First, let me clarify this. For those of you who think I meant email (those born after 1985 or so, most likely) and those who thought I meant through the U.S. Postal Service (those born before the other group), I mean both types of mail. They’re really the same thing, sent through different methods. I’ve noticed that I seem to get far more junk emails each day than the physical junk mail I used to receive – probably because its so much cheaper to send. And so much more politically correct to send us all this annoying, unsolicited advertising without killing as many trees. How many trees will it take me to build a barrier to all these emails? LET THAT BE A LESSON IN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. But I digress.
I used to get mail for things that were at least mildly interesting for people with some life in them. Tours. Cruises. Fitness club memberships. Singles groups. All you email generation people can probably understand me so far – you are probably getting these even now. This is where I’m going to lose you.
The mail I get now isn’t like that. Instead, I get reams of targeted ads that the marketers have determined to be more appropriate to my stage of life. Retirement communities. Colonoscopies. Hip replacements. Funeral Plots. Really gives a guy something to look forward to, doesn’t it.
I don’t think this is a problem with my age – it’s a problem with technology.
You see, in the old days (when I wasn’t old), I used to get mail that wasn’t right for me. Mass-mailings that went to everyone, instead of a select demographic, because they didn’t have the sophisticated computers or mailing lists to make it possible to fine-tune their message. But all that’s changed, and it’s going to get worse.
Already, the targeting of communication has gotten narrower – each demographic group is being exposed to their own “suitable” subset. Soon (or maybe already), when you search for something online, it will narrow your search based on YOUR history and demographics. The results will be modified by what the search engine thinks is best for you. Instead of getting a wide exposure to the world, you’ll be looking at it through an increasingly small filter. It will be like trying to explore the universe through the peephole in your door.
What will happen when the day comes that they can alter a piece of entertainment so that it appears differently to each viewer? The same technology that will allow a 3-D television to project a clear image to 4 people by knowing where they are in the room, will also know who they are and what demographic they belong in. We’ll all sit in a room together watching an episode of “Friends”, but we’ll each be seeing a different production. Even the stupid ads that pop up in the corner of the screen will be “just for you.”
When this transition is complete, what will we all have in common? Sure, “Friends” will be the Number One rated show ever, but we won’t be able to talk about it around the water cooler. Instead we’ll spend our time arguing over the differences. I think we do enough of that already.
I remember some time back there was talk of engineering Artificial Stupidity, to get machines to do unintelligent things that would make them seem more human. I think we could use some of that now – it may be the only thing that can save us from becoming totally Balkanized. Have the computers go haywire on purpose and send me a little of someone else’s world for a change.
I’m waiting for something different to show up in my mail – then I’ll know we’re safe. Maybe it will be the Little Golden Books Catalog. Or Better Homes & Gardens. Who knows what form salvation will take?
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