I’m 60 and have no use for all that fancy stuff. I’m surprised that you think it’s essential.
Deej, there would be some value to learning how the next generation uses internet content. My offspring gave up wire line phones altogether in favor of cell phones, and next gave up desktop internet service in favor of iPhones, and this is people in their late 20s-early 30s approaching the peak of career. We do not want to make FR a geriatric-only site, but also have appeal to the coming generation of conservatives who will not only have to carry the ball, but also repair the grave damage of the postwar generations.
Since everyone is touting their creds, I might as well add that I made my living for several years as a consultant to a global hi-tech company researching and predicting the short- and long-term future of the technology marketplace, including likely user behavior when certain innovations moved from the pipeline into user's hands. The speed with which an older business model can collapse is one of the primary dangers of today's rapid development cycle. As one example, you can see how big-box stores like Home Depot and WalMart wiped out mom'n'pop businesses within a decade or so. As another, you can see how quickly Netflix and RedBox decimated Blockbuster, which is now in bankruptcy after having been a major recreational destination a decade ago. And the collapse rate for online destinations can be even faster.
Emoticons are not the important issue; timely technological innovation to retain market share is the issue. And the market for conservatism is going to shrink unless we can attract and hold the last generation who grew up under Reagan. There's been little but cultural Marxism ever since.
There is a difference between what may be essential and what will help make FR a better, more inclusive site that will attract more people and help the conservative cause. I remember when one quite crotchety president of one of the world's largest computer companies said that personal computers were just fancy stuff that weren't essential and people didn't need.
Well, that company no longer exists. Before that, though, there was a computer engineers who wanted to create a new operating system with all kinds of icons and fancy things. When he was told it wasn't essential, the guy went somewhere else to do it. What he did was create Microsoft Windows, which helped put his former company out of business and pushed Apple back to a meager (5%) market share. Lesson: Adapt or die. Very few things that technology based can sit still and survive. You know what else is true? We are all resistant to change but often find that some of the new stuff is really very good once we use it and then wonder how/why we did without it.
Best regards,