Behavior of a Global Villager.

1) Spends at least 1/3 of their leisure time online

2) Belong to an average of 2 social networks and have regular contact with 16 people whom they met 'virtually' on the net (plus, minus)

3) 1 out of 10 connects to the internet via mobile handsets at least once a day

4) The world of internet is his/her oyster - search for anything and everything - answering 'whys, hows, whats, whens, wheres and whos' (you got the question, the web has the answer, or at least someone on the web has the answer)

5) Uses the internet to ease everyday chores such as online banking and researching a product/service (the paradox of spending more time online to get more time in life)

6) Engaged in some form of 'commerce' activity - either actual purchase online or leading to a purchase offline (buy, compare and research)

Reference from TNS.

What's most interesting is the paradox I noted above. The web enables people to multi-task therefore able to do more for less time. Synovates answer: "Multi-tasking, media-rich lifestyles are the norm among 8-24 year olds in Asia, with these on-the-pulse consumers fitting 38 hours of activities into every 24 hour period". A 40-something-year old once told me: "Everyone is equal. Everyone has 24 hours". Well. I beg to differ ;)

Ming and Aoki - should there be an age limit to entrepreneurship?

Unbelievable. What do you do when you have a multimillion dollar mom who has the fashion world on its knees? You come up with your own collection of course! I'm sure a lot of celeb kids are doing that but at the age of 7 and 4!? There are so many websites sprouting earnestly to get kids into business like teachingkidsbusiness.com, internetbasedkids.com, entrepreneurshipforkids.com, and franchild.com. Looks like mommies and daddies can't wait for their kids to grow up and bring some bread home too.

That reminds me of the online ethnography project that we've been working on lately, where Shaun found a lot of kids using their blogs to earn money and build their little business ventures, which was really interesting. It shows that the internet bunch is really different from their counterparts who did not grow up with the internet. The web is like a gold mine waiting to be discovered by opportunistic minds. I'm glad. Because this means we're bending rules which we were brought up to believe. Education = Degree = Career = Big money. It'd be interesting to note the social repercussions when education becomes active instead of passive. That would mean quaking the whole equation. Yes, I think we may be looking at a government change in a couple of years time if the status quo remains. Oh well, that's just my hypothesis but you can always beg to differ :)

By the way, my thoughts on the Ming and Aoki thing? Personally. I think it's quite disgusting after watching Kimora's reality show. I would applaud their creative participation of course, but geez, there's way too much attitude for those two little people. Wonder where they inherited that from...

Just the right thing for book lovers.

Introducing Amazon Kindle. This is what I mean by technology that will push human boundary and revolutionize the way we live forever. It's not so much about e-book technology but it's more about having content literally at your finger tips. Everyone knows the uptake of 3G is particularly slow in this country. It's particularly slow when connectivity or access technology is way more advanced than the provision of true and relevant content. It is after all, the latter that ultimately changes lives not just the technology and delivery method. What good are cars if there is nowhere to go to? What good are phones if there is no one to call to? What good is a stove if there is no food to cook with? Similarly, what good is 3G and connectivity when there is no content to improve the way we live? I'd definitely get an Amazon Kindle if not because the current access technology is only available in the US. At least, for now. Apparently, user will not need to keep up with the hassle of paying for the wireless service which means Amazon must have struck a deal with the network provider. I think we can see more and more mobile device manufacturers building in the cost of connectivity into their product and profit share with their network partner. This ultimately saves the hassle of end-consumer and everybody gains. Sweet.

Watch this video from cnet. I think this review appears to be less biased than the one you can view on the Amazon site. Although it may seemed like its god sent, the Kindle certainly has its flaws, which really, is no biggie in any first generation of electronic device.

Wait no more.

Awhile ago, we talked about foodie blogger turned do-er. And were hoping to see more Malaysians 'do' instead of just 'talk talk talk talk talk'. I guess there's no need to duplicate a local webbie just to get people into the action. Newly launched imcooked does just that. Cook it, film it, share it. Now it's up to videocam makers to consider how to create vcams that can stand all that heat in the kitchen. I mean, it isn't easy to grind, chop, fry with your right hand and record all these actions with your left. Hmm. That just opens up a whole new can of... spaghetti, doesn't it?

Malaysia doughnut craze?

On November 1st, The Star published an article (photo) on the absurd queue of Malaysians, all waiting for a bite of the new craze in town - J.Co Donuts and Coffee. At first glance, KL-ites might think that they're having a slice of something ala Krispy Kreme. But what they didn't know is behind the all-premium facade of J.Co lies a proud Indonesian heritage. Same goes with the newly established Big Apple in The Curve. You think Big Apple = NY? Heck, no! It's owned by a proud Malaysian who actually cared enough to learn the art of doughnuts in the REAL Big Apple. I guess his hardwork did pay off as people were queuing up for doughnuts like there was no tomorrow! But. My question is. What's the sudden biggy with these buns with a hole huh?

Dunkin Donuts have been around for yonkers and they were either happily resting on their laurels or were about to go under, till these two donuteers came to save the day and pretty much revived people's craving for these little sweet things. Well, I think it's because if you're in the food industry. No, scrape that. If you're in ANY industry for that matter, it's about the ripest time it can get for you to introduce new ways of living. Awhile back, the craze was cupcakes. I don't think it has died down completely but people fancied the idea of having these cute little diabetic-inducing cakes as a replacement for our usual 1kg chocolate cake or whatever have you. Heck, did you know these little cuppa cakes can be a hell lot more expensive than the normal cakes if you count cost per gramme. What are Malaysians doing, wasting their hard-earned money like that!?

That's what happens when you have a sizeable percentage of the population laced with new money. In other words, young professionals who don't need to contribute anything to the household or double income earners who don't need to contribute anything to kids or double income earners who willingly contribute a whole lot of cash to their kids because of, well, what else but guilt. Well, whichever way you're seeing it, it makes perfect sense. New money earners have found this new sense of liberation from their income. Here stemmed the roots of narcism and incessant pleasure gratification. As in, the automatic habit of constant self-reward. There isn't a need to put a value to how much they are earning or how much the reward cost. The fundamental of this behavior doesn't change whether it's a new shirt or a new phone or even an overpriced piece of dough, ultimately it is because 'I now can'.

This phenomenon (although I know most of you would hardly call a donut fad a phenomenon) really intrigues me, which is why I'm gonna pledge some time to concentrate on a new research to find out the changing lifestyle of these urbanites (by the way, 70% of Malaysia is urbanised yea?) and what are the implications of various products and brands, and subsequently how these brands can meet the real needs of people in the midst of all these changes. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me this Christmas...

Foodies unite!

Calling foodies of the world, let's converge in iFoods.tv and share your family heirloom recipe with self-proclaimed chefs of Tom, Dick and Harriette.

I've been venturing into the kitchen of late, thanks to Jamie O's influence, who's probably one of UK's most renown celebrity chefs right now. I think why the Jamie Oliver brand is so appealing is because of his down-to-earth style of cooking and sharing of his homemade creations with viewers and fans. Needless to say, he's role in social innovation within the food industry also drew a lot of media attention worldwide.

Anyway.

The surge of food blogs in Malaysia over the past two years suddenly made everyone seem like a professional food critic. Some of these blogs are followed by a legion of fans while some are drawing thousands of ad Ringgit per month. Now my question is, will these blogs ever reach a saturation point? I mean after awhile, everyone would have blogged about a certain certain makan place at some point. Then what happens after that?

I think there is a great opportunity for foodie blogs to evolve into something bigger and more communal like iFoods.tv, locally. When every self-proclaimed food connoisseur in Malaysia have tried and tested every possible dish in Klang Valley (or beyond) (and I'm exaggerating), then the time is ripe to move into food creation (from thought creation). Although statistically speaking, the numbers of men cooking is still small but there is a visible trend of young singles living alone or young married couples without kids venturing into cooking - as an interest, not as a chore. They may still opt to eat out on a weekday (I mean, who wants to be near the stove when you've already felt that much heat at work right?) but on weekends, they may possibly go shopping and cook at home. I've had newly wed friends who are still trying and testing their hand in home cooked food. There's definitely something warm about it - men cooking for their ladies and ladies cooking for their men.

If this is a trend, then there will be huge opportunities for:

1) Kitchenware designed with masculinity in mind, using super sturdy and tough steel material that works like a Bosch tool rather than mom's favourite pot. That is IF more men are venturing into the kitchen, even if it's on weekends. While it is sweet and thoughtful to invite a lady over for a weekend dinner, Man would want to look impressive and not pretty in mom's apron.

2) More food communities like this one to inspire bloggers to do more food and share, and foodies to blog about their original culinary experience.

3) Recipes are no longer given like in the good old Kuali-days. Nowadays, people don't even need measurements! If you watch how Nigella cooks or how David Rocco prepares a meal, everything is according to the cook's guesstimate. There are no recipes and measurements on supers. So expect to see more similar videos floating online, produced by amateur cooks.

4) More social dinners amongst the young singles and/or young married couples who have their own place. A time to catch up with friends and strengthen bonds at home instead of outside.

5) More specialty shops selling suave and imported kitchenware from Europe due to the growing appreciation in product aesthetic of new home owners. The best time to showcase these products would be during the social dinners mentioned above.

These are just some of the related microtrends that could be fueling the new food phenomenon, should kitchen be the new hang out place. Now if you don't mind me, I have to go back and cook up a storm at work :)

Facebook bollocks or none?

"Some 50 percent of workers are blocked from accessing Facebook by business owners worried about the site's impact on productivity and security." Marketing Vox, today.

I know some friends who are increasingly disconnected from their friends for not checking their Multiply and Friendster enough. In this age, whoever talks about issues and problems face-to-face anymore? Everyone is updating everyone else through their social networking sites. I didn't know one of my best friends' rabbit died until I read her blog. And appropriately, I sent my condolences to her in her comment form. We've never talked about it in real life. Ever. Not that it's a sensitive subject but it just didn't seem important enough that it should crop up in our conversations. Maybe people are learning how to segregate their live or problems or happiness? There's no science to determining what stays on the web and what doesn't which reminds me of a really cool website Adeline shared with me (while we're facebooking :) now, how can that be unproductive?)

Whenever and wherever we are connected, I believe there're two 'start-up' actions before we start browsing and combing through the internet for content. Checking emails and checking messages/updates on our social networks. It is inevitable for desk employees to do that if you ask me. But the question of reduced productivity is still valid although I may not fully agree. The extra half an hour used to check my wiring doesn't necessarily translate to an extra half hour of productivity. I could be hanging out near the coffee machine. I could be hanging out at the mamak. I could be distracting my colleagues. I could be using it for anything but work!

However, in this age of multitasking where people are amazingly able to complete more and more task in the same minute, allowing facebooking and the sorts at work seems like nothing more than mere quick exercise of the mind. Multitasking does not only confine to 'doing' but also exercising the attention of the mind. It should if anything, improve employees quick thinking.
There's no stopping technology although we can control it. Like how some employers are doing it. Rather, I'd use it to my work advantage instead of going against the current. I am thinking of creating a facebook for Sparks. For business networking, yea, but honestly. It's really to show off how many friends I have :) And that I can facebook during work as well!

Increase your knowledge: "Based on a popular college and high school Web site, the term "facebooking" has emerged as a verb to describe the activity of logging in to Facebook.com in order to create a profile, share personal information, and meet other members." Netlingo