Avoiding the Rebellion, and anything that sounds like a Rebellion

It seems that the majority of folks in the technology enhanced world are missing something that will be critical moving forward. Lest we forget, there are now and always will be naysayers and laggards, and it is our responsibility to provide guidance and direction for them so they can remain behind the power curve if that is truly their desire.

It may be difficult for many to understand these folks, but they are the reason that the buggy whip was still being produced long after the automobile hit critical mass. They are the reason that typewriter ribbon (even correctable ribbon) can still be found in online office supply stores (and perhaps a few local stores), and why computer manufacturers still sell dialup modems (though most are faster than 2800 baud).

Is it really that difficult to understand? It may take a bit of imagination, but when headlines like How Google and eBay Act Like Nations are found on an ABC News website, is it really that difficult to think that some could actually think that this whole e-commerce "revolution" died back in '99? Surely when the writer says "eBay took the extraordinary step of going to war against its own customers/partners/employees" they were speaking metaphorically . . .

And if the war coverage of ABC wasn't enough, a dose of reality (and close reality at that) shows us that the next generation of the Castro-controlled are (get this) using technology to break the rules, in Cyber-Rebels in Cuba Defy State's Limits. Do they really have it that bad on this island nation? I mean, come on -- state-owned cafe (only) charge a third of the average Cuban's monthly salary--about $5--to use a computer for an hour. That's no worse than you would pay at a franchised coffee shop or high-end hotel in the U.S. if you needed Internet access and had forgotten your laptop at home, right?

And then these poor folks have to deal with some obvious marketing hype when they read the claim that a Pew Internet and American Life Project Study found that Cell Phones are Now the Most Vital Device . . . cell phones? Who needs a cell phone? If you have a home phone, your auto is in good shape, and you don't work in Emergency Management, there's really no use for cell phones, right? Who were they talking to when they found that the cell phone is the technological tool its users would have most difficulty giving up, followed by the Internet and television, anyway?

To buy into any of this is simply rebellious, and most law-abiding citizens simply shouldn't have any part of it, right? Who would want to turn over government-like power to a corporation, anyway? The Department of Justice would stop that, like they did with Microsoft a few years back. Right? And who would believe that a bunch of kids could actually do anything to upset one of the few remaining concentrations of Communism by using technology that their government prohibits. The police and military could keep that from happening like they have before! And finally, what's this nonsense about cell phones being indispensable? Most people don't need them, and they are spoiling their kids by getting them for them. It's crazy to think that they will catch on any time soon . . .

What do you think?