Remember Marshall Mcluhan "The Medium IS the Message."
The dichotomy between generations in media consumption will only last through the baby boomer (AKA mature marketplace) ,now in their late 50's. And even they are getting tuned in as they find out the convenience of entertainment, grankid's pictures and emails - they LOVE the grandkids-and will go to some efforts to increase communications opportunities, particularly with the help of technologic - non-phobic "matures" of which there are more and more.
The much older's, the 70's and up, continue to use what little print they can still read, but like TV the most.
Therein is an opportunity for the AnyThing, AnyTime, AnyWhere of Internet and AI.
So what is this all about? The business model for magazines of the future is to maintain their print subscriber base, while using the Internet to start, develop and promote Specialty Emagazines. The Wall Street Journal and a few others have proved that they can get PAID-imagine that!- for Online subscriptions. In spite of the overabundance of FREE materials for entertainment and research, communications and now, CLOUD, there will be value in staking out the leadership position in everything from Bass Fishing to Texas Hold 'Em, to printable Crochet patterns (for a slight cost). One of the holdbacks is the monopoly pricing enjoyed by Cable, and now Telco in delivering Content, and their control thereof. If Content could get a bigger piece of the Consumer Citizen subscription and event dollar, which it could with reasonably-priced forced access to infrastructure. A subscription and Content model could help drive a portion of the Internet revenue model, rather than almost entirely advertising-based, as today. Google sees this, which is why they are trying so hard to be Content driven, even buying large Content archives and databases to use, as is Microsoft.
In the end, Internet infrastructure service will be, and should be, a utility-pricing-business-model. Content however, should be a la carte. Maybe there will be packages of Content/Service combinations; well, not maybe, there WILL be.
There are many models of Opportunity for this still-evolving marketplace; a Wild West still being developed, still being "civilized" with as yet unknown rules of engagement, interaction, and fulfillment.
Go Cloud!
SocratesRedux

Posted by SocratesRedux on Friday, March 6, 2009 @ 06:06 PM