Sometimes the power of television bamboozles me completely and a recent study by ING Direct underscores how utterly bonkers people are when spending time looking for a new TV or a new home.
According to the study, UK consumers spend 284 minutes selecting a new TV, 217 minutes choosing a TV viewing package… and a mere 21 minutes viewing a property before they decide to put in an offer.
I don’t have a TV so I will never understand why people waste so much time doing these things, but my household does have several laptops and the BBC’s iPlayer has become a big part of my life.
Apart from choosing to watch when I watch, I don’t need a TV licence to watch non-live programmes and that was confirmed to me by ‘the authorities’ earlier this week. An astonishing loophole that even makes me feel guilty, let alone clever because I’d like to support the BBC.
This has completely changed the way I approach media and I’m not just talking about iPlayer. It means that my beautiful daily newspaper has suddenly taken on a new lease of life as I check yesterday’s paper for the TV schedules. What’s more I usually find an article I missed the day before – who knew?
Over in the social world where a backlash appears to be taking place over so-called social media gurus, perhaps there needs to be similar lateral thinking before these experts become yesterday’s news and put the sector back years.
While there are charlatans in all walks of life, those who represent social media are generally intelligent people who have seized on a trending industry and are making a tidy few quid doing so. Others are taking the mickey.
The quality here is how to differentiate between a guru and a maven, a mountebank and a communicator and rather like the hoi-polloi buying a TV, a lot of time needs to be spent doing so. .. it’s not as if you’re buying a house after all.
My rule of thumb is simple. Anybody who describes themselves as a ‘guru’ is the same type of person who refer to themselves in the third person… completely untrustworthy, full of nonsense and probably ready to pick your pocket. So now you know.
Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.
