While I am certainly not an economist, even I can see how 24-hour marketing techniques may be helpful in world business environments. Not only can the, consumer participate at his/her most convenient pleasure, but the supplier is able to identify with his/her client through more convenient measures as well. While benefits are clearly identified due to this steroid like business strategy (revolving around the biggest and the easiest getting bigger and easier) clear drawbacks can be identified with this strategy as well.
Vegas is a great example of big business using Web 2.0 to solicit bigger and easier (as well as more convenient) making some of the most disgusting habits like drugs and prostitution a normal everyday occurrence as well as a big reason for many peoples return time after time. A commercial I saw which is easily accessed through the Web shows a picture of a disgusting construction worker jumping into a gross cement mixer in order to satisfy his urge for pleasure, which epitomizes the act of convenience in getting what you want whenever you want it.
This video in my opinion leads one to believe that Vegas/happyness is just a click away (actually it says that it is just a click away when it is wrapping itself up). Through the use of a middle aged, chubby, African American Vegas.com is portrayed as the savior to the human race. The sign could have read like the Statue of Liberty saying “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Which is an invitation to all who are heavy liaden to come and contribute to the good of a growing country, only this sign and commercial are saying something quite different through the same marketing ticqnique.
However, the Web is not a medium for complete satisfaction anytime and all the time at just a click away. This world, which is now driven through the Internets 24-hour connectivity, gives the masses power and not just a little. We now have businesses that are able to communicate thoroughly and quickly without the drawback of limited access to knowledge. Statistics are readily available to both sides of the enterprising worlds of commerce -driven by the do anything anytime as much as one wants attitude- and resistance to commerce/or commerce in moderation- which sees problems with over usage and destruction through gluttony-. In essence the Internet is now able to provide competitive marketing power to everyone under every condition through any channel.
Another moderately concerning drawback dealing with the Web today is that it functions through many channels which pull people away from the personable, emotionally involved environment that I believe is essential to the worlds progress –emotionally, morally, and physically-. Internet functionality may give companies the ability to develop productive market strategies but as markets change competition is prone to dissolve communal relationships instead of promoting them. Capitalism through the web for example, makes America a great place to live. If you have money and or talent, you can buy a house online and provide fairly easily for yourself without even leaving your place of residence. Problematically however, the talented and rich are by far the few minority when put into a world perspective.
http://www.forbes.com/2001/06/22/2001maps.html
Because of the usefulness of 24 hour a day connectivity the world will never be the same. There will always be people who want to abuse a good thing through addiction while the majority of us will only want to use the good things of this world as much as we need for as long as we need them. The Internet is constantly evolving and while some think that it is evolving too fast and at too many different levels I believe that most of us are happy to see things growing in the way they are. Even with the drawbacks of the Internet one has to recognize that the human existence is truly complicated because of devices like Web 2.0 but at the same time one also needs to realize that humanities progress is essential to existence and will always be gladly accepted by the masses.
