Remember that scene in Back to the Future 2 when they transported Marty (Michael J. Fox) into a disastrous future? His high tech home had a big interactive screen for news and video-phone communication. I think this science fiction view of the future, which was a popular back in the 80s, will be way off the mark.
As was once remarked by a great scientist*, to know the future, watch your kids, don’t ask the academics. So, I’ve been watching mine and other kids recently, seeing how they interact with others and use emerging technology. Conclusion?
The small, not the large screen will dominate
Anyone who’s visited South Korea or Japan in recent years will know how the small screen mobile phone has dominated the lives of their teenagers. A friend’s 14 yr old son here does the same. He always uses his iTouch to surf the web, answer emails, listen to music, watch videos, often ignoring the bigger screen TV and his own laptop.
I asked him why he didn’t use his laptop for web access? "No, it’s stupid – laptops are just for old people" he said "much easier and faster on the iTouch".
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Maybe he’s right. It’s a more personal connection. The iPhone and iTouch tools is determining how kids access the net, watch TV, communicate and even control things around them. Watch the video to see what’s coming. |
Wow. So, where does all this leave direct marketers? I guess it’s that we need to look at tools and applications like this that puts more power in the hands of users and let’s them interact on their terms, not ours.
QR barcodes is another particularly interesting print-mobile-web application that will likely play a big part in coming years. Marketers could easily (and cheaply) use these types of innovative tools to boast sales. There’s likely to be many more coming. Ask your kids, they’ll know…
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