It was the early 70s.

And movies theatres were facing a new attention magnet

TV programs. The studios knew they had to get people back into theaters again.

Films that would make people long to see spectacles made for big screens

Much like the times we are in now but for a totally different reason.

Francis Ford Coppola was already a big name with 'The Godfather' having released.

But in his drawing room, over a weekend, they were watching a film made by a 24 year old.

In the audience - George Lucas,  Martin Scorsese and  Brian De Palma, all of whom would be famous in their own right across the world.

The camera work is stunning. And in the first few minutes of the film, you don't see the characters involved at all.

It's all shot from inside the car. Long shots of the car moving out a residential neighborhood and on to the highway.

The radio is on all the time. Channels switch. The sound design makes you feel that you are the one going on the ride.

You've no idea where the film is taking you.

Steven Spielberg was 24. The film is 'The Duel'

It's still an education.

When did words become time?

Have you noticed that articles now aren't about number of words?

You're told how long it will take to read it.

The 1000 word article metric is useful if you are a writer looking to hit a certain number as contracted.

But 4 minutes to read is encouragement.

In your mind a 4 minute investment frames it in a way you're used to navigating in the world. 

It started happening with Uber rides as well.

Telling you how long it would take to get to your destination instead of the mileage - and that's what you want to know.

Also happens with food apps - they give you stage by stage descriptions of the order being received, the delivery person being assigned, the route they are taking to your place almost to the point where they ring your doorbell.

This was not evident when the apps were first launched.

But over time, companies were able to use data to compute the time it would take from the time the order for food or a cab was placed to give you information that you could use.

This post is over 200 words. About a couple of minutes.

Worth the time?

Are missed calls missed?

You don't hear of them as much now.

By 2022, there will be more than 800 million smartphones in India and the country's data consumption is already one of the highest in the world - at over 8GB per month.

One of the poster projects of the 'missed call' number business models was Kan Khajura Tesan. This was launched in 2013 by Unilever in India to capture the listeners in 'media dark areas'. 

The jargon meant people without access to radio stations or any other kind of media could call in to a number and hang up.

They would receive a call back and listen to popular music interspersed with ads.

It offered the company a way to get through to millions in remote areas

In 2014, it won accolades across the world for media innovation.

But the service was wound down in 2019, due to low engagement numbers.

Missed calls haven't disappeared altogether.

They are still used to get customers in long queues on phone support desks to request a callback instead of waiting endlessly on hold.

But the boom period where every brand jumped on to the missed call bandwagon is over.

Another 'blink and you'll miss it' business model is laid to rest.

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