Coping: With Media Trends

A reader – prompted I suppose by talk of a fall-off in internet use in the predictive linguistics post 2012 OR just wondering in general asks:

“…did it ever occur to you that the internet is a luxury item and in time of extreme hardship people let the luxury items and services go in order to keep absolute necessities in order to keep living. how many telephones actually worked during the depression of the 1930′s.”

Yes, actually, many times.  Here’s the thing to keep in mind:  When times have been tough/in recessions before (1980-83 in particular) a lot of folks like me in marketing realized that TSL/TSW (time spent listening/watching) media went up – not down. 

 

The reason we surmised at the time was that people tend to gravitate to the highest return/least cost media as a form of escapist entertainment during an economic decline.  That’s why people (like me) who were doing direct response marketing (call now, this is a free call…) were doing much better than institutional/print marketers.  Magazine – even newspapers – cost money and when people don’t have any, they congregate around free media.

 

If you’re a grad student in media studies, here’s a killer paper for you:  A 2-5 year study comparing how different media use works out from here forward.  Might be a stretch to get real data – much might need to be inferred – but the key thing to measure is cost versus time spent. 

 

Most high bandwidth internet connections are in the $30-$70 range per month and for that you get some video, some telephone (Skype, et all), instant messaging, news and information, and if you want some bootlegged .MP3′s, there’s that, woo.  By comparison, satellite TV and cable are at least that much and you can’t make an outgoing phone call, rip MP3′s, play interactive games, get into virtual reality…and the whole rest of it.

 

So if there’s any media trend to look for, I’d predict based on previous experience and the level of interaction possible with a good solid internet connection, that the ‘net should actually experience growth.  The kinds of systems which might falter would include things like cell phones – many of which cost $200 a month by the time you add texting (and remember from a competitive standpoint, email is a freebie on the ‘net) not to mention the upcharges for bandwidth for surfing.

 

What we found in marketing in the mid 1980′s was that people who were unemployed actually ended up spending a larger fraction of available income on media since it was akin to the ‘opiate of the people’.  Things like movies out were much more expensive, not time-flexible, yada, yada.

 

So when the next leg down hits, or as the second Depression lingers, I’d look for the ISP’s to do just fine.  Until the power is shut off, who’d want to get involved in something like mass protests – calling for revolutionary thinking in government; at least not while good reruns can be had streaming.

 

Go figure.  Kinda like the frog being slowly brought up to boil and then bitching if the heat is turned down.  Then again, who said consumers were rational?  Which gets us smoothly along to the next item in the inbox today:

 

Voting With Your Wallet

How long have I told you to live below your means and screw the banksters over by not paying them usurious interest rates?  Well, over at the Huffington Post there’s a dandy article under the headline “Move Your Money: A New Year’s Resolution” that’s right on point.

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Key thing to remember 24/7:  Every time you open your wallet – you’re voting.  I figure Elaine and I will be able to participate with, oh, about ‘fiddy-cents’….

 

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Send your comments to george@ure.net

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The UrbanSurvival Mall:

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“Live on $10,000″ A Year

With another round of layoffs due to start later this month…a round which will start to axe many of the middle managers who have managed to avoid the HR grenades…might I suggest a preemptive tactical move?  Voluntarily dropping your lifestyle back a bit, since we’re all being marched down that road by either circumstances or some out-of-control-PTB types who write checks to Washington lobby and to anti-reformers in California!  A good starting point, at least if you’ve still got $10-bucks is my e-book “How to Live on #10,000 a Year…or less!”

 

 

 

It’s an automatic download.  It’s written in an information dense style: The whole thing runs about 65 pages, but it gives you a vision of how to not only live on the cheap, but also how to migrate up the economic foodchain if you have a little hustle left…  Click here for the index and details.

 

MyGroPonics

My commodity broker JB Slear and I have written a simple book to get you started on high density hydroponics.  It’s an example of how someone with a little creativity, access to a few ‘dollar stores’ and willing to try out some new farming techniques can grow an amazing amount of produce sin a very small space – like even an apartment balcony (if it gets some sunlight).  Sound interesting?  It’s just $10 bucks here…

 

       

 

Pass It On

The business model of this website is base Simply click here and send a link to this site to everyone on your distro list…Nothing more dangerous than sharp, clear-thinking upstarts who ask a lot of questions, eh?  Unless you believe WTC-7 fell over on its own, of course….

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 Last week’s report is here.    For back issues of this site, click here.  (Goes back to 1997!)

“If you ain’t paranoid, you ain’t payin’ attention!”