Mind the Gap: children will find a workaround

One of the business models I track is labelled 'mind the gap':

Mind the Gap.
Sure, old people may control the vote, but children own the future. And the present. Right in their hands. The smartphone. There are over 2 billion children in the world. In the developed world, the very tools that we now use to expedite business, commerce, buying, selling, culture, creation, influence; namely, mobile connectivity, smartphones, the Internet, vrituality, are becoming *equally* accessible to children as to adults.  In fact, children are more intuitively capable of manipulating, leveraging, distributing and enhancing these tools than are adults.

This is unprecedented in all of history in all societies. And it is spreading to all areas of the planet. Children will connect, and have the power to shape economies, businesses and policies. And, no, your concerns are not at all like their concerns. Their wants are not like your wants.

I think of this now because I heard there's some worldwide outrage over a teacher in Thailand who caned several of his students (the act of which was caught on mobile phone camera, ha!).

Outrage?

Shit, I'm not that old and I got paddled numerous times (and, no, I'm not really that awful). The shop teacher and Learning Labs teacher (that was the class for us delinquints) paddled us at least once a term. Outrage? Hell, the parents seemed to encourage this level of discipline.

So what does all this mean? I have no clue. Of all the trends I study, of all the potential pathways our technology is leading us, of the many battles still to be fought in the smartphone wars, this is the one that is most vexing. Simply because it is completely without precedent in human history. Unfettered access to the very same resources and knowledge bases as adults. A more intuitive understanding of the technology. And, innovation. An easier route to leveraging social media, low-cost bandwidth, video, free/low-priced calls. The ability to use the crowd to start a business. Or a movement. The eradication of our current educational-industrial complex. Crappy television.

On this one, the possibilities are nearly endless. And no amount of caning will stop it.