Knowing When To Speak Out

As I was reading a recent article in Adbusters Magazine, it suddenly and comically occurred to me that the issues surrounding the encroachment of consumer culture are so much more nuanced than we often present them to be. I believe we should resist the infinite lures to become corporate tools as often as possible. However, I think that those of us who initiate the discourse about the struggle against corporate oppression need to be very careful what we choose to attack and why. When we launch hypocritical, ridiculous, or pointless crusades against relatively unimportant issues, we risk alienating potential recruits and sympathizers to the movement.

The article that sparked this thought was decrying a new technology linking cell phones and vending machines. This service would allow a consumer with a cell phone and an active account to pay for a beverage, snack, or whatever just by punching a code into his/her cell phone. (Assuming the vending machine was one participating in the program.) To me, this is a convenient service, not an example of some Orwellian Big Brother scenario. If you have a cell phone, chances are you carry the thing around with you damn near all the time. That's the whole point of a cell phone, right? So if you have your phone, and you don't have any change or small bills, wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy a soda just by pressing a few buttons on your phone?

Of course it would. The first time you used it, you'd be hooked. You'd be looking for any excuse to hit up a vending machine with your handy cell phone. It may be shallow and purely consumer, but it's a cool use of technology. But, most importantly, any service like this would have to be voluntary. To use it, you'd have to create an account with the service provider. Or, if the phone came with an account, the choice of whether or not to use the service would ultimately be in your hands. I just don't see an invasion of privacy here. I see convenience.

Of course, if certain things were only slightly different, a service like this could quickly become invasive. For example, if your phone would ring every time you passed within a certain distance of a vending machine, a whole new can of worms would be opened. That would be annoying as hell. I wonder if this sort of focused, database driven invasive advertising can be far off though. When Internet enabled cars with OnStar or some similar satellite-connected service are commonplace, will drivers be alerted with targeted ads for restaurants, hotels, and entertainment attractions whenever they drive? If their in-car computer knows they love porn, will the car inform them they just passed an adult bookstore even while a date is in the car? Will drivers be forced to endure solicitations to visit every single McDonalds restaurant they pass? To me, that would be the sort of ghastly marriage of technology and consumer practices worth fighting. When we fight convenience just because capitalism is involved, we mock our cause.

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