The Prize

Fascinating article in The Observer this Sunday, which contains powerful evidence of the impact the Internet is having on film distribution In the US. Last year there was an eye-watering 20% fall in DVD sales, largely due to increased competition from streaming and downloads. This is the emerging market that Amazon and Tesco recently grabbed a big piece of in the UK, when they bought out Lovefilm and Blinkbox respectively.

The article also reveals that for the first time in over 20 years the proportion of US homes that own a TV has also fallen. OK we are talking about a tiny drop, from 99% to 97% but could this mark the beginning of the end for traditional TV?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/may/08/tv-sets-fall-america-naughton

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

According to last year's figures from the Office for National Statistics only 73% of UK households are connected to the internet. 1 in 4 UK homes are still not hooked up to the web. This puts the arguments about changing patterns of media distribution and consumption into context and also demands that any talk of a digital media revolution is at least tempered with consideration that a very large minority of audiences are not currently party.


Another set of figures in the report lend weight to Prensky's emphasis on the generational divide in his natives/immigrants/dinosaurs theory:

The chart shows that a far lower percentage of older sections of the population are using the internet and also that a sizeable proportion amongst that group have tried and decided, cheers no thanks.


Finally the report also gives some raw data on usage of online tv and radio. The trend here clearly shows that participation is widening, but also that the rate of growth appears to be slowing. This perhaps hints at as yet unreached sections of TV and radio audiences, who are either economically disenfranchised from the digital revolution or simply satisfied with traditional forms of distribution.

You can view the full report here and fish out a couple of stats to add weight to your own arguments about the impact of the internet on the media industries.

All watched over by machines of loving Grace

Adam Curtis's new series about how computers have not liberated us but distorted and simplified our view of the world around us. He argues that we THINK that the internet makes us feel connected and free, that it democratises society and allows us all to communicate and have a global reach, but actually it serves to reinforce existing heirarchies of power.  It starts on Monday May 23 at 9pm on BBC2. WATCH IT IN IPLAYER!!  This trailer is really cool.

Check out 'stitcher' - new iphone app

Stitcher.  Think about how you could apply the ideas of personalisation and web 2.0.

Every Little Helps

Tesco has just gobbled up 80% of Blinkbox and has positioned itself as the main rival to Amazon (new owners of LoveFilm) for control of the UK video on demand market. Here's an article in today's Guardian that discusses how the move might effect the future of TV and film distribution.

Tesco is the original one stop shop in the UK - the place that people go to buy newspapers, bread, fresh fruit, barbecues, wine, clothes, toasters, meat, fish, insurance, and DVDs. Tesco's business model is based on getting consumers to buy everything from one place - theirs. It has been incredibly successful, today in Britain £1 out of every £7 spent in a shop, is spent in a Tesco. Only about 20 or 30 years ago you would probably have bought those 11 products in 11 different shops, from 11 different companies. That is a definition of convergence for you right there.

Over the last decade Tesco and other supermarkets have been rapidly expanding into selling books, DVDs and CDs. Alongside the huge sales growth of online retail giants (biggest of which Amazon) this has created a pincer movement, that has crushed specialist High Street retailers, who have been unable to compete with the low costs and scale of these gargantuan operators. Our Price, Virgin Megastores/Zavvi and Tower Records have gone to the wall since 2004 and HMV and Waterstones are in rapid decline and look like they are probably on their last legs too.

One of the most interesting aspects of Tesco's move into the VoD market is that it clearly demonstrates the new players entering the TV and film industries that are emerging as likely big-hitters of the future. How the changing ownership and methods of TV and film distribution will effect future production and patterns of exchange, only time will tell...

TiVo turns on Virgin's viewers | Business

TiVo turns on Virgin's viewers Business

Magazines

You will have looked at how magazines are struggling to adapt to the challenges and opportunities of media in the web 2.0 era. This article is about Horse and Hound Magazine and how it now has one of the largest facebook pages for a magazine around. We realise that Horse and Hound may not be the first magazine that you will reach for in the newsagent but the article is worth a read and could be valuable in your essay answer!!

Another way to conceptualise the digital divide

Prensky writes about digital immigrants and natives, claiming that immersion in a digital world during childhood (or not) is a key factor that shapes the way we experience the world.

However this is just one way in which to make a case for a 'digital divide'. The most basic segregating factor is whether or not a community has access to an affordable, high speed, internet connection. This is not the case for approximately 70% of the world, according to these statistics. It is also not the case for many people in remote (ish) parts of the UK that are not connected to broadband.

Communities that are not connected to a high speed connection are not totally cut off though. Some are finding innovative ways of accessing the digital world, solutions that fit in with their lives, as well as their economic and geographic circumstances.

Here's a fascinating example of how a remote Indian community are bridging the digital divide.

Questions on 'We Think'

Analysis of previous student answer