GOODIES TO GO! ™
September 7, 1999 — Newsletter #44
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Greetings, Weekend Silicon Warrior,
9/9/99 is coming! That’s the next Y2K concern date coming up.
I actually had a gentleman come up to me as I was unpacking
my belongings. He wanted a lot of my boxes. That was fine
with me, as it was one less that I had to lug to the trash.
Do you know what he wanted them for? He was putting together
a Y2K preparation kit.
Did you hear…
>We laptop fans will rejoice! A new battery, Electrofuel
PowerPad 160, ran for 15 hours in a PC World Test. It can be
yours for about $500. Unbelievable. I get about 2 out of mine
before the “switch to wall power” window pops up.
>If you don’t mind looking at targeted advertisements in
return for free access to the Net, now you can go with a big
dog. AltaVista has become the largest U.S. company to offer
free access to the Web.
>The Pennsylvania Securities Commission has just put an
Internet Fraud Unit into action. Good deal. The unit is made
up of seven members who make their money surfing to find
fraud. I like this trend.
Now, onto today’s topic…
Remember when the big joke about technology was that the
clock on the VCR was always blinking 12 noon? When new
technology was sold to an older audience using the
statement, “Get a 12-year-old kid to help you understand how
it works”?
Well, now all those 12-year-old kids are becoming the twenty-
somethings of the world. Folks, the computer generation has
grown up. Their attitudes and methods of getting from here
to there are about to start having a marked effect on the
world as we know it.
The generation coming up will do what’s known as
“internalizing” the technology they grew up with. You did it,
too. Those of the television generation internalized TV and
lived their lives giving a nod to the TV. When your show
comes on, the world stops, right? It’s the same thing with
appliances and household items. You used to have to prepare
dinner, but now you can heat it up in a tray. Consider videos
or the electric light. Each major invention has had an impact
on how people live their lives and their perception of how
things around them should be.
“The Net Powered Generation,” a survey that polled 8500 16-
to 22-year-olds in North America, found five “emerging
beliefs and expectations” that will be part of life in the
years to come (or until newer technologies change the
landscape once again). The authors of the survey have termed
these five items the “New Rules.” Ready for this?
1. The Net Generation of young adults will expect “deep and
accurate” information to be available all the time, no matter
where they are. Those who know how to use the Internet are
already coming to expect that. When preparing for a class,
if I can’t find something on the Web to bolster an argument,
I’m put off. It surprises me. Soon it will be expected to
be the norm. Books? Bah!
2. Young adults will insist that personal information has
value and they will expect marketing to be geared toward that
personal information. Mass marketing is out. Pinpoint
targeting of advertising will be expected. Basically, don’t
show me anything that doesn’t have an impact specifically on
me. Don’t show me anything that I would never want to buy.
The Net Generation will expect that their salespeople know
them better than “just another customer.”
3. The survey noted the line “choice is a human right.” The
Net Generation will begin to request a wide range of choices
in whatever they wish to buy, get knowledge about, or consume.
No more will Henry Ford’s statement, “You can have any color
as long as it is black,” stand. This will also go into
creating products for the consumer. If, after searching all
of the choices available, the consumer doesn’t like his or
her stable of product, then a product should be built to meet
their standard. Those companies that cater to this mentality
will sell to the Net Generation of money producers.
4. The Net Generation will believe that there is such a thing
as a “free lunch.” The Web has so much free stuff. The Net
Generation will expect this way of doing business to be used
across the board of commerce. They will require beta-tester
stuff, a taste before they buy the food. They should be able
to drive the car for a week before making a decision. Free is
in, so says the Net Generation.
5. I found this one really interesting. The Net generation
will change our concept of how relationships are constructed.
The use of the Internet to connect with another person is
already seen as more than casual. The connection will start
to be considered a true relationship, a true friendship. If
two people converse and couple up over the Web then, even
if they never see each other, they have a relationship. Trust
will be built over phone lines rather than with a handshake.
Okay, anyone else find these a little too “gimmie, gimmie,
gimmie” for their taste? Maybe it’s because I am no longer
part of the upcoming generation. Actually, I’m part of no
generation. I was born in 1964, the one year with no moniker
for the generation. I’m one year too late for the Baby
Boomers and one year too early for Generation X. All I know
is that I was born under the sign of the dragon.
I am what I am… a grouchy guy with a computer.
Now, will all of these picks come true? Nah, but I do see the
world moving into a more Web-format approach to business. I
also can feel students carrying themselves as if they matter
most. It’s a good thing to see. I will always be a fan of a
young person who believes they are important enough to be
known just for who they are. Those are the students who get
knocked down, but then have the belief system to simply get
back up again. (That’s a quote from a popular song by the
way, in case you missed it.)
I would like to see this survey done again in five years, but
this time I would like to see the information gathered in
areas not known as tech centers. Of course, people at MIT
will want technology in their lives. Let’s see if the young
adults in the Midwest or in the Deep South are following the
trend of those in NYC and Seattle.
My bet is that they will. Kids are kids and the Internet
knows no boundaries. This is the generation that will take
care of me in my old age. After six years of teaching, I have
a pretty good feeling that they will.
Everyone except that one kid in my Television Production
class. I don’t think he liked me.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
And that’s that. Thank you so much for reading, all 36,000
of you!
Joe Burns, Ph.D.
And Remember: Punishment can sometimes be described as
“draconian” if it’s overly harsh. Well, did you know that
there actually was a person named Draco? Yep. He was a law-
maker in Greece in the 7th century BC. He set laws that were
very, very harsh, including death for petty theft. Bad guy,
that Draco.