The Globe and Mail recently posted an article stating that “More than half of Canadian boomers [are] catching [the] entrepreneurial bug.” This brought up an interesting thought to me… is there such a thing as too much capitalism? Can we get to a point where there are just too many small business starting up that draw too much of the population away from the workforce that is so essential for any economy?

Although the article discusses those Boomers that are nearing retirement or have already retired, it is a trend that is not only seen in those nearing that age; even students and young workers are becoming more and more keen on starting their own businesses. Why wouldn’t they? You can be your own boss… and some would argue it’s the only real way to become “rich.” But what does that do for the economy?

Certainly it’s a good thing when people want to start their own businesses. Governments always try to encourage small business activity, because it produces jobs and many other benefits. But what if everyone just wants their own business? Then our workforce is reduced greatly… something that will have very negative effects on the economy. A shortage of labour will cause these small businesses, themselves, to pay high salaries to their workers and perhaps begin shutting down causing the owners large losses.

Although it is unlikely we will reach this point, it’s interesting to see how each and every one of us do affect the working economy greatly.

Recently, my friend Allister posted about the recent hoax that Samsung paid a billion dollar fine to Apple in nickels. Obviously, this is quite ludicrous if you think about it, but like myself, many people fall for it when they heart it the first time.

Not only does this tell you about how sensitive society is to news that can change their opinion of a business; it shows you how easy it is for any random person to literally flip public opinion on a matter. As it gets easier and easier for people to spread rumours through social networking utilities (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), people become more and more susceptible to being infected by some false propaganda.

Another great example of this is the recent news spread about a long loved and adored snack in India, “Kurkure”. First, claims began to roar that these chips, in fact contained plastic. Then, videos began to spring up that showed people burning the chips, which would not burn, but instead melt like plastic.

http://www.hoaxorfact.com/Health/plastic-in-kurkure.html

PepsiCo has recently come out with statements and their own social networking advertisement that Kurkure do not contain plastic and are safe to eat.

These two articles are excellent examples of how tipsy public opinion is and how, with social networking, any news can be spread faster than a disease, whether it’s true or just a hoax.

I thought Jeffrey Wang’s post about the marketing tactics of Apple was quite interesting. It really is intriguing how the change from Apple naming their products successively (ie. iPad 1, iPad 2, etc.) to them naming the new iPad… well “The New iPad,” can cause so much commotion amongst the population. Well, in reality, it isn’t just this change that causes commotion; Apple’s events at which they release their latest gadgets have become almost like pay-per-view boxing fights. People crowd to popular tech blog websites such as Engadget who blog live from the event for those awe-struck and dedicated Apple fans that can’t wait to get a glance of the latest pixel-packed screen or scratch-resistant material that Apple has introduced into their products.

What’s even more interesting is the ignorance of the general population…

My favourite late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, recently featured a section in which they went out into the streets with the iPhone 4 and told people it was the iPhone 5. The response was profound… people ignorantly replied things like, “Oh yeah, it’s definitely faster than my iPhone 4” and, “it’s so much lighter and more HD.”

Really, Apple is just taking advantage of the population’s tendency to follow fads and trends. They’ve created this premium yet widely available and accessible brand that users follow blindly. The majority of the population knows very little about processor speed and hardware and software capabilities, yet they flock to Apple as their hands-down choice. I asked my PC-user friends if they would rather have a MacBook than a PC, and almost every single time the response was “Yeah… definitely, it’s just too expensive right now.”

Don’t get me wrong, I would rather have a MacBook, too, but I do find it very interesting how one least expects it, but Marketing has really become, in today’s widely inter-connected and socially diverse, the most important aspect of a business.