And if it does work…

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After getting a chance to play with a Surface tablet at work today

I thought a little more about something else I tweeted today.

Namely, that in the current state of affairs in racing, it’s likely unthinkable to the powers that be there are justifiable reasons to allow developers to build on existing data to spark innovation. But what if all this McKinsey Report stuff works out and the coveted young people do hook into racing? The young people expect things, innovative things, ALL THE TIME.

As I groped the Surface in the office today and grappled with the Metro screen it occurred to me that, despite being a tech-savvy person, I’m not really the audience for this device (and probably all tablets). As my colleagues and I (all of whom are probably at least 10 years younger than me) fumbled, we joked about our attachments to things like the escape key and clicking versus tapping. This device, and others like it are designed for people who don’t have such attachments. In the not too distance future there will be gadget-owning, tech-savvy adults who have no idea what “right click” means.

My point? Things change, fast. Faster than you expect. And let’s face it, racing is compelling and racing is cool. I guess if you have trick young people into going to the track with notion of what amounts to a boozy fashion show, so be it. Will they stick around? Probably for a while. But if you don’t treat them in the manner that the rest of the world does, you probably won’t keep them. In other words, selling racing doesn’t seem like the hard part. Sizzle is fine, but don’t forget the steak!