January 6, 2007
We used to have this saying “Radio didn’t replace TV” just like TV did not replace Movies. We had to bring this up everytime someone would talk about PCs or the Internet replacing traditional media.
So when I read Tris Hussey’s post on PodTech about The Internet as the new TV and Radio station for the world - I have to again chime in and remind folks that this stuff is additive and we just keep adding more and more options to the mix, not replace anything.
Videogames, consoles and PC games alone represent a huge disinfranchisement of big media. Though I would prefer that the ‘interactivity of the masses’ to be more than shooting, killing, flying and driving - it seems to keep Joi Ito happy.
My own TV viewing habits have been radically changed by PVRs (TiVO, etc.) and now on-demand from COMCAST. Between these viewing options and DVDs - I no longer have to worry about WHEN I can catch a show, but when I can schedule it into my life.
The recent Bowl games is an example. I simply recorded all the games I wished to view and conveniently watch them at whatever hour I can find time to watch. Walking around the DVD store its apparent that the archives of old TV shows is saving Big Media’s ass right now. It gives them something to sell.
And the cycle between live broadcast and reselling DVDs is shortening to almost a 3-6 month window. This database of old TV shows, coupled with the ‘on-line on-demand’ content from COMCAST means that I almost NEVER watch a show when it’s first aired.
So the entire concept of ’sitting down and seeing what’s on’ - that Tris refers to - is gone. Podtech, Ze Frank, Rocketboom, whoever - are not viewed at 8 PM on Friday’s - they are viewed when the viewer finds time to view them.
This radicially changes everything - and should influence the design, depth of content and indexing of all media - moving forward.
If I want to catch up on what’s going on in the tech business - I should be able to view ‘old’ Scoble shows - a year after they’ve been recorded. If I wanna know what Steve Gillmor was thinking about BEFORE he invented blah blah blah [insert the latsest meme here] - then he’ll have plenty of ample evidence to clue us into what he was thinking leading up to that new discovery.
Dave Winer also is chronicling his journey and insights and is methodically indexing and archiving everything. That’s how TV and Radio is different. Its archived, tagged, indexed and stored away - publicly - for us all to view, listen and share.
And the fact that there are URLs associated with these media snippets - ties our hegemony to the grand-daddy of it all - blogging. Blogging defined a permalink - which gave us a single URI/point of reference - to an individual idea.
I still think that’s the single most imporant thing about blogging. And now that it’s moving into media, we can FINALLY get on with Interactive TV, IPTV or whatever you wanna call it.
Combine that with RSS and improvements to the spec - like Media RSS - and we’re rocking. Add to that content channels (brands) like PodTech, Gillmor Gang and Ze Frank - and we’re off.
