch something else!).
And more and more I head right for the Kindle edition of a book, even though I do still love rummaging around a bookstore. Again, the instant gratification of having the book downloaded to my iPad right now, even if right now is 10pm, or in the middle of the workday, is hard to beat. I guess what I'm saying is that when I'm goal directed (I want to see this movie or read that book), I'm much more inclined to use an Internet-delivered version). When I'm in the mood to browse, or just want to be entertained, I'll still channel surf, or visit my local Barnes and Noble.
But then I grew up with channel surfing and the local bookstore. What happens with our kids, and our kids' kids, who didn't have such activities as part of their cherished childhood activities?
And a bigger question? What's the next big technological change that will impact the way we go about our daily business?
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