Virtually
all
media are digital today. They may still
provide content in some other form (on paper, through radio waves,
etc.),
but at
some level, they're all dealing with bits rather than atoms. This
affects...
| CONTENT
CREATION: Most media organizations create content using computers
and store it digitally. |
| CONTENT
DISTRIBUTION: Media organizations
then distribute that content through digital channels, such as
the Internet or PDAs... |
| CONTENT
CONSUMPTION: ...Because, as we've seen, more and more Americans
are accessing it through such devices. |
|
That's
where we are today. Where will technological convergence take us in
the relatively near future?
| More
digital content management systems in media organizations, which
will allow content to be stored in digital formats that can be
delivered to different platforms. (Today, delivering to a Web
site requires different coding than delivering to a PDA, for
instance. That will change.) |
| More
wireless Internet access. |
| Ongoing
transformation of existing media forms, particularly television,
in ways that give users much greater control over easily manipulable
digital content. TiVo is a step in this direction. |
| More
portability -- digital devices will be lighter, easier to see
and...well, whatever else the tech wizards come up with. |
|