Content Remains King - But What Content And For What Purpose?

For years we have heard - and admittedly used - the expression Content Is King. Well, it was true then and remains even more so now. But the new questions racing around our heads like so many buzzing insects are more granular, more precise and specific then the general term Content.

Now the questions are What Is Content Really? and What, When And Where Will We Use It?

The answers to these questions will profoundly affect broadcasters, media producers, publishers, manufacturers and ultimately the consumer.

So what is content? Obviously it is text, image and sound. But what about ideas? A company logo or trademark is just a piece of imagery, but that doesn't mean you can always use it just because you didn't use their exact image. Don't believe me, publish your own version of a certain mouse from Southern California and see if you don't get some calls from a legal beagle.

With the internet becoming the global library of digital media and intellectual concepts, it is all too easy to acquire content. But just because you can download something doesn't mean you can legally use it. That's obvious with digital music now, and technologies like Bit Torrent have made pirating movies fairly simple for techies, but the legal hammer is falling there too.

And with new technologies appearing all the time these issues will all be coming to the forefront, affecting whole industries.  Hollywood better stop worrying about Bit Torrent downloads, new technologies and chips are coming that will allow downloading an entire high definition movie in just one second. (See story on this here.)

And what about the DVD industry? If you can download in a second, why have a DVD? If WiMax broadband WiFi comes online as expected, then even cable TV companies will take a hit, especially if your widescreen TV has WiFi ability built in. And they will - everyone wants to stream media around their homes wirelessly.

And then we come to cellphones. Here is an industry that is being turned on its head.

I mentioned in another post that my Cingular 8525 has built in WiFi. Music, Movies and TV are already here for new generation cellular phones. Why not high speed online game services like GameTap? So forget your PSP and Nintendo DS - just use your broadband cell phone connection to get the latest games. And add some of this new chip technology for instantaneous downloads, and suddenly you can stream high quality video anywhere on your phone.

The Times They Are A Changing.  Anyone want to buy a perfectly good buggy whip?

Posted at 11:33AM Mar 30, 2007 by Lou Wallace in Digital Media  |