Last week on a business trip I read the magazine on the plane. (another small pj issue) It enlightened me on the future, our future.

Imagine making arrangements to meet a friend or spouse at a restaurant for a 6 p.m. dinner appointment. You are driving toward the restaurant when you get a text message from your favorite store, which conveniently is on the way to the restaurant. They have your favorite pair of pants on sale, 25% off. You head on over, park, walk into the store and your pants are waiting for you in the arms of the customer service rep of the day. You purchase them with your phone and you are on your way again making it to your appointment with time to spare.

This is possible because everything we do and everywhere we go is being tracked, logged and stored… today.

Our behavior, our buying habits, our likes and dislikes are being placed into a huge data base that companies already utilize to gamble on…you. And if we know anything about gambling, we know the house always wins.

And I imagine we will feel grateful. Less time, less effort, less hassle in our busy lives. It is convenient. It is expedient. It is smart. It is also just a tad big brotherish, but it is the technological world in which we live.

Now I could get on my soapbox and yell at the world to stop the madness, but really what would be the point. Instead I will dwell on the possibilities and ask myself, how can I monopolize on this information? I’m pretty sure someone is gambling that I am not smart enough, determined enough or connected enough to figure out how to do that.

House wins.