Why does everything feel like it’s changing all at once?

There are certain weeks when my newsfeed is filled with stories about platform transitions and tipping points. Whether it’s Disney/Charter, streaming/theatrical, TV/digital or retail/ecommerce it feels like a whole bunch of phase shifts are happening at the same time. It’s easy to point to Covid and interest rates but actually when you look at the data, it does really look like the last five years are an unusual concentration of behavioral change:

What’s going on? Outside of Covid-related trend acceleration and interest rate increases, we’re also seeing the economic hand-off from Gen Xers and Boomers to Millenials. This is, of course, entirely obvious when you think about it. Slowly, and then quickly in a single chart: