Sometimes we’re given a sharp reminder that trying to predict the future is a dangerous business.
Currently doing the rounds is a link to an article by Clifford Stoll from a 1995 issue of Newsweek. In it, Stoll gripes about the hype surrounding an invention that he felt was “oversold”. That invention? The internet.
A paragraph of Stoll’s protest reads:
Try reading a book on disc. At best, it’s an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can’t tote that laptop to the beach. Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we’ll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure.
Hmm. Yes, well.
The irony of course is that, whilst he bemoans reading on screen, it’s almost certain that more people have seen the e-version of his article some fifteen years after it was written than ever saw the print copy at the time – which, presumably, no one has lying around on their desk any more…
For PRs, this sort of thing is worth bearing in mind. Every so often – and sometimes now, more regularly than that – things come along that, at first glance, we’re all too quick to sniff at.
Way back when, there was blogging: when it first started, it was clearly just going to be an outlet for wannabe journalists, and geeks with nothing better to do with their time. Except that’s not quite how it turned out. Blogs have led to book deals and telly programmes. Some now have readerships that some print media would kill for, and influential bloggers are courted by brands to endorse product, much as journalists are.
Twitter, of course, is the latest phenomenon to have some people waxing lyrical and some turning their noses up in disgust, asking what the point is. (Personally, I think the latter are rather missing out: from a brand perspective, it’s a valuable tool in a communications kit. It allows you to see what people are saying about you, and lets you engage directly with them – whether what they’re saying is good, bad or indifferent. I’ll climb down from the soapbox now.)
It might be that, in an indefinite point some time in the future, both these channels fall by the wayside – or, at least, lose some of the influence they currently have. But what Stoll’s piece should remind us is that, whatever the latest trend, we should have open minds.
As PRs, we shouldn’t allow ourselves to become stuck in the routine of what we know, just because it’s what we know. If something works, then let’s keep doing it. If not, then it’s a waste of everyone’s time.
We don’t need to jump onto a bandwagon, just because it’s there (I’m still deeply sceptical about foursquare – in the age of round-the-clock communication, I don’t need people to know my geographical location too). But if there’s a genuine use for a new tool, then we shouldn’t be scared to embrace it. Because I don’t know about you, but in fifteen years, I don’t want to be known as the gal who poo-poo’d the internet.
