Television 2.0 In The Age Of Digital Covergence

Some feel looking at the disruption happening in this convergence age,that this is going to be the most disruptive period in the past 50 years. It appears that practically every machine in the wide realm of communications - every gadget that sings, talks, beams images, or messages - will sport a powerful computer and a network connection. And every bit of digital information, whether it's a phone call, a song, a Web page, or a movie, will flow among these machines in the very same river of data.. The dramatic shifts ahead are likely to shake up age-old concepts at the foundation of our economy. This as the linked article shows open up interesting questions and possibilities - In the coming markets of moving bits, who owns what? Will people buy their programming and machines? Or will they rent and subscribe? Innovative companies will sort out these questions, leading the way in building new business models for the coming age. Clearly, those who figure out how to reach through the networks to deliver customized information and services will be the architects and kings of the converged economy. Craig Barrett,said sometime back,"After 20 years of talking, this so-called convergence of computing and communications is happening"
But this digital convergence instead of consolidations was predicted to open up new set of opportunities for upstarts and challenges for tech icons

Courtesy of Paul Kedrosky, came across this interesting piece by David Cowan of Bessemer on Television 2.0. David writes, “It was only a matter of time before the internet changed TV in a way more profound than color or cable”. But being strategically positioned between the audience and the talent, TV networks protected their cash flow by resisting the growing economic pressure to bring the interactivity, e-commerce, and community of the web to TV's huge, loyal audiences. But Tivo cracked that dam, and over ten years the crack expanded to jeopardize the integrity of that industry structure. This structural damage and shift enable the talent agents today to tune the contractual fine print to carve out rights for online and mobile syndication, merchandising. endorsement, ringtones, screensavers. games, etc. Soon enough, new revenue streams will subsidize Desperate Housewives and Scrubs so they're always an RSS feed away. This quadrapule play and the resulting disruption, progress and transformation opens up new vistas for growth and investment - Bessemar, he adds has made six new investments in this space!!