Keeping track of new content-delivery systems

Brian Lowry from Variety magazine has an interesting article this week entitled “Asking the right questions - It's tough to keep track of new content-delivery methods”.  We are inundated with announcements of new forms of technology every day.  Lowry talks about the need for a method to separate genuine contenders from the onslaught of pretenders regarding new technologies.  He rightly points out that nobody has the precise answers at this point as to how the industry is going to evolve.  We should take a journalistic approach and ask the right questions. 

Lowry suggests we should be weary of any company’s sales pitch that pledges to “revolutionize the television industry”.  He is not convinced by their promises and believes careful consideration should be applied when looking for the next new technology. 

Lowry offers a filtering guide for new entertainment technology, accumulated through personal insights as well as discussions with others examining the same business landscape.  He clarifies that defining success is not measured by whether or not you put your competition out of business.  It doesn't have to be as clear-cut as cassette vs. eight-track, or how Netflix and alternative means of movie delivery have helped push Blockbuster into bankruptcy.  New technologies will overlap and form niche markets within entertainment product and services categories. Perhaps this filtering guide will help as we look to new technologies as ways of presenting creative entertainment.

In this article, Wall Street Journal columnist Holman W. Jenkins Jr. suggests that cable is perceived as the next embattled incumbent.  He believes it is wedded to a business model that is headed for certain extinction and just can’t be saved.  “That is certainly possible”, Lowry comments, “junk the clunky wires and dishes – but it is still unclear who or what is going to administer the last rites”.

Internet television is closer to reality than we know and could have a profound effect on the cable industry.  It will be interesting to see what emerges and how the industry will adjust to this possible threat.  I believe that new delivery methods will emerge and Internet television may be the next delivery system.  This will systematically change the way we interact with programming on television.  I am fascinated by the creative potential of interactive television and how it will shape the future of entertainment.

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From:  http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118025764.html?categoryid=1682&cs=1