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about Asia Buzz
Culture on Demand: Class of 2000
Get connected, or miss out. It's that simple
By STAN STALNAKER
April 1, 2000
Web posted at 1:00 a.m. Hong Kong time, 12:00 p.m. EST
This week a bunch of us were sitting around over dinner when the subject of class came up. Yes class, as in status, caste, hierarchy--that stuffy intellectual subject that we all tend to forget about in the rush of the Spring/Summer fashion offerings.
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The discussion started over The Talented Mr. Ripley, now playing on airlines across the region. Everyone present agreed they found it disturbing because, to some extent, they--no matter what their background--could identify with class pressures and, as in the movie, the pressure society places on individuals to have it all.
Except among the coffeehouse set, boring old crusties in political chambers and secondary-school philosophy teachers, the subject of class, and where it is headed, doesn't usually come up much among the business set these days. That's probably because it doesn't have a market valuation. This aside, the subject is becoming a button issue because, like everything else, it is changing, and quickly.
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INTERACTIVE
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The old rules of business and socialization, as we all know from the incessant media drum, are changing under the inherent forces of the information revolution. Here in Asia, communication and mobility have already had profound implications on our perceptions of class. The fear among tech-watchers and aid organizations that a digital pool of haves and have-nots will develop, where some people are fast-tracked and others are permanently parked, has long been sounded as a basis for a more social approach to technology and information sharing.
Those at the dinner party think that day is here, in stealth. If you are not connected, right now, the bottom line is that you are missing out. In your business. In your social interaction. In your education as an individual and in our collective view of achievement. As a connected individual--e-mail, the Net, mobile phoning--think about how your productivity would be affected by an interruption in these lines. Now think about how little you could do without the lines, period, which is where vast majorities of Asia now sit (15-30% have Net access in the region, fewer still with a Palm V!)
Today, the "successful" person is concerned less about the acquisition of material goods and more about access and usability of information to save time. In many cases, the highest end of the social strata are living a life with the fewest of material goods, outsourcing their lives if you will, while demanding a constant information connection that enables them to renew at high speed. I guess you could call it just-in-time living. It's great for full-service hotels and Singapore Airlines first class.
That lifestyle is nowhere more apparent than in Asia, though it obviously exists for just a small fraction of the greater population. For all of us, however, the new luxury is 'connected simplicity.' And it is evident in individuals as much as it is in corporations, who are using Web generated efficiencies to hub and spoke their operations.
This is good for us, as it allows us to collectively specialize. But it has a disturbing and all-too-familiar flip side: outsourcing and simplicity cost. We live in an era where time is the ultimate commodity for the affluent, which they use to generate capital. But for the rest of society, the ultimate commodity is still seen as capital, which generates food for the table at the expense of great swaths of time. It's a subtle distinction.
My Chinese friends love to say, 'no money, no honey.' Perhaps the new version should be 'no time, no dime.'
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