Consumers of the future are already here, today

I remember getting my first piece of technology, the Spectrum ZX. It was a great bit of kit. A small keyboard with rubber keys and then on the side, this dinky little cassette player with a lead into the back of the Spectrum.

I was about 8 or 9 when I my dad bought it for me. A real treat as times were very hard, although I didn’t really know it then. I got it all set up and looked at the two cassette games my dad had got for me. One was something to do with Maths (yawn) and the other involved me destroying blocks with a ball and flat bat that I moved left and right. I think it was called Batty*.

So I plugged in the cassette and pressed play…nothing happened. Read the instructions (for the first time) tried again and presto…this amazing noise of high and low pitched tones cried out at me. Wondering how long this would take I sat patiently. 20 or so minutes later I was ready to play. The screen came up just as I had seen on the back cover the box the cassette came in… I was in the right place. Had no clue what the keys were so just started pressing buttons and the ball launched off the bat, hit a block then a side wall and down below. Oh, couldn’t work out how to move the bat left and right.

About 4 or 5 minutes later when I had worked out the keys, I was away and playing for hours. Dad popped back and asked how the Maths one was – “great” I said, “…completed it already” as I fixed my eyes hard to the screen.

Now that was me at 8 or 9. My two daughters (one of who I mentioned in a previous blog) are used to a totally different kind of technology. They are growing up in the world of tablets and smartphones. They know how to navigate around screens, activate apps, use their tiny fingers to command their every need. I can’t imagine what sort of technology they will be operating at my age.

And that is really important to think about. Even though my daughters have well over a decade before they hit adulthood, they are the consumers of the future and they are already here. Any business that isn’t already thinking about how consumers are developing their needs and habits now will quickly fall behind as the kids of today come of age and expect more.

Sucheet Amin, the author, is an award-winning entrepreneur renowned for his passion in customer service and technology.

*Reminisce and play Batty here: http://torinak.com/qaop#!batty