I have become a bit jaded about the next "really cool" thing when it comes to the Internet and computers. I can also attest to the theory that the true path to becoming a Luddite is not under exposure to technology but over exposure. I've seen a lot of "really cool" things come up on the seen and blow away like so much smoke only to eddy back and be morphed into the the next really cool idea. Seeing this happen over and over again, after championing one thing or another only to see it roll away in the tides of the next wave; you tend become a bit protective about what you think is "really cool" and honestly a bit bitter about the time invested in the last "really cool" thing. Given the years you also become the crazy old coot who refuses to see anything new in the next "really cool" thing. The true "break through's" in technology as a matter of longevity do not particularly come down to the technology at hand historically speaking. I can site invitation after invitation that have been shot down because of either litigation or people not being ready to use it, more over people not ready to market it.

Published papers, magazines, books; radio and television; Records, Tapes, CDs DVDs are forms of media that are well established and embedded in our lives. Personally I have never known the world without these forms of media. As too, are the mechanisms that fuel these industries.  Industries are not established overnight if for no other reason then reluctance those that are being displaced by the new thing to invest in something where the path to revenue is not established by the producer (them) and the consumer (us). More then that though the fear changing what works is motivation for (them) to kill off this new thing before it grows and someone else finds a market path on the "really cool" new thing. So bring in the lawyers, the PR nostalgists ranting about new versus old and what we are giving up as consumers, but in the meantime be working on ways, if you are smart industry, to market the very thing you are trying to kill off as I assure you a real "really cool" thing will not go away. The most recent example would of course be mp3 technology versus the record industry (RIAA). I can tell you from the first time I ripped an mp3 some ten years ago and played back I new CDs were dead and that mp3s would be the new way listening to music. Someday I may still prove to be right.

Let me be clear that I am not talking about intellectual properties rights vs consumer rights here, IP laws are an ends to a means of protecting an old industry against a new technology until the old industry has a path to market and profit from this new technology. We are finally seeing that happen now with the Record Industry and music download sites such iTunes, Rhapsody, and yes even Napster (the name sake of the software that released and fell pray to the champion on record industry, the RIAA). What I'm talking about is the catch-up factor under the guise of intellectual property used by corporations as a means to curb being left behind. While I may listen to a 1990 Metallica song for free, legally on the radio or illegally as copied mp3, it has nothing to do as to whether I'm going to buy it.

Just as sure as I was about mp3s killing off the CD player (ok just give it a bit more time); I am sure that Internet media will kill off television, radio and; with one foot already in the grave, printed news papers. No more WJHG, WMBB, no more News Herald? No, no more. Not in form they currently exist. Big deal you say. People have been literally saying exactly this very thing for the last 15 years. My point exactly. "Why", you say? For all the reason I mentioned which boils down to one thing, money: specifically the transfer of money by the user (you) to the provider (them). The driving factors the we currently see pushing this transition forward is two things. First, the number of people out there with "high speed" Internet access. Second is the ability of providers of content  to gain revenue from you consuming these services and content.

What's to fear here is the method that they (content providers) are able to make acceptable to you (the content consumer) and the laws they get passed to heard you into the right channels of consumerism. Some entertainment groups such as the RIAA have used exorbitant law suits targeting individuals, often under aged individuals and their parents, and technology innovators (innovators not on their pay role).

I shall attempt to summarize my ideas so far in this post by saying that you really can not predict what will be the next hot thing, or how the world will work and play with technology based on the demo version. People with money will try to crush out or control innovations wherever the potential for money is involved. Ironically the tools that the law has put in place to protect innovators, copy right and patens, are consistently used  as tools to destroy upstart entrepreneurs and their investors. As frustrating as it is, we as consumers have to sit on our hands what for the lawyers to empty the feeding troth of cash and then the right people can sell a service or product.