The (industrial) (r)Evolution of Media

Wimax: another revolutionary phase for old media begins quietly

Is the roll-out of Wi-MAX in four major US cities part of a true revolutionary event or just another evolutionary step for media?

Readers of anything related to Darwinism know well how evolution is thought to proceed by way of scattered episodes of great change punctuated by long periods of stability. Isn't it interesting that in the realm of social trending we see the same patterns?

A friend mentioned recently how Wi-MAX was likely to be launched in the next year in Atlanta. I had followed this potential development closely more than two years ago and saw endless news stories about delays and cancellations. I stopped following it only to see that as of today Baltimore, Las Vegas, Portland, and now Atlanta have a functioning commercial Wi-MAX system.

To the world of media enterprises this is a "Wow!" kind of development (in the intermediate time horizon). Since most execs in the media business are in their turrets 24-7 with a perpetual game face on these days, this long moment is likely to pass as another piece of streaming bad news. Does anyone remember the Ford campaign last year about their Sync technology? It was definitely targeted toward younger, first time buyer consumers already familiar with it. These two events are about younger consumers and their proclivity to adopt newer and more efficient technology <and why(?)>.  Ask a 21 year old (like my nephew) what he's listening to and watching and he is more likely, at first, to point to his iPod and offer an immediate example. Boomers desperately want to be on the edge of the technology adoption curve but they do not have the advantage that kids today are demonstrating.

Great article about the evolving use and development of new marketing metrics in today's NY Times: Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts.  In the Better Metrics post part III (july 23rd below), I observed how marketers are instinctively searching for better ways to gauge the 2-way communications now possible with their market(s). Industries like old-media enterprises that are dragging their feet to modernize, as if this is justified for any reason, are becoming more irrelevant with each passing successful example from the digital universe. It's not punishment; it's competition. It's all about feedback, the more objective, the better. 

What does it mean when business models of venerable industries break down?

The following post is from  September 23rd, 2008 and is being offered on this site as it is still highly relevant, maybe more than ever.  And while I am tempted to add depth to the discussion, I will stop now at making two updated points:

1. The idea of a social correction is best characterized as a (group) process every society undergoes as part of a natural rhythm where the groups making up the whole collectively decide What Really Matters?. It is a higher order social process than a recession.  Recessions are only part of a social correction. Societies are complex and have many "parts" and this process demonstrates how complexity and chaotic forces act in concert with a larger design. Still, the general characterizations of a social correction can offer insight both macro and micro (specific industries) when viewed through this lens. Businesses lag these social changes--By Design.

2.Combine the posts about Better Metrics below and the January post about What Characterizes the Qualities of Partnership During a Social Correction? for useful ideas on what specific kind of change is needed for media.  Both offer useful insight separately but together, they work even better. Anyway you look at it, change will either be offered or be forced very soon in the media vertical. One way or another, it is coming as consumer behavior quickly migrates away from established tradition to new, more Choice oriented options.

This post is being republished from The Root Trend from 9-23-08. (I publish that site too and offer much broader trending ideas there as opposed to industry specific trending perspectives here)

What does it mean when business models of venerable industries break down?

there's a new post up on the Root Trend site that borrows the three posts below about Better Metrics and describes the business need from a broader social trending perspective. All of this is being processed by Americans right now. The subject of "Free" is popular now not just because of Chris Anderson's new book. Like most subjects, when you relate it to the topic of social mood, even tangentially, it requires an adjustment in your perspective of events. I believe that because of the social trending patterns resulting in what I call the (industrial) (r)Evolution of Media, that "Free" must now be much more carefully defined. When this is done the result will hold considerable (actionable) value.