A number of disparate stories and new technologies broke in the past week that sparked the following thoughts about the evolution of visual representations and content distribution.
Japanese researchers from Shinoda Labs unveiled touchable holograms this week at the Siggraph 2009 Conference for computer graphics and interactive techniques. The system currently mimics balls and raindrops, but watching the video above you can imagine where this technology will go in the future. Meanwhile, Nikon announced the first digital camera and projector at a $400 price point that enables users to project on a nearby wall, while Apple’s $1.2 billion dollar tablet is on the horizon for later this year, along with the CrunchPad, making portability of the internet cheaper and accessible. These will converge in the next 5 years into portable devices like the phone/camera/projector hybrid device in development at MIT Media Labs
Facebook will roll out live streaming video within their platform with in-player calls to action to like and befriend/fan publishers, while YouTube, Hulu, and other video publishers start to bring HD quality video. As I write this I’m streaming video live from Lollapalooza and listening to Animal Collective as you can see from the screen shot I just took below.
All of these amazing innovations across emerging media platforms open a new realm of possibilities for anyone to become a content publisher. The cost of entry is so low, while publishing tools across social media channels have become accessible to all, giving instant access to millions of people that could feasibly make anyone a competitor with a major publisher. Kudos especially to Comcast and UPenn’s recent launch of the New Media Exchange, a massive initiative to connect thought and industry leaders in social media with nonprofits. The move both furthers the public good while also fostering dialogue among academics, who are often at least two steps behind the industry professionals in the field.
The evolution of visual content poses serious challenges to media publishers who need to monetize their platforms. Broadcast media ad revenue is down 22% while ROI of online video can now be called into question, considering studies show that people recall content but not ads. Among the hardest hit is Newscorp, who have considered pulling their content from the Kindle due to inaccessibility to viewers and charge for all content. Breaking news also indicates that AOL is going to drop their technology arm in a move to become a publisher of “high quality content” they also intent to monetize.
I agree with Jeff Jarvis’s thought piece in the Guardian that Murdoch (and now AOL)’s move opens the doors for competitors, and as a former academic I’m happy to notice a quazi-Marxist trend emerging where quality content publishing seems to present challenges to monetizing it across ALL media (though music and movies are a whole other can of worms to touch in this blog post).
Anyone who works within the content publishing space knows that often times people at the top are not in touch with technology trends, and are surrounded by “yes men” who provide opinions that validate views of their superiors and stakeholders in traditional media who want to save their jobs. My personal sense is that there probably are too many nervous decisions made to perpetuate funneling billions into creating content and not enough listening to the nerdy guy in the corner of the room who understands where all of this is headed in the next 5-10 years.
This is how empires fall and new leaders emerge. On the subject of new media and user-generated content, I couldn’t help ending with a recent video of Jay-Z at All Points West opening with a Beastie Boys cover of “No Sleep Til Brooklyn.”
