INTELLIGENCE, INTERACTIVITY, INTEROPERABILITY

There is a sense of inevitability about the future that may be impossible for the vested media interests to forestall. Control is shifting to the consumer, and once enough consumers realize the power that they can wield, continued resistance will be futile. History teaches us that blocking and delaying tactics are usually followed by sweeping changes. Content creators would be well advised to anticipate these changes so that they can benefit from them, rather than being swept away by them. When digital video is delivered through wide-bandwidth switched networks, the number of choices is likely to increase exponentially; “channel surfing” will not be an effective method for exploring this digital world! This is where the “I” words become important for the content creators and armchair quarterbacks of the future:
• Intelligence. That old remote control is useless in the face of potentially hundreds or thousands of viewing possibilities. An intelligent intermediary will be required to help you sort through these possibilities. Once that intelligence is available, you can teach it to be your personal intermediary—to look for the kinds of programming and information that you are interested in.


• Interactivity. Teaching the system to look for information is, of course, a form of interactivity—but it need not stop at finding the programs or information you want. By comparing the vast amount of information that will pass through the digital network with your user profile, the receiver could accumulate information that you are interested in, essentially synthesizing programs for you. The ability to access information on demand may be the most compelling use of interactivity. Conversely, the ability to eliminate the unwanted will be the most important form of interaction to future advertisers; the most important interactions may be those that bring people who want to buy things together with the people who want to sell those things. Feedback from people who have already bought those things may strongly influence those purchase decisions.
• Interoperability. Integration with the local network within your home and the telecommunications network will open up new possibilities for your family-room display. Want to check on the baby, see who’s at the front door, or make sure Johnny is doing his homework? The local network will allow you to monitor these activities, perhaps opening a window on the family-room display. You’ll also be able to handle telecommunications— both audio and video—from that easy chair. And it may be just as easy to do these things from the office or halfway around the world. Interoperability will be one of the most difficult capabilities to purchase, because entrenched interests will resist and thwart it. Herein lies one of the most important responsibilities of the content creator.
• Invest wisely! Invest in yourself, by embracing change and the skills that will enable you to survive the digital transition, and hopefully thrive as a result. Invest in the tools that will enable this future. Investing in that which is comfortable— from vendors who are resisting change—is risky. The result may be that you have the wrong tools and the wrong skills, and no future. Invest in your content-creation education. Look at the content that has been successful in the past, and ask yourself why that is so.
These are indeed interesting times, but for the digital content creator the opportunities have never been greater. When any content can be consumed anywhere, anytime, anything is possible.