Old media, new media, the

productisation of publishing

and the tethered appliance

Imagine there are 2 groups of

people…

Creative type people…

…and consumers

Real life tends to be a bit more

blurry……but it’s easier to draw like this

Old style media organisations…

(newspapers, magazines, broadcasters, record labels…)

...acted as matchmakers

Performing 5 key roles…

…talent spotting,

commissioning,

licencing,

production,

and distribution.

This pattern continued for

decades adapting to meet new media types

until…

…cheap PCs

and the internet/web…

…which disrupted everything.

Cheap PCs replaced industrial scale production

tools and the web replaced industrial

scale…

...publishing

…and distribution

Crucially the web promised to turn…

creators to consumers

consumers to creators

The great democratisation of

opinion / knowledge.

But there was still a price of entry.

Setting up and maintaining

servers, installing and upgrading

code…

Web 2.0

…was about many things but one of

the key things was…

…the commoditisation / productisation of web publishing.

WordpressBloggerFlickr

YouTubeAmazoniTunesTwitter

Facebook

All lowered the barrier

…for everyone

Even old school media

organisations started to use the

new publishing platforms in an attempt to…

…chase the audience

But using the new publishing

platforms comes at a price.

…compromising rights

To assuage the fears of content

creators and owners the productised publishing

platforms often…

…incorporated DRM

…in an attempt to restrict copyright

‘violation’ by users…

…whilst simultaneously claiming liberal

licencing for themselves and

third parties.

Many publishers chose different

DRM technologies and proprietary file

formats…

…locking in users to their services.

Recently we’ve seen the rise of

‘tethered appliances’…

iPodiPad

iPhoneKindle

IRiver StorySony Touch

Sky+Tivo

…which provide further publisher

platform…

…lock-in…

…via content stores and app

stores…

…eroding competition,

consumer choice and innovation.

And importantly re-establish the

barriers between content creators

and content consumers…

So whilst a PC can be used for…

communicationconsumption

creation

…a tethered appliance can only

be used for…

The Web is designed as a universal space. Its

universality is its most important facet. I spend many hours giving talks just to emphasize this

point. The success of the Web stems from its

universality as do most of the architectural

constraints.

The locked-in, tethered appliance

is not, by definition, universal.

But it’s also not without benefits

By policing the code that can be installed we’re

protected from our own stupidity

Firmware updates keep things up to date by adding

functionality

But what’s given can be taken away

Centralised control and firmware

updates mean you don’t own

functionality or content…

…you rent it

Meaning the door is left open for post-‘purchase’

censorship

(Search for ‘TiVo v. Echostar’ and ‘Kindle censorship’)

…and more worryingly…

…post-‘purchase’ surveillance

(Search for ‘remote eavesdropping cell phone’)

For old media companies there’s

a particular problem.

If you know what your users have watched, read,

bought…

…you can better predict and

influence what they’ll watch, read

and buy in the future.

(let’s call it the Tesco Loyalty Card model)

The web (unlike print publishing or broadcast) gives

easy access to real time…

…user stats / feedback

By owning the gateway to content the productised publishing platforms…

…also own the user / customer /

audience relationship.

If you’re an old media company wondering how your business

model adapts to the tethered appliance…

…the message is you no longer have

a business model…

…because you no longer own your

customer relationship

But there is a way out…

…the web browser is still universal…

…allowing you to retain control of your customer relationship…

So use the web and use web

standards

In conclusion

From the old media model of talent

spotting, commissioning,

licencing, production and distribution…

…we run the risk of a ‘social media’

model of cheap content

acquisition, proprietary lock-in

and borrowed customer

relationship…

…and miss the promise of web universality en

route.

Or buy a book / get a library ticket