On the night drive home from the studio, I was in a cab that had a TV built into the back of the front seat headrest. Of course, I had to switch it off immediately.
As the city lights flew past me, I thought: In the past, you had to turn onthe TV. Today you have to turn it
Today, the switched-on state seems to be the NORMAL STATE, the predefined mode, so to speak; in the past, the default state was a switched-off screen.
This shows a change in values in the “freedom of choice” that is advanced or already complete in all areas. In the past, you had to be active in order to want something (I want to watch TV, I want to drive, I want to shop…), now I have to be active in order not to want something.
What a mind-altering effect this has on the generations who are presented with this unusual state as their default mode. The inactive consumer mode is the normal state. Someone grows up in a world in which everything is always switched on, in which images, noise, fuss and noise are the
For me, “freedom from something” as opposed to “freedom for something” is becoming increasingly important.