Relationship age

"Connectedness is second in our 'top ten'. We have entered a 'relationship age' in which interactions between people are more important than at any time since the industrial revolution.
You only have to walk down the street to see how people are constantly talking on their phones. The mobile revolution has enabled friends to be constantly present with each other. "

People talk a lot, that is without any doubt.
But that "talking a lot" doesn't really mean we are living in a "relationship age".
Evidently talking doesn't improve relationships.
On the contrary, if people talked less and thought more and worked more, in my opinion relationships among people would be much better.

It is true, "You only have to walk down the street to see how people are constantly talking on their phones" but at this regard, let me report examples of conversation:

Cold, isn't it? (or warm, isn't it, depending on the season)
Isn't it awful (or nice)?
The snow (or the sun)....
Isn't it terrible?(gorgeous)
It's disastrous, so icy ...
Personally I hate Winter (or love Summer)

or

I am on the train, at this station...
The train is late...
Outside is raining...

And they go on for ages, for the only sake of the mobile telephone provider, talking a lot for saying nothing.
That proves that we would be a much better "relationship society" if we hadn't to feed those parasytes of mobile providers.

Classes and Equality

"Status influences what people buy. Individuals want to fit in with people they think are similar, or they aspire to be like.
In particular, consumption can be a means to improve your class position – hence the appeal of celebrity-based advertising.
Consumers can imagine that they are moving up the social ladder by becoming more like their favourite celebrity. By making celebrities out of ordinary people, reality TV reinforces the message, 'Anyone can be a celeb.'
Consumption disguises class by allowing individuals to focus on specific friendship groups and other networks they identify with. They can avoid the dissonance of not being in as high a class as they want by adopting lifestyles that fit in with their peers and pretending that class no longer matters – 'I'm just an ordinary bloke.' 'We're all middle class now.'
As individuals compete to show that they have the coolest lifestyle, new media technologies will quickly become 'cool barometers', continuing a well-established trend. Mobile phone sales, for example, are now driven by style more than functionality. "

We all talk-and talk a great deal- of upper, middle, and working classes.
We also talk of upper-middle, lower-middle classes and more recently they have started mentioning a top-workingclass- just to fit in between the middle-working class and the lower-middleclass.
This, of course, makes us all fully conscious of how pityfully inadequate our language is to describe the other 120 clearly defined castes and the 413 sub-castes of our society.
What about the lower-middle-upper layer of the lower -upper-middle-class?
While all this goes on, we all remain staunch believers in equlity.
Equality means that you are just as good as the next man, but the next man is not half as good as you are

The global consolidation of media

"This will increase worries about global dominance by a handful of media giants.
'Who's pulling our strings?' will be a pressing concern.
National governments will be able to limit the share of domestic TV owned by a global company. But the company's planet-wide reach (on the Internet) will give it huge advantages over its smaller competitors in bidding for rights to show sporting programmes, for example, or in producing blockbuster programmes. Effective competition will come from global rivals. Companies in the middle will increasingly struggle. Will governments seek greater control over media giants through international agreements?
At the same time, individuals will be empowered in new ways. They will have more choice and more power. For example, internet-TV will create global audiences for niche programmes, turning highly specialised tastes into viable markets. Alongside your favourite soap, you will be able to watch a Chinese documentary on an obscure herbal medicine, a series of programmes for fans of MG sports cars and a broadcast from your neighbourhood.
Individuals will not have to rely on established news channels. Blogs for instance are now providing rival sources of information, and other options will emerge over the next 20 years. The existence of other possibilities will force media companies to be highly responsive to their audiences.
Collectively, individuals will have considerable influence over even the largest corporation because they will have so many alternatives. The interplay between media and individual will remain highly complex. "

How to be Aristocratic

A friend of mine married a very ugly man.
But he was "So Aristocratic".

If you cannot be "arstocratic", but you want to look "aristocratic", I will explain you how to.

You must never complain.
Complaining is very "un-aristocratic".
If you are kept one hour in a shop, if a bus conductor or an employee is rude to you, if a waiter brings you food ice-cold, you must keep your mouth shut.
Sometimes in a shop, in offices or some other public place, an offensive or sarcastic remark may be made about you in the third person, but you just do not hear it.
The stiff upper lip is the "aristocratic" way.
Only low level people will make a row, protest loudly or call for the manager.
Should you be so misguided as to complain, or at least murmur, public opinion will instantly turn against you:
"Who does he think he is?"
The waiter may pour tomato juice down your collar and you exclaim:"Ouch!"
Someone will be sure to remark:
"It's difficult to please some people"

So do not complain. Never complain.
Whatever happens remember the "aristocratic" slogan:
"It's one of those things"
When your brand new toasting machine goes up in flames and toasts you instead of your bread, you nod:
"It's one of those things".
And the matter is closed.
Apart from being utterly un-aristocratic, there is another reason for not opening your mouth in Italy.
They do not even hear the complaints; their ears are not turned to them.

Infact, the Italians Institution take good care that the Italians learn how to be "aristocratic".
Whatever happens, you can be sure that should you be so enraged as to loose your temper and be tempted to look "ordinary" they won't give you the slightest chance.
There is no address, no telephone number, no mane, no responsible.
Just cool down and learn the lesson.
Italy is a very "Aristocratic" country.
Only the Dutch and the Albanians (with a few odd Czechoslovaks, Germans and suchlike thrown in) make rows or protest loudly.

More on IPTV

"IPTV does require advances in infrastructure. Even today, distribution or communication mechanisms used in TV and the Internet are significantly different. They've been slowly moving toward each other, but are far from convergence. The TV structure, whether broadcast, cable, or satellite, is primarily based on the push metaphor where all the programs are pushed to the user. The only choice a user has is to change the channel or to turn off the TV."

The major change required isn't really the infrastructure, however. It's making the tools robust yet easy to use. It is making ends meet.
That is both compressing the video content and delivering everywhere high speed Internet.
Both are already possible and feasable.
What is not possible and hence feasable right now is the OK from where it could be made possible.
Monopolies are hard to mine, even harder to destroy.
People commonly talk about the convergence of communication and computing.
IPTV is the convergence of communication, computing, and content.
The new video content will be like pages on the web.
It will explode because of the millions being both users and producers.