ABSTRACT
Television is big business, designed to sell products by delivering large audiences to commercial advertisers (Calvert, 1999). The content is the lure. In the information age, new media will continue this tradition of delivering people to advertisers, but the specific strategies will expand considerably. Technological developments will lead to new business practices-such as the ecommerce example just described-that can get customers to purchase their products. Technological tracking practices, built into devices like cell phones, will make it relatively easy for businesses to “know” in specific detail who their customers are, as well as their likes, dislikes, and buying patterns. Supermarkets already track their customers in such detail. It will be hip, cool, and a sign of status (particularly in youth cultures) to use your cell phone to get a drink from a machine. But there will be an additional cost for convenience and coolnesspersonal privacy. The kind of detailed information that can be obtained in the
IBM wireless e-business commercial will allow businesses to tailor advertising practices to the individual, not just the group.
