Content Is King

In the eighteenth century the huge demand for cotton led to the enslavement of many, who were needed to get that soft stuff from it's prickly pod. We still want clothes, and gadgets and cars, and people will always accumulate this stuff. But the capacity to consume this stuff pales by our ability to consume information and entertainment.

So, the previous predominant COMDEX has been gone for two years, maybe forever. What's the big, big show now? CES, consumer electronics, and what was that really all about? Content and it's delivery. Google wants in. We now have them selling CBS catalog, sports and jumping into the fray looking for user generated content, paying producers 70% of the take. Try getting that from a record label or studio. It's what Indieflix charges, but they put you on CDs they sell through the mail. Movielink allows movie downloads via the web, but not if you have a Mac, and they deal only with the studios and sell only stuff copy protected by Netcos.

Google will allow an optional copy-protection feature and will accept content from all comers. Will they pre-screen everything in order to make sure there's no copyright infringement? Cause, that's quite a job, they'd have to look at every frame to make sure T-shirts, art on the walls, snippets of songs, stock footage, etc. contained in the film is not by someone other than the filmmaker. Magnatune and the other music websites do this and haven't been sued out of existence.

In a few years, the content you'll be able to find, buy & sell on Google will certainly be as good as the average TV show is now, probably much better. Best of all, we will be able to take a more active role in searching for appropriate content instead of channel surfing through a random and limited selection of channels.