Walls of broken code

         

   Sam was telling me about the latest strategy in marketing as if it were some big secret weapon.  I listened half interested. He was late meeting me at the cafe for lunch because, he said, had almost closed the sale, and it would have been HUGE he said. I felt green and not with envy.

Sam was always over-animated, he was an ad-man.

After ordering our caffeinated beverages we sat at a tiny round table waiting and promptly pulled out our phones. I was fortunate enough to get to hear his entire pitch for a Digital Fence. I noticed a man sitting behind Sam on his laptop wearing earmuff headphones, his head was tilted toward Sam. He was listening.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall

When Sam said “Digital Fence” it was the first time I had ever heard the term. At first I thought it sounded like it could be a decent solution to so many problems! A fence that cannot be seen or touched, like an invisible cloak, seemed like an invention long overdue as far as technological advances. Our drinks were ready.

The words echoed in between my ears, “No one has seen them made or heard them made”.

“Wow Sam, that is really revolutionary. The concept is a little confusing if not unbelievable.”

“How so?”

“Well, like who do you target to keep inside the fence? Are there certain entities or people that are kept outside the fencing-I mean is there a qualifier?”

“Just demographics. Income, age, zip-code, Education, home-ownership, credit score, political and religious affiliations, and blood type. Kidding. Middle age, middle income, middle of the road mom and have brick and mortar businesses on Main Street.”

We wear our fingers rough with handling them-

“Of course. Because the middle can be swayed either way.” He did not hear me.

“The analytical reporting we get from the deals happens to be the most fascinating. Do you remember when you showed me that website once where they have radio-tagged all the mountain lions and you can see the map of where they have been and can predict where they will go-their hunting and roaming areas? Well, that is basically Geo-fencing.”

“Ok, so tagging and tracking is nothing new.”

“Hyper-local fencing let these businesses blast people near them with special deals to entice them to come in and spend money. Kind of like a video game, people get the experience of scoring high points, getting an exclusive deal and being targeted-”

We have to use a spell to make them balance

“I guess it was only a matter of Google Time before everyone with a cell phone became a target of someone.”

“Fair game.”

“That makes us the game.”

The work of hunters is another thing

Sara had another thought, “well, what if they never look at their phone?”

It was a ridiculous idea. Ignore an alert? Madness.

As if people only browse through their browser.

There where it is we do not need the wall

“So if every place has a fence, how is that any different than a person choosing to go into this place or that place autonomously? And seriously what benefit does the consumer receive by only looking at their phone?” What was he fencing in or fencing out, I wondered.

“Sara, you use such big words, I don’t know what you are getting at...”

“I am just trying to picture a bunch of invisible fences that people walk through simply doing errands or to go out to eat-which is supposed to be pleasurable and not pressure driven-nothing is safe from coercion. I guess it’s kind of like how some parking spaces are reserved for a specific business or how you cannot just park in just anybody’s driveway or garage. Someone is paying for that space.”

“Yes, duh Sara, yes, you have to pay for ad space AND the fencing to set your boundaries.”

“I think you know exactly what I am getting at. How better to penetrate our target market?” Sam was proud he had explained it so well.

‘Good fences make good neighbors’

Painting by Camille Pissaro, 'The Fence' c. 1872 i Public Domain.