Baby Stepping

I recently worked on a business book, with roots in an international collaboration made possible only through the Internet. My co-author, visionary and collaborator Jim Banister lives in Los Angeles, CA; the heart of the entertainment world.  However, where he lived was futile, as early in the book’s development he was traveling everywhere; throughout the country as well Europe, the Middle East and Scandinavia.

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Mining Chaos Energy

As a young business owner in the 1980s, I found it amazing when educated and enthusiastic new hires would begin to create linear schedules that they felt would completely organize the business chaos around them. Needless to say, none of them ever worked.

This was when I began to realize that there is something fundamentally wrong with how the typical human being perceives the world around them. I could blame it on the lack of imagination within leadership circles, our educational institutions, or mass media, but it goes much deeper.

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Through Lara's Eyes

Every parent can relate to their children’s ecstatic reaction to opening a video game console for the first time. We (my wife and I) bought our children a PlayStation several years back; blind to the impact it would have as a form of entertainment for not only the children, but also the entire family. Inside the sleek packaging was this gray box-like device that the children gazed upon as if it were the Arc of the Covenant. However, it was that PlayStation 1 demo CD disc that was the turning point in our entertainment transformation from a passive linear experience to a more interactive excursion. We connected the system to our television set in the family room and although it was planned to find permanent residence in our eldest bedroom, it never made it there. As concerned parents, we reviewed all the trial games that faithful day; to insure their measure of content, when we stumbled upon a game called Tomb Raider 2. This game’s protagonist was a three-dimensional woman named Lara Croft.

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Electronic Playground

In a recent study by Paul Kagan & Associates, the online population is determined to be “a consumer electronics manufacturer's dream.”  These households also have a VCR (97%), a CD player (88%), a stereo console (66%), a cellular phone (63%), a video game system (53%), camcorder (50%), pager (46%), satellite TV system (17%), hand-held organizer (21%) and a DVD player (13%). These are the electronic magic that our kids today are growing up experiencing and consuming, as part of everyday life.

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The Mass Media 1920-2000

A mass medium is defined as being used by a certain percentage of a population (a market penetration of 50% of the population is generally accepted as the threshold for membership).  It took almost 40 years for radio to reach mass media status; and it took television 25 years to achieve the same status.  It’s difficult for most of us to imagine a world without them. These media have been completely entrenched within our lives, our histories and our personalities. Linear media, interactive media and networked media can all be considered mass media if they meet the market adoption criteria.  Here's a comparative analysis of each form of mass media from the Radio to the Internet.

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Installing a Multi-Boot Windows System

A multi-boot system provides increased versatility and accessibility, making a single desktop into a more three-dimensional tool. By having Windows 98, 2000 Professional and XP Professional on one machine, I have three different computers in one. The most benefit I've personally experienced is three different operating systems, with separate system files, provides a failsafe mechanism when one OS, or an mission critical application installed on that OS, goes down.

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Computer Shows

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the something over and over again, and expecting a different result. For example, drinking shots of tequila and expecting not to feel sick the next morning, or actually going to a computer show and not spending money. It's tough because you'll find bargains on equipment and supplies you didn't even know you needed, or just something that you can't pass up. Lately, that something was a brand new IBM ThinkPad Port Replicator for $5 (yes, five US dollars), and an 8X DVD-ROM drive for $15. Unfortunately, I missed out on the new Portable DVD Players for $50 and the 2-MegaPixel digital cameras for $15, but that's probably a good thing. I don't need another digital camera and I don't have time to watch DVD movies.

The fact of the matter is computer shows are chaotic and disheveled, but if you're looking for a great deal, the best place to go is not Ebay (there's shipping involved there, and it's sight unseen), but your local computer show. The original swaporama.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
   
 
 
   
 

All content is © 1998, 2000, 2007, 2008 Anthony C Caputo.