I was recently listening to an episode of "This Week In Tech", where guest Kevin Rose of Digg.com was talking about his new Amazon Kindle. One of the focuses was the dramatic price drop to a mere $139, no doubt to fend off the mighty Apple iPad, which at the time of it's debut, was just a couple hundred dollars more than a Kindle, with a LOT more functionality.
More likely than not, within a couple years, the Kindle will be free with the promise of a few book downloads. So, that means everyone will be able to have a device which allows them to read books and newspapers on them at all times.
Even if you don't want to go the Kindle route, I'll bet most of you as of this typing, have a device in your possession on which you can access up to the minute news, right?
Sure you do. After all, at the very least, you have the computer that you're reading this on right now. It has access to all sorts of news, and it's updated every single second.
For the techies out there....remember the days where you'd have to wait until your favorite magazine ran it's features on the most impressive items from CES or E3? It's much nicer being able to watch the presentations streaming live, isn't it?
What would ever make you want to go back to the way things were?
Sure, print media served us well for a VERY long time, but now that we can have things beamed to our devices, why should we stay that course?
Why would we want to?
Some of you may be thinking "Yeah, but what about when you're in an area where there's no decent Wi-Fi?" Well, sure...that's a problem right now, but how big of a problem will it be in the near future?
The White Space Spectrum
Remember all those airwaves that were getting used when broadcast television was analog?
No...the way you used to get it before digital conversion?
Ok...when you still used rabbit ear antennas....THAT broadcast signal!
Well, those are all freed up now, and the FCC has cleared the path for White Space Wi-Fi to begin rolling out. Right now, it's download speeds are not what most people are accustomed to, but they're more than adequate for text based downloads....like your newspapers, magazines, etc.
So, while still in it's infancy, White Space Spectrum will eventually blanket this Country in Wi-Fi, the same way television did not that long ago. You WILL be able to get your newspaper wherever you are.
Menus Are Printed Too
Yes, in a way, menus are also print media, but restaurants have already begun eliminating them too.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I'm taking things way too far now, right?
You're thinking that I'm talking about some sort of "Jetsons" future, right?
Well, you're wrong.
The following video is just an example of what is beginning to happen around the World.
A little bit later, I'll explain to you what this all means.
Well, what did you think?
Pretty high tech, huh?
Not as much as you may think.
This is Inamo in London.
iPads are a little too pedestrian for them....so at Inamo, your whole F'N table is a touch screen menu.
What This Means To You And Me, Rusty
How do you feel about all of this?
Does it frighten you? Because maybe it should.
There's a lot of focus being put on the print media industry these days, and it's ability or non-ability to survive in an ever growing, ever evolving, technological landscape.
I've just shown you here how unlikely it is that there will still be print news even ten years from now.
USA Today has even announced that they are going to begin "de-emphasizing" their print edition. That basically means killing it off, boys and girls. They just don't want to flat out say it, and send shockwaves into an industry that's already hanging on by a thread.
But let's go beyond the print world now, shall we?
Think back to the videos you just watched with the iPad and touch screen table menus.
I KNOW you have a short attention span because you been diagnosed with A.D.D., but think real hard.
Remember now?
Ok.
Besides printed menus, there's something else missing from those restaurants now too. Do you know what it is?
It's a wait staff.
That's right, the wait staff isn't really needed anymore. Just someone to bring the food from the kitchen to the table. Ordering your meal is far more expeditious with an iPad; you never have to wait for someone to "get around to you"...you just order when you're ready. And it's far more cost effective for a restaurant to pay ONCE for an iPad, than to pay weekly for a full wait staff. Even the least bright among us can do that math.
So, sorry waiters and waitresses out there...your time is short.
The days of nice tips are over.
You could always get a job at a local fast food place or something.
Or can you?
The way I see it, if we've reached a point where we don't need wait staff anymore, we CERTAINLY won't be needing cashiers at fast food chains.
You'll simply walk up to the touch screen, touch "Two double triple Big Macs, a Super Dooper size chocolate covered fries, and a small Diet Coke."...then swipe your debit card, or insert your cash, and voila...out comes your heart attack on a dirty tray.
Drive Thru, you say? NO PROBLEM!
How about a Wi-Fi sync that allows you to place the order on your way to the restaurant, on your touch screen handheld device? You simply are handed the food at the window when you arrive, and it's automatically billed to your debit once you hit "Submit Order" on your handheld.
What about your job?
Can you think of ways in which this kind of stuff can eliminate the need for you?
And where will all these people go? What will they do for income?
See, this is about to get a WHOLE LOT BIGGER than print media. This isn't some distant future, this is now. THIS, is the genesis of the new world....it's just that no one is paying attention that closely.
They never do, until it affects them.
Lucky for you, you have me.
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