I recently read someone characterize their shift to digital as a series of "mundane circumstances." It began with them falling behind on reading the NY Times, either due to a lack of free time or because someone would steal it from the lobby downstairs. They still read the Times- they just went to their website to do it. Then it began happening with the photography magazines she subscribed to and later the cooking ones. Recipe clipping was just as easy, if not easier, using del.icio.us rather than looking for scissors and having your kitchen fill up with bits of paper.
The point is, this is how massive changes take place- via a series of mundane circumstances.
We recently opined that the writers’ strike might lead people to make the internet a permanent part of their entertainment mix and that when the strike concluded (which it seems to have done, thank goodness) those who migrated away might not necessarily return. Well, looky here…nearly 30% of respondents to a recent poll said that they were spending more than two hours a day online since the strike began. Of interest to online marketers: 41% said their online spending had increased during this period. Once you lose someone, it’s much harder to get them back.
The slow drip drip drip of change continues unabated. Mundane circumstances, indeed.
