Why we love Minority Report

It's been quite sometime since the last post.. and Bill Gerba of Wirespring got me out of this slumber. His post on "Who'll watch the watchers" caught my attention. He writes about a Minority Report like situation, where pervasive technologies sense people's identities, locations, purchase habits and beam personalized content on screens everywhere. It may look cool in a Tom Cruise sci-fi flick, but will it be the same if you and I are faced with such a reality? He is concerned that we will not have a chance to opt-out of such personalized messaging and will come to accept it as default without realizing the extent of privacy invasion that such networks will deliver to marketers.

He clarifies "Perhaps I'm making too much of this, but I think it's critical to hear some opinions on the matter before the tech becomes commonplace and there's nothing that anyone can do about it."

here's my take on the situation..
"Recognition Technologies, Recommendation Engines & Screens are a lethal combo for a marketer, but it need not be otherwise for shoppers. my guess is that retailers who decide to have a ambient system where shoppers cannot opt-out will suffer. also, one must not ignore that we're already experiencing something very similar with online. It took us less than 7 years to start seeing everything around us through the google lens. we depend on it to make sense of the what's around the internet. with clutter becoming commonplace, the choices before consumers are overwhelming and my guess is we'd be happy to accept anything that makes our lives simpler. making content relevant, making it personal beyond the internet has already begun.."