Technology:
Curiouser and curiouser: in an article in today's New York Times, Matt Richtel points out that "there are 78 million [baby] boomers—roughly three times the number of teenagers—and most of them are Internet users." In fact, Richtel tells us, "the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34."
The latter age group is the one that advertisers lust after, as anyone who watches TV knows. But here's the thing, as Richtel explains it, young people, teenagers especially, are a "drive-by" lot. They don't stick around long, leaping to the next "hottest thing," disdaining not only what belongs to their parents' generation but also their older siblings.
Older folks—they used to be called "mature" with admiration—tend to "settle," and not necessarily with the negative connotations their children and grand children would have you believe. Internet entrepreneurs, according Richtel, are beginning to see the value in cultivating this group. As most people know, it ain't just the one time buyer you lust after. A good business needs the repeat customer.
Where We're Going, and What We'll Do When We Get There:
Tom Friedman, over at The New York Times, tends to drive me up a wall with his particular brand of liberalism. Leading up to Bush's Iraq fiasco, you'd have thought Friedman was the front man for the Cheney band so vocal was he in favor of armed intervention. But sometimes, or perhaps eventually, Tom gets things right.
In today's Times, Friedman tells the story of how "a $6 million high-tech U.S. helicopter with a highly trained pilot [blew] an insurgent off his bicycle" in order to capture the man. (It sounds like an episode on Cops, right?) In the meantime, Friedman, who is in China where no one talks about Iraq and the the leadership of that country is highly invested in discovering the answers to their energy problems, ends his piece today with the following:
Curiouser and curiouser: in an article in today's New York Times, Matt Richtel points out that "there are 78 million [baby] boomers—roughly three times the number of teenagers—and most of them are Internet users." In fact, Richtel tells us, "the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34."
The latter age group is the one that advertisers lust after, as anyone who watches TV knows. But here's the thing, as Richtel explains it, young people, teenagers especially, are a "drive-by" lot. They don't stick around long, leaping to the next "hottest thing," disdaining not only what belongs to their parents' generation but also their older siblings.
Older folks—they used to be called "mature" with admiration—tend to "settle," and not necessarily with the negative connotations their children and grand children would have you believe. Internet entrepreneurs, according Richtel, are beginning to see the value in cultivating this group. As most people know, it ain't just the one time buyer you lust after. A good business needs the repeat customer.
Where We're Going, and What We'll Do When We Get There:
Tom Friedman, over at The New York Times, tends to drive me up a wall with his particular brand of liberalism. Leading up to Bush's Iraq fiasco, you'd have thought Friedman was the front man for the Cheney band so vocal was he in favor of armed intervention. But sometimes, or perhaps eventually, Tom gets things right.
In today's Times, Friedman tells the story of how "a $6 million high-tech U.S. helicopter with a highly trained pilot [blew] an insurgent off his bicycle" in order to capture the man. (It sounds like an episode on Cops, right?) In the meantime, Friedman, who is in China where no one talks about Iraq and the the leadership of that country is highly invested in discovering the answers to their energy problems, ends his piece today with the following:
That image of a $6 million high-tech U.S. helicopter with a highly trained pilot blowing an insurgent off his bicycle captures the absurdity of our situation in Iraq. The great Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi said it best: “Great powers should never get involved in the politics of small tribes.”
That is where we are in Iraq. We’re wasting our brains. We’re wasting our people. We’re wasting our future. China is not.
Labels: Politics, Technology
posted by Jim | 12:09 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home