FUTURISTIC GROOVES

South Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world. That is why Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, the biggest online auctioneer, sees the country as a “window into the possibilities” of what might happen when high-speed broadband services are widely adopted in other places too.

Saturday morning in Myeong-dong, and the huge shopping district in the centre of Seoul, South Korea’s capital, prepares for a long day and night. As the hawkers move in with their barrows, a man selling fried squid sets up his stall next to a woman displaying shawls with Louis Vuitton logos. Real or fake, just about every fashion brand in the world can be bought here, if not from the hawkers, then certainly from the hundreds of stores, shopping malls or the massive Lotte department store. A solitary preacher stands outside a Starbucks singing hymns, as if to steer the swelling crowds away from the path of Mammon. Eventually he packs up and leaves, drowned out by the music blasting from the sound systems of trendy boutiques. This is consumerism at its most strident. So where is the internet?

It is all around. Start with shops, many of which display signs showing their website address. Then watch the shoppers, especially the younger ones. They have acquired new skills: walking through a crowd while studying the screen on their mobile phone, or examining a rail of clothes while using their thumb to text a friend. Some will also be checking their bank accounts, getting sports news, keeping track of an online computer game, or downloading a new ring tone or avatar-a cartoon-like character that will appear as their digital representative on mobile phone screens and in online games. Plenty will also be listening to music downloaded from the internet.

They are what marketing people call generation Y, a group born between 1980 and 1994. They have already turned some clothing, drinks and electronics brands into winners and losers. They have grown up with more choice than any other generation. They are busy and know how to shop around, both online and offline.

More than any other group, the 18- to 34- year-olds access the internet from places other than home, school or work, especially if they are using a mobile phone. They seem to want to be connected wherever they go. They also see the internet as one of their most important sources of information and entertainment.

So the group to watch closely is the younger generation. Young people are the most avid users of the internet because they have grown up with its benefits. For this age group, the internet will remain the most dominant medium in their lives, as it will be for the following generation - who even at primary school are using the web to do their homework.