Friday, March 11, 2005

BoSacks Speaks Out: Local Mobile Search? Hold the Phone

BoSacks Speaks Out: Local Mobile Search? Hold the Phone

There is yet another fork in the road of the information superhighway where printed magazines and newspapers were once the dominant source of information, but are now being replaced by a faster, personalized, geographically accurate electronic device/service. It seems that each day now I see areas of information distribution where once we were kings and now perhaps dukes, earls and little princelings. Our royalty status is on the decline. Cell Phones are now a source of instant news and information, much like the antique newspapers of your grandfathers. Only quicker and with GPS localization.

I will add another dimension to this that goes beyond just the ease of use. Today's generations do not like to read. Here is yet another example of how they can have the information they want without the need of reading to get it. Pablum information tools. No thinking to get it, and nothing to intellectually digest. This factoid type of information distribution is becoming mainstream. My best guess is that the next generation does know, or has at least heard, some of the current news headlines and world events, but they have little to none of the details beyond the headlines. I don't know if anyone has said this before, but I find this "factoid generation" more then a little troublesome.