Today is a day that will go down in history — or is it infamy? At 6 p.m. you’ll be able to buy the Apple iPhone, the cellphone and computer and music player and more that will change the world! (At least that’s what Apple wants you to believe.)

The marketing engines have been working overtime at Apple. I first heard about the iPhone more than a year ago. Sure, it looks good; that’s a given. But what makes the darn thing so cool is the “look Ma, no buttons” factor. You do everything by touch.

My prediction is that we are about five to 10 years away from a time of no more keyboards or mice. Everything will use touch screens or touch pads. We’ll be like people in the movie Minority Report; they wired up their fingers and moved through computerized interactive environments with fluidity and grace. Like them, we ‘ll put on some classical music and be conducting on our computers.

I’m looking forward to it. Think of all the people saved from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Between the iPhone and Microsoft Surface, the days of keystrokes and mouse clicks are fading fast. I only have two questions now: What will we call the new “syndrome” caused by touch screen usage? And will it be covered by workman’s comp?

As if there weren’t enough things to distract today’s cell-phone-talking, video-watching, road-rage-shouting drivers, MINI Cooper recently launched an experimental marketing campaign that uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to send personalized billboard messages to MINI Cooper drivers. As described in this New York Times piece:

The boards, which usually carry typical advertising, are programmed to identify approaching MINI drivers through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob. The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: “Mary, moving at the speed of justice,” if Mary is a lawyer, or “Mike, the special of the day is speed,” if Mike is a chef . . .

Per any true branding campaign, MINI’s billboard messages don’t overtly sell or promote anything, they just make the 1000+ MINI owners in New York, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco who volunteered for the program look and feel like they’re part of some cool, elite club.

And c’mon, who wouldn’t want to stay in or become a member of such a club? (insert sound of MINIs driving off of new car lots)

Many brands already fuel loyalty with various exclusive perks and “rewards,” but this branding effort takes brand loyalty to a whole new level, building a tribe of hardcore loyalists who don’t just love a brand—they actually get their love publicly requited on a daily basis.

MINI Cooper picks its individual owners out of the crowd and shows everyone else on the road that they are special—very directly making individual owners feel like the cool kids in class. Absolutely brilliant.

But I have to admit, as brilliant as this effort is, there’s something about this kind of hyper-targeting that feels kind of creepy, like the talking billboards in Spielberg’s Minority Report—a bit too “Big Brother.”

Makes me wonder, as technology pushes the potential of marketing efforts, when does personalizing a message build loyalty and when does it turn people off?