The Future of the World: A Glimpse at New Media
It’s impossible for any of us to look at the world around us and say that nothing’s changing.The truth is, it’s changing all around us before our very eyes, but I think that few people realize exactly how much exactly it is changing. Everything around us is changing. Television and Radio as we know it are old systems running in a new environment. As much as people cling on to it, the old model is going away. More often each day people flock to their computers to watch their shows on streaming sites like Hulu, Joost, and YouTube.
I think that podcasts and independently made shows are going to be the future. The time is approaching for the end of the corporation-driven media. I think that the day of the editor, expensive budget, and over-hyped audience is drawing to a close. The more and more I dive deep into all the amazing content around me, the more I find myself in awe. Some people just get it. Leo Laporte, for example, set out to create a network of netcasts years ago after the end of TechTV, and has done remarkably well (his podcasts fill the iTunes Top 20 list each week, not to mention he was named ‘President of the Internet’).
Another great example is the “Internet Television” company Revision3, started by Jay Adelson, David Prager, and Kevin Rose (who started Digg and co-hosts Diggnation each week). They named their company this because they considered it the 3rd revision of television: The first being black and white TV, the second being color TV, the third being independent internet-based TV. Revison3 is the number 1 video podcast company in the world (that’s not official, but I’d bet money on it).
And finally, CNET. CNET has been there from the beginning. They’ve created podcasts since their beginning, most notably Buzz Out Loud, which started as a weekly podcast about tech news that lasted 5 minutes. Now, years later, it’s a 45-ish minute podcast daily that continues to be atop the iTunes Charts (and just celebrated its 1000th episode!!!). The Buzz Out Loud community is exceptionally unique and fun as well. Through the chat I have come to know many amazing people, soemthing never thought about with old media.
There are countless others, but I could never mention them. Some of the better examples are The Guild, written and starring Felicia Day, as well as Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, the internet hit from Joss Whedon who created Firefly.
New media is the future. We’ve come to a point where traditional news, television, and radio is no more. I think that the content in the future will be more individual-driven than ever before. With things like the Kindle, Amazon, and the iTunes Store, things like that will one day be a thing of the past.
Believe me when I say I practice what I preach. I don’t have a TV in my room. I consume only podcasts and occasionally shows on Hulu, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
