To get some perspective on how much has changed in a relatively short period of time, check out the following video. Among the statistics mentioned are:

• In 2006, there were 1.3 million college grads in the US, 3.1 million in India and 3.3 million in China; 100% of the Indian graduates speak English and, it is predicted, that in 10 years, China will be the largest English-speaking country in the world.

• The US Dept. of Labor estimates that today’s learners will have 10-14 different jobs… by their 38th birthday.

• 1 out of 8 couples married in the US in 2005 met online.

As technology becomes increasingly interwoven into every aspect of daily life, means of connecting with anyone, anywhere grows at an exponential rate; one stat says that 230,000 people sign up for MySpace everyday.

http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/

I’m typing this entry on my new MacBook Pro, which I purchased recently having decided that a laptop would be a more efficient way of working since it was time (yet again) to upgrade. This is now the sixth Mac I’ve owned, but more interestingly — and coincidentally — is that each time I’ve purchased a new Mac it’s been at a time of (often major) change in my life:

• a IIci (8 MB RAM, 80 MB HD. That’s 80 megabytes, folks) when I was just starting out;
• a PowerMac 9600 when I was freelancing but found full-time work;
• a PowerComputing Pro (raise your hand if you still have one) when I left my job to work on my own;
• a G4 when I bought my house and business was buzzing;
• a G5 at a time when there was a lot of personal and professional uncertainty and tension;
• and now my MacBook Pro, purchased just a few weeks ago.

So where’s the change this time? Read the rest of this entry »