By Natalie Kozimor
Donny Osmond told students to use the great power available at their fingertips because of technology during his keynote address at an eBusiness Day event Friday.
“It”s one thing to be good at what you do,” Osmond said. “It”s another to be the best. You can be just passable, or you can go beyond that. In everything I to do, I try to go one step further.”
Osmond told students he did not want to be away from his family while recording his latest album, “Somewhere In Time,” and e-business enabled him to stay home. Osmond recorded basic tracks in Manchester, England for two weeks, but the rest of the album was done over the Internet.
“I sang into my lap top,” Osmond said. “I would sing in my studio at my home, or in my dressing room in Los Angeles, or in hotel rooms, or in the bathroom if the acoustics were right … you can record anywhere. I would edit the tracks on the airplane, then I would MP3 those files, and then I would eventually send the uncompressed files over the Internet to my producers.”
Osmond said technology allowed him to sing with himself thirty years later on stage.
“No one has ever been able to do that,” Osmond said. “I think it is fun to dream and create these ideas. I love that kind of technology when people say ”that is unusual and it has never been done before” or ”it”s been done before, but now it”s been done in a different kind of way.””
Osmond told students he predicted that eventually everything will become wireless. He also said that with the arrival of Broadband, “we will have everything that”s ever existed available to everyone.”
Osmond shared with students his belief that legislation to stop downloading music limits the progression of technology.
“I think it is completely ridiculous that people are trying to legislate downloading,” he said. “It is morally wrong to [download copyrighted material] … but you”re asking people to stop that advancement of technology — your limiting them.”
Amanda Saxton, 21, a junior from Sacramento, Calif., majoring in accounting, said Osmond”s address inspired her to use technology to improve whatever she creates.
“With technology, there is always something better,” Saxton said. “You cannot just stay where you are. You must keep progressing in order to make your product better and you more successful.”
BYUSA president Dave Johnson, 26, a senior from Mesa, Ariz., majoring in public relations, said it was interesting to see how Osmond applied e-business to his job as a recording artist. Johnson said technology can offer great possibilities.
“With new technology we have new flexibility,” Johnson said. “We can have stronger families and stronger careers at the same time.”
Osmond”s message helped some students feel less isolated from e-business.
“I don”t feel like I have to be a tech guru to benefit from technology,” said Karren Thomas, 21, a senior from Los Gatos, Calif., newsletter editor for the eBusiness center. “I don”t feel as intimidated. The message I got from Donny Osmond was that you can use technology and e-business to make what you want to better than it ever could be without it.”
