Re: UKNM: The Big Retailers - was Toys R Us

[Lee Bryant]

Sajid,


What a shock to see such analysis on a New Media Marketing list: I bet that went down like a lead balloon on most desktops !


Whilst some people may feel this is not relevant to an NMM list, I think it is important that we take our heads out of or arses now and again to look around at the social impact of the "revolution" (!?) we are driving forward. On a simple level, this may mean having an awareness of the visual language we use to build our web sites/kiosks/WebTV progs, etc., and of how accessible this language is to most people (not just most current net users). On a wider level, we sometimes need to ask questions about how what we are building will be used in the future (pace : dynamite, nuclear fission, etc.).


There is a lot of historical evidence to suggest that far from liberating mankind from the limitations of time and distance, the Internet may actually become yet another technological development which will reinforce the dominant position of the minority of rich countries, and ensure their continued exploitation of the rest of the world -- just as the Industrial Revolution helped produce colonialsm and slavery.


I'm not trying to get on a political high horse or something, but I do commend you for even raising these issues in such a forum.



At 03:43 08/02/99 -0800, Sajid wrote:


>*YOU* are very welcome to fret about your impotence, Steve. *I* for

>one absolutely stubbornly refuse to acknowledge my inability - whether

>as an individual or within a group - to make any kind of difference.

>

>I know we now live in the era of The Consensus where trade is dictated

>by the WTO, transnationals and anybody but the people but it is

>possible to not bury one's head in the sand merely because one does

>not 'know how'.

>

>Steve, I suggest you get your history books out and look up what the

>Chartists & Suffragettes achieved and then reflect on how different

>your life would be if they had not triumphed. If this has woken you

>out of your Blairite ennui, then I suggest you take the time to find

>out how people all over the world - especially in developing countries

>- do not share your complacency.

>

>We live in a country where the Prime Minister does not feel that the

>safety of Genetically Modified food is an appropriate topic of

>discussion between two party leaders on the floor of the House. This

>demonstrates how beholden we are now to the market.

>

>The consequences of social exclusion as a result of the Internet

>merely scratch the surface. To not address them at all is

>irresponsible at best and downright malicious at worst.



Lee Bryant (

leetmg [dot] co [dot] uk

)

Creative Director

TMG HYPERMEDIA

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http://www.tmg.co.uk

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Tel : +44-(0)171-207-2050, Fax : 207-2049

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