Are you microchunking yet? Hurry! Consumers are catching on! Day by day, consumers are becoming increasingly more powerful. Pay attention to what's happening around you and look for ways your company can be more strategic and dynamic in the way it interacts with customers. Take the iPod, for instance. Already, it has completely changed the way people view music. People who own iPods rarely seek entire CD's to download; instead, they select the individual songs they want to have ready access to. The same holds true with TV shows and comedy routines. For only $1.99 per episode, we can hang onto what really care about and forget the rest. On my iPod, you'll find selected episodes of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jay Leno's JayWalking, Law & Order, and a couple of movies, plus an eclectic collection of music and podcasts. Selecting just the things you want and ignoring the rest is what Business 2.0 calls "microchunking." It's a great word to describe the concept of breaking down the media we consume into small bite-size pieces. As consumers, we're quickly losing our patience for things that put much demand on our time. Another great example of how consumers are becoming more powerful is in how they use their cell phones. Now, thanks to ScanBuy, consumers can download onto their camera phones software that makes it possible to take a picture of a product's bar code. Scan Buy then instantly looks for where on the Internet you can buy the same product cheaper and will alert you. But wait! There's more! With one click- right there in the store - you can order the item and have it mailed directly to you. Essentially, you're shopping in several places at once and saving money at the same time. Is life good, or what? So what does this mean to your business? First, think about how you can apply "microchunking" to your products and services. Can you break a 30 minute webinar into six five-minute episodes? Do you guarantee the lowest prices? If so, are you checking Scan Buy to make sure you aren't being undersold? Don't wait for your customer just take the power from you. Empower them strategically. The scales are tipping. Move quickly before they fall on you and weigh you down.