On 29 June 1999, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (William X. Walsh) wrote:
>On Mon, 28 Jun 1999 21:39:04 -0700, "Cthulhu's Little Helper"
><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>>The net is no more a market-enabling technology than the phone is. I =
>mean
>>that literally. As in, the phone enables me to make more effective use
>>of vendors, but that's it. I don't want people selling me things over
>>the phone in an unsolicited manner. I don't want people 'narrowcasting'
>>products to my phone based on my demographics. I'll decide how, and =
>when,
>>and with whom, I use my phone. And I'll decide who my carrier is. And
>>I'll decide, to a certain extent, how my phone number is to be used.
>
>Those decisions are what make you a part of the market.
Perhaps, William, perhaps. However, *I* will *choose* to be a market.
I will not be thrust into this category or that and have my tools used
to sell me products or services against my will. If I want to bestow
my custom on a vendor, I am perfectly capable of seeking them out.
Vendors are as much a market as customers. As such, they have the
same demographic characteristics as customer bases, or markets, do.
We, as individuals, are quite capable of using these to our advantage
to find what we need. We do not need you to tell us into which
markets we fit. We will put ourselves into whatever markets we feel
necessary.
I am not a passive consumer. Nor is the rest of the net, though you
may wish it so. We do not grant you license to turn the net into the
next TV wasteland.
(and when I say "we", I refer to myself, and any other disenfranchised
person who chooses to agree with me. Unlike many on the other side of
the fence, I don't dare assume I'm speaking for 200 million people.)
--
Mark C. Langston
