Independence for Independents: We All Know Times are Changing

iPods, Internet banking, mobile phones, digital cameras… I now wonder how we used to get on without it all. If you think about how we used to do stuff in say, 1994, just 15 years ago, it was all remarkably different. Digital technology has impacted on pretty much every aspect our lives. My mum, who is in her seventies, now Skypes me with her webcam. Crikey! We are in a revolution, one that I believe is as significant as the Industrial revolution, or the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, or perhaps silent movies to talkies… It’s a big one, and the turmoil we are all feeling right now is a symptom of that change; growing pains if you like.

Haven’t we heard this all before though? Sure. But… I believe this revolution is far more significant than merely “progress”. It’s much bigger than the clear benefits offered, such as carrying your entire record collection around on your iPod or posting your sister’s wedding video online for family in Australia to watch on the same day. Calling it the Digital Revolution is quite right, but the phrase is so commonplace, we kind of ignore it as mere noise.

But listen carefully to that noise. Entire countries are going bankrupt, a black man is made US President, institutions thought of as being unshakeable are collapsing, and now filmmakers can shoot in high quality, edit and distribute to a global audience in a single day… Never mind 2009 being different from 15 years ago, it’s a whole new world that is different to last year!

I believe that this is the age that will herald the death of the faceless mega corporations, and then in its place, the individual will rise, perhaps individuals in small communities. This is my time, and your time too.

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