Thursday, January 20, 2005

Youth Curry (new blog)

I came across a brand new blog called Youth Curry, via Om Malik. Rashmi Bansal is a journalist in Bombay; it seems like this will be a blog oriented to Indian youth-culture trends.

Her point about IPods seems pretty self-evident -- the market that can afford 20,000+ Rupees on an MP3 player is very small.

I also like her point about how cell phones change the dynamic for teenagers in more conservative households. Unintentional liberalization:

The paradox of technology

Parents may feel a sense of security in knowing 'where their kids are', but the truth is - they have less idea than ever before. In simpler times, when you went to a friend's house for a sleepover you left your firend's telephone number behind.

In the cellphone era there's no way to tell where you really are. And when you don't want to be reached, you can always claim the signal was weak or you are out of network coverage. I'm not saying all teens use the cellphone to deceive their parents but many sure do.

Further, there is unprecedented privacy for the young person - especially girls from less liberal backgrounds. No longer can paranoid pappas vet all incoming calls and ask to know why such and such boy keeps calling.

The balance of power has shifted. Calls can be received after midnight on silent mode, with nobody the wiser for it.

True in America as much as in India.

(It also obviously brings up the issue of the recent MMS video cell phone scandal, but that was kind of an anomaly. This is going to be nearly universal middle-class households.)

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