Who needs hi-tech?

There was lots of cool, new, improved technology at Las Vegas' Consumer Electronics Show this year, writes, Deepak Mankar.

Believe it or not, this happened in front of my eyes one night in the eighties. To begin with, though, back in the fifties, a lapsed chef and cooking stove salesman from the UK started his own agency in the US. He then went on to become a legend and a best-selling author. His famous book spurred me on into advertising. Many years later, in the late eighties, I saw him making a massive nuisance of himself one night in the elevator of a posh Pune hotel. I was there for a seminar hosted by the ad agency I consulted with. The Legend was there for a similar reason and was trying to needle his Indian colleagues into making mincemeat of the agency I worked for - very, very loudly. I was the only odd man out in that elevator crammed with the Great Man and his team mates totally oblivious of me and my reason for being there. Fortunately for me, I must emphasize. Or, I may not be here to tell you the tale, who knows? But then you couldn't really begrudge the Genius - and "the world's best known advertising man" by his own insistence - his carefully cultivated and widely flaunted little eccentricities, could you? An amusing and beguiling capsule biography is here: gandalf.it.

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WHO NEEDS HI-TECH? Not the man on the street.

Imagine this scenario straight out of a movie. Shelly Palmer, Managing Partner (Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC) returns from Las Vegas' Consumer Electronics Show 2006 thinking about all the latest gadgets and gizmos on show there. The ride home from Kennedy Airport is in the cab of talkative middle-aged Amir Ramin, a Queens single resident, "originally from Persia (what he called the country we know as Iran) … in the US for over 22 years. No cable television for Amir. Not worth "the $14 per month extra", says he. A 'Taxi'-'Seinfeld'-'Friends'-'Three's Company' fan, he has never seen a premium cable channel. He works nights. So, no prime-time television for him. "For technology, he has a Dell Laptop running Windows 98 (which he thinks he bought new two years ago) and uses AOL with a dial-up connection to access the Internet." Broadband? Never. His Verizon cell phone is four years old. In a 'back to the future' flashback, Shelly is back in Las Vegas admiring the "new ESPN cell phone (Wow!!!!), Sony's new HDTV monitors (Double wow!!!), Sony's latest generation of Location Free TV, Samsung's anti-glare flat panels, LG's new HDTV sets with 160GB hard drives and their own EPGs, Ruckus Wireless's new access points that allow true HDTV viewing over WiFi, new wireless USB devices at the WiMedia Alliance that allow 480 Mbps transfer rates within 3 meters". Then we're back with this guy "rolling around the city, happy as a clam, using stone axes and bearskins". Then, in a flash, the truth strikes Shelly. "Amir has all the technology he needs: Internet access, cell phone and television. And, more importantly, he does not feel left out of the digital world. … Amir's overwhelming objections to getting more advanced technologies probably echo those of many consumers: value. Here's a man who makes a living a few dollars at a time, and he is the ultimate arbiter of the value of those hard-earned dollars. So, to put it in perspective, there was lots of cool, new, improved technology at CES this year - just nothing that Amir Ramin will ever feel he needs to purchase." publications.mediapost.com

GOOGLE ADSENSE. Sometimes, it doesn't make any.

You never know what will turn up with good ol' Google AdSense contextual advertising on the job. For instance, a news headline "Woman eating chili bites into human finger" may inspire it to put on view ad offerings like these: "The Nail Fungus Treatment" or "Nail Fungus? 7 Day Cure", points out Steve Outing in his 12 January posting. This gem was spotted by Ken Sands while Steve Yelvington, who also contributes to the Poynter blog, fancied these mirth quakes accompanying a story about journalism: "Journalism Sale" and "New and used journalism. Check out the deals now! www.eBay.com". Steve quotes Yelvington's caustic comment: "Maybe Google's algorithm knows something we don't." Steve's own editorial observation is equally quoteworthy: "Back in my long-ago print-newspaper editing career, I remember watching to make sure that display ads for airlines weren't on the same page as we'd place an airplane-crash story." poynter.org.

BE MORE LIKE A MAN. Why can't a woman?

I wrote a brief para earlier hindustantimes.com ('ME JANE! You who?') about an important US-centric Pew Internet and American Life Project study 'How Men and Women Use the Internet'. Now I've found a succinct and informative article 'The "His and Hers" Web' summing up the situation rather neatly. emarketer.com. I thought it best to draw your attention to it. "Women are catching up with men online, but they are doing so in their own way," is what the lead takeaway summing-up throws in your face. The report itself sums up the much celebrated 'difference' Professor Higgins drew our attention to as follows: "Men like the Internet for the experiences it offers, while women like it for the human connections it promotes." The stronger sex goes on line for news, weather forecasts, sports scores, political opinions, financial updates, do-it-yourself information, job-related research, software and/or music downloads. They're "also more likely to listen to music, rate a product/ person/service through an online reputation system, use a webcam or take a class online. Women outpace men online when it comes to communications." A key quote from the report says: "More women than men send and receive e-mail, and they use it in a richer and more engaging way. Women are more likely than men to use e-mail to write to friends and family about a variety of topics, from sharing news and worries to planning events to forward jokes and funny stories." Earlier Pew research has indicated that "while both sexes appreciate e-mail's convenience, women are more likely to feel satisfied with the role of e-mail in their lives, especially when it comes to nurturing relationships. Even at work, more women feel e-mail is an effective way to handle situations and men have more negative feelings about e-mail. "

RANT AND RAVE. Get paid for it too.

Steve Outing's 11 January Poynter.org post draws out attention to a just-launched website, 'Everyday Hogwash' everydayhogwash.com that he advises us to file under 'citizen journalism-related'. It's a collection of rants from people about various annoyances and things they've had to endure from companies: "Hidden fees. Really tiny fine print. Overbooked airplanes. Hypnotic hold music. Ah, what companies force us to put up with everyday! If we didn't laugh at these itchy little grains of sand in the bathing suit of life, we'd have to cry, or perhaps even scream in the grocery line. But we all know screaming doesn't get you invited to many parties. So let's kick back and have some therapeutic yuks at the millions of little ways companies stick it to us." Submitted rants qualify for daily cash prizes. Have a look.

TRUE CONFESSIONS. Teen bloggers alarm school authorities.

Teenagers will be teenagers. Teachers will be teachers. Never the twain shall see eye to eye. In a recent major confrontation, a Washington Area school authority warned parents about their wards posting "inappropriate material … on Facebook." Apart from Facebook, students are known to also use the sites MySpace.com and Xanga.com, which allow teenagers - and sometimes younger children - to post details of their lives for all to see. "Some colleges have expelled teenagers for violating codes of conduct after discovering photos of underage students posing in front of kegs or writing about drinking binges, and employers often look up job candidates on the sites, said Parry Aftab, an Internet lawyer and the executive director of Wiredsafety.org. Blogs abound with seductive poses and confessions of love, hate and everything in between," write Tara Bahrampour and Lori Aratani in 'Teens' Bold Blogs Alarm Area Schools: Uninhibited Online Remarks Full of Risks, Officials Warn'. Rather disturbing, what? washingtonpost.com. P.S.: QuiteATake.com last covered blogging here: hindustantimes.com ('WEBSIDE STORY. Bad news spreads fast.') and here: hindustantimes.com ('GONE IN A MINUTE. Full three years' work.').

That's all for now though there's plenty more out there. Join me again next week, same place.

Copyright (c) 2001- 2006 by Deepak Mankar. All rights reserved. Deepak Mankar, an advertising practitioner on the creative side since 1965, is also intensely passionate about the web and web content creation. Read his online articles at asiaondemand.com. Website: http://www.addgandhi.com/original/. You may e-mail him at dmankar@bom8.vsnl.net.in.