Increasingly, IM-speak is finding its way into the writing of teens at school according to a CNN article yesterday.

Apparently, the 4 - 5 hours of technology and media usage by teens outside school is impacting the way that teachers see language arts being taught in the classroom. Some disagree, believing that first drafts contain the shorthands, while final copies of papers do not. IM-speak is also compared to informal acronymns used by previous generations (SWAK= “sealed with a kiss”).

For a good primer on IM-speak click here. Its written by a 19 year old as if to his grandmother.

Are you seeing IM speak popping up in your organization? How do you react to it? Is it appropriate in business…or do you perceive it as sloppy, lazy english?

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Wireless, but always connected.

When we chose this tagline, we saw it as a way to describe a generation whose use of technology was integral to their friendships, lifestyles, and personalities. Now it seems its also going to be a bigger part of their buying trends.

Mobile content is growing exponentially according to this post from MIT’s Convergence Culture Consortium. It sites a Juniper Research report which indicates movies, sports information, and yes, even porn, will be available in greater abundance (and presumably at a greater cost) in the next five years.

Connection with e-mail, entertainment outlets, the web, and music will continue to be the focus of gadgets as the market for personalization (through ringtone downloads, etc.) expands. Is this just a natural outgrowth of the increasing portability of our lives? Or, is having access to more sophisticated mobile content a way to avoid having real human interaction with the people with whom we ride the bus, the subway or pass in the hallways? Are we downloading information to avoid conversation?