2006: The Unbundled Awakening

Submitted by kpaul.mallasch on Fri, 12/23/2005 - 2:18pm.

Terry Heaton, over at TV News in a Postmodern World, has a great piece (2006: The Unbundled Awakening) on the promise of good things in 2006. Sure, there are dangers ahead and those currently controlling the media are loathe to lose the profit margins, but for the people, for the citizens, 2006 is looking to be a good year.

Heaton wrote:

The irony is that the same disruptions that are eating away at the business of broadcasting offer tremendous opportunities, if broadcasters could simply rise above defending their old turf and play a little offense in the new stadium. Local media companies have a tremendous advantage over outside threats like Google and Yahoo!, because they're already firmly established in the local advertising community. It's time we used that connection and reputation to lead a boom in online local advertising. Most of the ad experts are projecting that online advertising will jump to a $33 billion market by 2010, and researcher Gordon Borrell predicts much of that growth will be local.

I believe history will look back at 2006 as the year of an unbundled awakening in the media world, ushering in an era of creativity the likes of which we've not witnessed in recent history, especially in the advertising community. Unbundled media is clearly what people want, and when that kind of energy bubbles up from the bottom, media companies of all sorts have no choice but to respond. This is currently happening in the worlds of entertainment, education and information and one day will be realized in every institution of our culture.

Beyond what is happening in media itself is the unbundled awakening that's taking place in our homes, schools, and offices. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reported earlier this year that half of all teens in this country — and 57% of those who use the internet — have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations. This awakening of creativity among our youth — and their ability to do something with it — is the essence of what's known as Web 2.0. We've moved past the early adopter stage with young people, and that will continue to flourish next year.

We're still in a transitionary period, but it isn't going to last forever. 2006 will be a year when we move one step closer to online being the predominant medium in America.

Interesting times.