A “Virtual Coup” :: Cory Treffiletti, MediaPost

Interesting story and ideas from MediaPost and Cory Treffiletti.

Do You Podcast?
by Cory Treffiletti
From: MediaPost Publications Home of MediaDailyNews, MEDIA and OMMA Magazines

If you take note over the last few weeks of my columns and those of my colleagues, you will continue to see more and more proof that we are losing control. We are losing the battle for ownership of the media we create. The consumer is becoming a partner in its development by demanding what they want, how they want it, and when they want it. Sooner or later, it’s inevitable that the consumer will completely own the relationship. The iPod ad, the Nike ad, the Volkswagen ad… these will be examples of the future. This year might be recognized as the year when the consumer overthrew the throne. A virtual coup, if you will.

I, of course, think that this ‘losing of control’ started a long time ago. Perhaps the first real change was the VCR. Maybe you could go back to the days when making cassette tapes of albums was seen as so cool. But, those are minor compared to the loss of control going on today.

But the changes for newspapers, TV stations and even radio have taken place during the last 5 to 10 years.

Biggest changes? Let’s look at just some.

Peer-to-peer music sharing. The “sharing of MP3 files started long before Napster got popular in 1999.” (Source 1 and 2)

Tivo. In the USA, Tivo was “proposed by Mike Ramsay and (Jim Barton) in 1997. It “launched in the UK in October 2000“.

Blogs/CMS (particularly opensource, free). “The term, coined by Jorn Barger in 1997, refers to a web site that is a ‘log of the Web’, indicating a record that points to material available on the World Wide Web.” The first blogs started way before that, but 1997 serves as a good date to identify the beginning of today’s burgeoning trend.

Think of Kryptonite Locks, Dan Rather, Swift Boats, et.al.

RSS. It began in 1996 [Web RSS (Syndication) History], or in 1997 [The Evolution of RSS], depending upon which version of the story you prefer. Short story, which I’m sure would draw many differing views, is that Ramanathan Guha pioneered the concept/process. Dave Winer, an early adopter of the process, went on to refine and evangelize the present day process and practice.

Internet. The real innovation. Listed as #1 in CNN’s “Top 25: Innovations”, the internet - as we popularly refer to it today, is only about 15 years old.

Although he doesn’t accept the title of inventor of the internet (but did accept some prize money for it :grin:), the title is given to:

“British software consultant Tim Berners-Lee. Frustrated by the multitude of information systems requiring complicated access, Berners-Lee fashioned a universal one that made information readily available.

He created HTML (hypertext markup language) and its rules of usage (HTTP, hypertext transfer protocol) and in 1991 unveiled the World Wide Web, making no money from any of them.”

Bottom line: consumers rule because they are now producers, broadcasters (podcasters/shoutcasters/vidbloggers), publishers/editors and - very capable of being loud critics. Ah, technology.