It is, literally, one of the most distinct memories I have of childhood. In the Summer of 1983, we got cable. In one glorious afternoon, we quadrupled our TV viewing options from just seven channels to 28. And when our parents finally kicked us out of the house that summer, kids up and down the block would talk about all the new offerings we suddenly had at our disposal.
We talked about music videos, we talked about Australian rules football, and we talked about a 24-hour news network called CNN. And we marveled at how we could change the channel from across the room. It was all so magical, and it cost our parents about $13 a month. It all seems a bit quaint now, actually.
These days, my 7 year old son knows baseball games are on channels 1470 through 1485. And my 5 year old daughter, who spends more time on our iPad than she probably should, is genuinely surprised that touching the flat-screen TV on the wall doesn't do anything at all. Although, I'm sure she's probably onto something.
And that's just TV. What's happened with the telephone in a much shorter time span is even more stunning. (Remember telephone companies?) Today, a third of households don't even have a landline and more than half won't in just a few years.
Phone booths across New York City are being transformed into "smart screen" stations with Internet access. If that's not a microcosm of what's going on, what is? Well, besides the fact there's a smartphone app that helps users organize their apps. Seriously.
All of this is to say, of course, that the telecommunications industry (is it still accurate to call it an industry?) moves incredibly fast. This month's cover story, beginning on page 12, points out that telecommunications was 100 years of calm followed by 20 years of uncertainty. I think that's about right.
It's fascinating to think of where we'll be 20 years from now, but I have a funny feeling my kids will think it's all too quaint that we used to go to a theater at a pre-determined time to watch a movie with a bunch of people we don't even know. Oh, the humanity!
Joseph Kornik
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
jkornik@consultingmag.com
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