( just because information has been consumed in a certain fashion
for hundreds of years does not necessarily mean it is the most
effective method of consumption. )

The Associated Press recently noticed people have stopped wearing watches, and now rely on cell phones / iPods / Blackberries for the time. Similarly, this month’s Futurist
focuses on the incredible growth of audio/visual media (YouTube / TV /
PodCast/ IP Telephony) as proof that the written word may not be the
most effective means for humans to transfer information (ironically a
magazine called “The Futurist’ doesn’t make its articles available
online).

As much as I may want to intrinsically disagree, the general
argument being proposed does have some merit: just because information
has been consumed in a certain fashion for hundreds of years does not
necessarily mean it is the most effective method of consumption.

Before
they are one year old, human children begin to recognize visual imagery
and sound. By the time they are two, they usually have a basic
understanding of language - a vocabulary of about 50 words.

In other words, while a 2 year old would understand many of the
videos posted on youtube, the last two thousand years or so of
literature would be meaningless to them.

Book and newspaper readership goes down, video game, TV and Internet
Video viewership goes up. Are humans just too lazy to read, or are
visual technologies intrinsically more effective than the written word?

From the business perspective, this question doesn’t really matter
that much. The fact is people don’t want to read, so you must find
alternative methods of communicating information to them. For thisInternet marketing blog,
that means adding a 1 sentence summary at the beginning of every
article, as well as adding a cute image or video to ensure readers stay
focused. For online business, that can mean investing heavily in video
or audio content, or new methods to view and interact with products
(”View inside the book”, “Customize these shoes”).

At the risk of boring you, I’d now like to introduce a new hologram technology from a company called XYZ RGB that allows a 3-5 second video to be played on a non- powered / “normal” piece of paper.

Pretty cool! Straight out of Harry Potter. How long before billboards and magazines begin using this technology?

There have been tons of advancements in communication technologies
over the last twenty years. As a marketer, be ready to use them.

Do you give customers a printed instruction manual, DVD, online video, or all of the above?
Video screens are already being ubiquitously placed throughout brick
and mortar retail outlets like Wal-mart. Are you using them yet?
Does your website allow the customer to experience your product/service
in a way other than reading a description and viewing a thumbnail image?

But please, take a deep breath and remember:
Don’t use new technologies because they’re there. Use them because they are appropriate to achieve your goal.