Since his days as Hikaru Sulu on the USS Enterprise, George Takei has turned himself into something of a social media superstar, in large part because of his cheerfully nerdy Facebook posts that circulate like wildfire. But Takei has also teamed up with AARP in a series of YouTube videos called Takei’s Take that attempt to break down what’s happening in the digital world for non-digital-natives.
His latest installment is of particular interest to us. “It’s called the sharing economy,” Takei booms in his trademark baritone, “and it’s changing how we buy, sell, and even how we live.”
In just five minutes, Takei lays out a perfectly good chronology that ties together Craiglist, Airbnb — “great for empty nesters” — Lyft and more.
Pitching sharing-for-cash to the retirement set actually makes a good deal of sense. It’s a time in life when we might find ourselves with extra stuff: Guest rooms, cars we don’t drive all that much, time to TaskRabbit and so on. And because of Medicare, pensions, retirement plans and what have you, we might not be all that concerned with the traditional protections of more traditional work.
But don’t take it from me. Here’s George:
Nancy Scola is a Washington, DC-based journalist whose work tends to focus on the intersections of technology, politics, and public policy. Shortly after returning from Havana she started as a tech reporter at POLITICO.
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