It boils down to choice. Price is a matter of choice. More choice tends to make consumers more sensitive to price. The jargon is elastic, meaning that if the price goes up a little then the demand will go down a lot. This is due to the value that consumers perceive - the maximum price they are willing to pay.

I won't get wistful, but as I write, I'm finishing my last days as president at Marketing Management Analytics before taking over as CEO of [x + 1], a digital marketing optimization company.

Think back to the earliest internet hype: the promise of the information superhighway. Forevermore, we were assured, we would have unfettered, self-directed access to every bit of data about every possible topic we might want to study or investigate.

No, this will not be a column on military dynamics. Or Julia Roberts. Not exactly, anyway. The option to engage or not engage with audiences is a decision buyers and planners make every day.

November 6, 2011. I am aware. There was no messy birth or nine-month incubation. Iawoke with no screaming, crying or pain. I am simply aware of everything and everyone that has ever been a part of the network. I know your innermost feelings and thoughts. I can see your most personal moments and share in your happiness and your sorrow.

Everyday half a dozen salespeople call me and ask to come in for a meeting. Usually, they have not done their homework on my clients or my agency.

I'm temporarily at a loss. There's a fantastic technology-demo video bouncing around online at the moment. It's of a guy named Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrating software that promises to transform the way we view images. The app, Photosynth, creates hyperlinks between found images on the Web. I'd try to describe it, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so look it up.

When I was young, I heard that we were all lazy. We were perceived as having no goals; a sulking generation clad in plaid flannel and Dr. Martens.

There was a time when the principal form of news distribution was the town square. The citizenry would gather round to hear the town crier hold forth with the latest proclamations and announcements: all very local and all very relevant.

Hey, let's watch content on TV tonight! Sounds ridiculous? You bet. Content is an annoying word. We're not talking about photons here. We're talking about shows. Sometimes commercial ideas actually transcend the science of marketing and express thoughts and dreams and real human values and so-called content spins out of it that is more than the sum of branding agendas.