Is this the end of the ipod generation?
Is this the end of the 'ipod generation'?
Well Steve Wozniak, creator of company Apple certainly thinks so.
In a recent interview he said "The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one," he says. "Things like, that if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while.
"It's kind of like everyone has got one or two or three. You get to a point when they are on display everywhere, they get real cheap and they are not selling as much."
This will be of concern to us media types who love nothing more than summing up a massive group of people (ie the young in this case) in one easy catch-all phrase.
This has the joint effect on saving on words (keeping stories and articles slimmed down and concise) and also making us sound like we're 'in touch' and, dare I say, 'with it'.
I refer, of course, to that group of people known as 'editors' who love nothing better than proving to executives and directors how in touch they are with the 'web 2.0' revolution (which incidentally Wozniak and many others think has somewhat been over-egged) than dropping a catchprase that makes them sound cutting edge.
I remember a while ago the 'print 1.0' phenomenon of Sudoku leading editors to drop this number game into every press release and document to show how they were moving with popular crazes.
So now our glorious leaders might have to find a new catchphrase to move with the times. In the interview I linked to Wozniak says over investment in the Web 2.0 social networking may backfire, which rules out 'Facebook Generation' as it's so 'old hat, dear boy' now.
Suggestions on a postcard - but I'm going to look even further to the past for inspiration. I remember loving William Gibson's groundbreaking techno thriller series - so I want editors to refer to the 'Cyberpunk Generation'.
They'll be ahead of the game, because after all, we haven't as yet got cranial sockets to 'jack in' to the web, although I'm sure they're almost here!
That's technobabble - so far behind it's ahead!
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Ben Hurst
Here's another word people who want to appear web 2.0-savvy use a lot: 'conversation'. I myself have been guilty of overusing it. It's a bit like 'democracy' -- once the Putins and Castros, and Chavezes of the world claim it, it loses any meaning.
You're absolutely right Dil - and usually no evidence is given to back up statements such as 'readers want to have conversations'. Maybe they do, but in my experience people just want to read something and move on. After all the numbers of comments left on a site is many many times fewer than the number of visitors.