NYT: For decades, nearly every gathering of media or technology executives has defined the future in a single word: convergence. What exactly was converging remained in dispute, but most saw some combination of television, computers and an intelligent network that would give consumers much more control.
For once, the visionaries were right. Video is popping up on cellphones, iPods, TiVo’s and Web sites. And as for blogs, photo-tagging sites like Flickr, podcasts and the rest of the bubbling digital stew, it’s clear that lots of media are coming together in lots of devices in lots of ways.
Yet for all the time that media executives – from the towers of Sixth Avenue to the back lots of Burbank – had to prepare for convergence, they are now scrambling to figure out what to do about it.
One thing is clear—McLuhan is out. The medium is no longer the message. Anyone who wants to tell a joke, spin a tale or report the latest White House news can produce any combination of video, text, sound and pictures for viewing on a 50-inch TV, a laptop computer or a cellphone screen.
Anyone can create a “mashup” by putting together pieces from any medium and any source, distributing it to anyone anywhere. Today, it’s the mashup that is the message.
