Surrogates
So it’s 2011. Pretty crazy how fast stuff goes – it honestly feels like yesterday when I was 17 or 18. The majority of my friends are either just about to finish or out of uni. I guess the real world has finally come knocking and we’ve got to go out and face it.
I’m extremely grateful that I’ve got something to show for these “Uni years”. I don’t really mind if it’s socially unacceptable or not – I really believe online gaming will become a much bigger part of all our lives’ in the not too distant future. I never broadcast what I do (apart from this blog which very few real life people know about) because even if I did I could never fight all the negative connotations and although it’s cliché I really just care about pleasing the people who I care about and respect.
Anyway, I mentioned that online gaming is going to become a bigger part of our life’s’ in the near future. This isn’t based on insider industry knowledge – it’s founded on looking at the path humanity is taking, especially in the last 100 years.
Personally, I don’t believe gambling is immoral – well at least not poker. It’s probably the purest form of business. It’s similarities to trading are uncanny and one thing I’ve began to appreciate is how it genuinely enhances your thought process – even on random day to day matters.
It is however, a fact that there are lots of negative connotations surrounding gambling. We can dress it up all we want but, your parents don’t want you to be a professional poker player. They don’t care if you’ve got an edge and don’t understand sample size. The only way society will listen is if you become so financially successful you force them to and that’s only going to get harder as the game develops. I guess this is why it takes a special kind of person to become a professional poker player – it requires tremendous self discipline, determination and talent. If these few people went down the conventional path of school to university to job I’m certain they would climb to the top. The catch 22 is that these people could never do that. They’re probably a little too impatient and too independent.
A pattern has been emerging in modern society. Morality and principal is constantly being replaced by pragmatism. Marijuana now enjoys near legal status in California and several other US stats – the govt. tax it and very little fuss is caused. Probably because (huge generalisation coming up) the people who usually protest are stoners themselves.
Abortion was something that was considered morally wrong by society and was legalised in ’70′s America. This kind of stuff happens all the time – The governments of the world hold their hands up and say “We know a lot of people object to this and it might be wrong but, there is so much of it going on anyway we’re better to legalise it, tax it and licence it”.
I guess it’s not such a bad argument. The only problem is that it can be used to justify and legalise anything. Think of a few things – it’s probably already happened.
Naturally an 18 year old is more likely to get into online poker than a 40 year old. This is a guesstimate but, it’s probably fair to say that the online version of the game has been properly established for 6 – 7 years. I mean; good software, marketing, traffic and decent payment processing options.
Every year there are millions more eligible players than the last. The difference is that these ‘new’ eligible players are far more likely to take the game up than those that have passed away. So in 50 years time we might have a far more balanced poker demographic. A good number of the 18 year olds playing today might very well be playing in 2031 – Maybe not a crazy amount but, I’m certain there will be more 38 year olds playing in 20 years time than there are today because they found online poker when they were young and had the time to explore the game. Many of them will become entrenched in poker culture and some of them will be lucky enough to make a respectable living playing the game. I admit that this argument might not technically be logical. In fact I’m sure there’s some fallacy – I hope you get where I’m coming from with the age thing.
We’re becoming more and more computer savvy every day. Those who are technologically illiterate are passing on and a new generation is coming of age. This is the generation that has been immersed in technology since the day they were born and although this can only be great news for the online gaming industry, I worry that it might not be great news for humanity.
About a year ago I watched a film called “Surrogates” with Bruce Willis at the cinema. The film was about a human race that lived through a surrogate – the surrogate couldn’t get hurt, feel pain and could pretty much do everything we can do but, better. I don’t think a lot of people related to the premise of the film at all but, it’s actually not too far away from where we are today and especially where this latest generation is.
It’s true – instead of going to the park kids play football on their PS3 or xBox. Instead of going around to a friends house they will chat on MSN. Instead of the popularity chain being based on who you really are it’s founded upon who you appear to be on your facebook profile and it’s pretty scary.
I don’t think it’s too long until virtual schooling is implemented to a degree. It will be hailed as revolutionary and the thing that will propel the nation to new standards of excellence whilst driving down costs. Even on the internet today I’ve seen countless adverts for online university courses – some from pretty good Uni’s. I just don’t think this is really the point. I know one thing I slightly regret about the last year or two is how much time I’ve spent online. For me, the time I spend online doesn’t really get questioned because I’m “working” so the social stigma is gone – it actually become commendable that people spend their life’s staring at a screen.
Anyway, ultimately I think the time I spend online can be slowly but, surely decreased in 2011 as the barebones of the business are finally established. If that is the case the last 2 years or so have been worthwhile.
