Buckle up, It’s Going to Be an Interesting Ride

Those are the closing words in a fascinating new movie sponsored by Ericsson. If you want a really good understanding of where things are going and how fast we’re getting there, I’d highly recommend you invest 20 minutes of your time.

In the old days (which many of us still live in) people used to ride out technology change. 30 years ago people avoided learning how to type that were in their 50s because they thought they could make it to retirement without having to learn that skill.

10 years ago it was common for people not to have an e-mail address and categorize the whole move to the Internet as something for young people. The reality however is that change is coming so fast that we risk becoming redundant in a matter of years, not decades anymore.

The movie, the perfect storm starring George Clooney 10 years ago highlighted the improbable but ultimately devastating effects of weather patterns combining to affect the lives of a group of poor fisherman. In that film it was a combination of factors that spurred on the events. This couldn’t be truer today which is one of the reasons I like to focus a certain amount on technology and the massive ramifications it has for everyone.

Here are a few facts and predictions from the film:

57% of people now talk more online than they do in person

almost half of people between 18 and 34 check Facebook first thing in the morning
 

one in six married couples met online
 

by 2014 mobile Internet usage will overtake the desktop
 

within eight years there will be over 50 billion devices connected to the Internet
 

Doing things the old way used to be prudent and wise. While certain principles of human behavior will never go out of style, investing time and money in keeping up with the ways of the future have become the most important determinants in a successful career and healthy life.

E.O. & E.