Goodbye, Pluto
It seems only a few months ago I wrote about the convergence of technology, the implosion of voice communication, television, and the Internet. I didn’t expect it to progress as quickly as it has. And I am left speechless by its trajectory.
Over the course of the last week, I’ve seen evidence of technology changing on many fronts, and there is no going back. People struggle to keep up. Blink an eye, and you’re behind the technology curve.
We will soon be able to download full-length movies to our iPods, and very soon the iPod will offer a richer, more complete entertainment system that will bring you the evening news.
And speaking of the evening news programs that we grew up watching, those too are changing. I now see Brian Williams reading viewer emails on NBC Nightly News, and my local news program regularly asks for viewer video and news images to add a degree of interactivity. It is subtle only to those with blinders on.
The cable, telephone, and Internet provider companies pitch a combined service package that brings together voice, television, and the Web. It is a competitive and heated fight, indeed.
But it doesn’t stop there, and our world continues to change with monumental consequences. Newspapers and general interest magazines are on their way out, as consumers, especially younger people, choose online sources of information. And one takes notice when information giants Time Warner and The Wall Street Journal consider shutting down print products in favor of online services. Who would have imagined this in the recent past?
It changes the way we live.
Even the large, revered
Internet engines are facing tough competition from newer entities. For example, it was reported recently that the youth-oriented, online social network MySpace sends more traffic to online retail sites than the “traditional” search engines. That is hugely important, as it portends changing social networking behavior for upcoming generations.
Still it goes on. CBS launched CSTV Networks to broadcast college sports events over the Internet to a paid subscription membership. No more waiting
for scheduled cable programming, and it’s available to anyone with Internet access, so fans can enjoy the games of their favorite colleges and universities no matter where they live, even overseas.
What strikes me as exceedingly interesting is that even those companies that started up in recent years are having to reinvent themselves to compete and survive. Netflix, the online DVD movie rental company, which has significantly changed the way consumers watch movies, is now moving into digital delivery of movie entertainment. No more mailed DVDs. Simply download on demand.
Netflix is known for its impact in the industry, as it quite literally changed consumer behavior. Its growing online community of customers, who provide feedback in the form of movie reviews, is identifying what movies Hollywood needs to make–an enormous jewel of information that has eluded movie makers throughout the history of film making. It is interactivity at its best. And in the vastly larger business sense, knowing what people will pay to experience on the Web is undeniably the Holy Grail for every business entity with an online presence.
My head hurts from seeing all of this transformation, and I cherish boating as a last bastion of simpler things. While I embrace change, as both an entrepreneur and a philosopher, I see its heady dash moving more quickly than I care to witness.
The whole thing makes me want to spend more time sitting in the cockpit of my boat, watching nothing more technical than a flock of geese, or the clouds high above me. The world is getting claustrophobic with information overload, and I wonder about that.
But the universe is unfolding as it is meant to be, and on top of everything else, I am left marveling at the demise of my favorite planet. Pluto, distant childhood fascination, what art thou? A simple dwarf, I’m sad to say.
I’m going to cast off the bow lines, and head out into the bay, where dodging crab pots will force my attention into a zone of attentive peace.
I need to reboot my soul.
Bill Palatore
Editor-In-Chief