• by Seana Mulcahy , April 18, 2005

I'm writing to you while I'm holiday. It is amazing how I am spoiled by the many amenities and conveniences of the United States. I just had to pay to get online and my connection is slooooow. If you are reading this, you are used to life with fat pipes. The fact that broadband technology in the United States is over the 50 percent mark probably makes you breath easier too.

Sometimes we forget what we have. Let's face it, life with pixel limitations can be pretty boring and exceptionally blah. We are so used to streaming audio and video. Creative is looking and feeling a whole lot like broadcast. As advertisers, we can finally push the edges of the creative envelope.

I'm in the Caribbean and what do you think I first saw when I got here? None other than Burger King. It seems like a hot commodity over here. The other thing I noticed is that there are mobile phones everywhere. It seems kind of funny (and refreshing) to be free of a phone right now. It is also weird. If I need to find directions, a phone number, a map, transportation, entertainment, and food... anything, I either hop on my phone or my laptop to go online. Within moments I have multiple answers to my original question.

Well I'm out of luck in that regard.

The other thing I realized is no one has wireless headsets. Just think about it, how many times have you walked by a woman on the street thinking she was talking to herself prior to seeing her headset? I'm hooked on my Bluetooth. Short-range wireless technology is cool now. It's been around for five years. It's had more success in Europe then the United States, but seems to be catching on.

Phones here are not fashionable as we see around the streets of any major U.S. city. They are big and clunky. If telecom companies offered slim phones with cameras, Bluetooth, and skins, they would be hot.

I tend to miss my brands too. Thank goodness for Coke Lite. It seems as if just about every large American brand is a hot commodity here: McDonald's, Burger King, and Marlboro cigarettes. I can't say I consume any of those. Microsoft is everywhere. Good thing I know keyboard commands because I can't read a word of Spanish.

Many locals have Boston Red Sox hats on. Is it cool because it is from America or do they really like the Sox? I know what you New Yorkers will say. Well its good to take a holiday, but great to have Bluetooth, American brands, and Microsoft Word in English.