MicroMachines in a Matchbox World
In 1920, Neils Bohr (who has arguably the best name of any scientist in history, save perhaps Dr. Richard Titball of the Netherlands) formulated the “correspondence principle.”
In a nutshell, which is incidentally where Bohr spent most of his winters, it’s a forced reconciliation between classical and quantum mechanics.
I say “forced” because it was decreed, rather than proven.
And so physicists have spent much of the past 90 years attempting—without success—to fully explain the disparate behavior of microscopic and macroscopic systems. What hope is there, then, for marketers, who’ve spent cumulatively about a day and a half?
Yet this is our ultimate charge as marketing professionals: to reconcile observations of individuals with observations of mass markets in a grand, unified theory.
How are we doing? In a word: Drinkability.
I’m further reminded of our collective failure by the recent success story from the CERN facility in Geneva, where scientists have broken the record for high-energy subatomic particle collisions, and potentially recreated the universe’s initial mechanics following the Big Bang.
Now there was some risk involved. It cost billions of dollars, and there was a slight possibility of miniature black holes devouring the universe (I’d love to see the crisis communications plan CERN’s PR team put together for this contingency). But the point is, they’re making progress.
We marketers, on the other hand, are using EEG scans to determine whether individual consumers prefer penguins or giraffes.
We’re using the same, tired focus groups to test vague product attributes—in search of safe, broad consensus. We’re, quite literally, asking whether it’s important to be able to drink a beverage. And we’re building multi-million dollar campaigns around these “insights.”
In short, we’re still looking for easy answers in a complex world.
Quantum theory isn’t simple. It’s tremendously intricate—a disciplined, patient examination of concealed reality.
The marketing community’s response: crowdsourcing.
Another Step in the Right Direction
Hopefully no one reading this post will be offended. If you are using Internet Explorer 6, you are slowly being shown the door, don’t let it hit you on your way out. For all web developers, IE6 is the bane of our existence. IE6 was originally released in 2001 as Microsoft’s attempt to overtake the popular Netscape browser which had previously dominated the scene, and it did eventually win the battle. However, IE6 was not compatible with modern development practices such as CSS. The resulting effect is that code-compliant and CSS validated websites worked perfectly in all browsers (with minimal additional effort)…except IE6.
In the development process, I develop using Firefox as my base browser for testing and make sure that everything is correct and compliant. Then I’ll go test a site in Chrome, Opera and Safari, typically with good results. Next I’ll test in IE8 and, again, the results are usually positive. Next, I’ll grab a cup of coffee and a snack and hunker down for the trials and tribulations of IE6 (and to a slightly lesser degree, IE7) testing. The majority of the time, I will open my site in IE6 and be greeted with a royal mess. Different elements will be scattered across the screen as if I just threw together my own Pollock-inspired site. After seeing this abomination, it can take hours (if not days) to configure a site with the sole purpose of it displaying correctly in a 9 year old antiquated browser that is two generations past the current market.
Thankfully, the movement to abandon IE6 is starting to pick up some steam after years of efforts. This week, giants Google and YouTube announced they would officially cease support of IE6. Those still using the browser will be greeted with a pleasant announcement letting you know that your browser will no longer be used and provide links for downloading a modern browser.
Also, for those in the Denver area, a “funeral” is being held to celebrate the passing of IE6. If I weren’t 1500 miles away, I would definitely be in attendance.
A New Way to Roam the World from Your Desk
I will be the first to admit that I am a Google fanatic, as I’ve probably claimed here before. I’ve got the Droid, and I think it’s the best thing since sliced bologna. And I gave up on MapQuest a LONG time ago and have been a Google Maps guy, enjoying the innovations they keep throwing in. But, wait a minute, is this Microsoft I see upstaging my beloved Google? It can’t be, can it? Well, I think they have done it! If you haven’t toyed around with the new Bing Maps with augmented-reality browsing, you must spend 20 minutes (if you are able to limit yourself) and just zoom around the world. First, I suggest watching Blaise Aguera y Arcas presentation at TED2010. This will give you a basis for this new interface and a background on how it works. Then, when you have your goggles strapped on and are ready for a ride, go take a spin around the world and see what you find at the new Bing Maps.