Technology's Time CompressionWhat should you do when the state of mind becomes a state of time? In April 1999, "MP3" displaced "sex" as the most popular term searched on the Internet. That remarkable feat, particularly in light of MP3's rather nerdy beginnings -- it was, after all, a "codec" -- was a fitting tribute to a trend I've dubbed "time compression." Time compression is the driving force behind many lifestyle changes. Just 15 years ago, most people, when asked how they were doing, would say "good." Today's answer is much more likely, "busy." The state of mind has become a state of time. People used to plan sending mail weeks ahead. Now, it's fashionable to wait until the last minute, emailing at the eleventh hour or making FedEx look like a post office at Christmas around 5:30 p.m. Technology, of course, is the chief engine propelling time compression. While the trend began some 150 years ago with the introduction of time zones, it got a big boost in the '40s with the debut of fast food and the microwave oven, instant photography, and commercial jetliners. The jet age helped compress time zones, an advancement that unfortunately came to a halt with the demise of the Concorde. Technology added yet another twist, Moore's Law and 18-month cycles, which moved the product development needle from steadily to fast. The media also rose to the challenge with Sesame Street and MTV, turning Generation X and Y into adept multitaskers, a computer-derived solution to making things happen faster. Time compression's blurringly fast trip includes Starbucks and FedEx, which eerily debuted almost simultaneously, as well as fax and the Internet, which ushered in the concept of "real time." It took scientists almost four years to discover the AIDS virus. SARS, on the other hand, was identified in less than six months, stoked by the communication power of the Internet. At the core of the time compression hurricane lies a little understood technology called "codec" -- a compression/decompression algorithm -- that holds the key to squeezing more bits into ever smaller packages. Who could have guessed that something that geeky would one day rise to dominate the online mindset? Sure, the term had become lingua franca for music, but the techno savvy knew that the codec had finally achieved global recognition. Understanding time compression is the key to unlocking future consumer behavior. That's because time compression is a metatrend -- a trend that generates subtrends -- like speed dating. Attending a speed-dating session is a lesson in new-age thinking. Meeting 25 potential partners, each allotted just thee minutes, is exhausting. Yet, consumers are altering behavior because they're discovering to their dismay that traditional dating techniques are no longer time effective in an increasingly mobile world. While speed dating may not solve the "GIGO" problem -- garbage in, garbage out -- one certainly doesn't waste much time on losers either. These scenarios give an inkling of the future that lies ahead. How will marketers and media adapt to a world where time has become more valuable than money? There's little time left to be squeezed out of a consumer's day. They already sleep two hours less now than they did in the '20s: 6.8 hours per day now compared to 8.8 hours per day then, according to the NIH. Media impact is already evident. Surfing the Internet while watching television is now one of the most popular forms of multitasking, an art practiced by some 62% of online Americans, or about 125 million, according to BIGresearch and Nielsen//NetRatings. Research shows that multitasking is a leading culprit of growing memory problems, a trend that suggests that advertising will become increasingly marginalized. The message is sinking in. Some marketers have begun zeroing in on the need to compress time. Campbell Soup scored a big hit with Soup at Hand, a heat-and-run soup you can sip, that acknowledges the fact that 59% of all U.S. meals are rushed, according to National Eating Trends. It's clear that future lifestyles will stress time and convenience. Don't let our current leisurely pace fool you. Because the economy has yet to clearly kick in again, the velocity of life has settled down a bit. That's merely a temporary respite. Expect the pace to pick up materially toward the end of the decade. After all, what else could have turned this statement into such a perfect barometer of our times: "That's so 1980... so last year... so last week... so yesterday... so last minute... so last... second?" Michael Tchong is founder of Trendscape. Related Stories | |
