After a 4 year hiatus, Techno-tini is back and better than ever! A lot has…
Starbonics and the Verizon Barista
With a Starbucks on every corner, finding someone who doesn’t speak Starbonics is a rarity, so you can imagine my surprise when I recently found such a person. It happened just the other morning. I went down to the corner Starbucks with a co-worker from our engineering team. As I stood there about to order a Grande-Skim-No Whip-2 Pump-Mocha {translation, as if it’s necessary: a medium skim milk latte with 1/2 the amt of a regular mocha and no whip cream}, when I realized that Peter was completely illiterate in this now ubiquitous language of caffeinated goodness. I quickly gave him a crash course divulging the secrets between an Americana, the standard latte, and an upside down OR right-side up caramel macchiato {he ended up going with the “Really Big latte”}…and I couldn’t help but notice how quickly starbonics has transcended our vernacular. By co-opting words and flavors with which we’re familiar, (ex: mocha, vanilla, shot) and combining them with the dialect of Italy (ex: Venti, macchiato), American consumers were able to catch on with ease. The new tech convergence is spreading in a similar manner. We use words such as e-mail, download, world wide web, blog (web-log), YouTube, and citizen journalism; they combine familiar lingo from our media culture with technology, so the lay consumer can understand and relate. (It creates a language of remediated convergence, not just remediated media). And it’s working! My parents, who are by no means computer savvy, called the other day very excited because they were going to switch to Verizon Fios—the new “Fiber Optic” delivery of TV, Phone, and Internet. They rattled off all the new features they’d be getting-“free digital music stations, on-demand programming, and a DVR.
Woah—where did my parents (who still have trouble with attachments and Cut & Paste features) learn the tech heavy linguistics? ..from the competing tech company marketing departments and help desks. They’ve become the teachers educating the audience on these new terms that consumers will need to know in the digital world. So now when my mom, the teacher, has a question on the ins and outs of her new, ever evolving TV and Internet service, she calls the Help Desk and talks to her very own Verizon “barista.”
HI! I’m a Shana, self-proclaimed Media Mixologist, wife, and mom to two little girls. I love to mix up cocktails of crafts, recipes, wellness, family and business with just the right amount of sparkle to help you shine everyday. So, grab a glass, and let’s celebrate the cocktail of life!
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