Future of Information Consumption
Patrick had been fascinated with the Italian Renaissance period for many years. As he left work on Tuesday 6 October 2015, he put on his headphones from his ‘i-Phone Mini G4′ and continued to stream the interview with Miles J Unger (an expert of the Renaissance period and the Medici family) which he had started to listen to during his commute to work that same morning. As Patrick walked back to his train he became increasingly puzzled by Unger’s description of a supposed discussion between Lorenzo de’Medici and Leonardo da Vinci. Unger’s views were not consistent with Patrick’s understanding, and as he sat on the train Patrick paused the interview and launched Google on his G4. Google, immediately brought up results relevant to the context at the paused point in the interview. Now that he was sitting down Patrick selected a couple of results that displayed short video reenactments of the discussion between Lorenzo de’Medici and Leonardo da Vinci, clarifying his understanding of the situation.
Later that evening at home it was Patrick’s turn to cook dinner. Kristen his daughter was wrestling her algebra homework, and his wife Jen and son Cody were out on their bikes savouring the last rays of sunshine for the day. They had no television anymore – they had sold that last summer on e-bay and replaced it with four 20 inch portable display panels linked wirelessly to the family computer. Patrick picked up his panel, placed it on the kitchen bench in front of him and stated “Patrick - news”. As Patrick sliced carrots, courgettes, and broccoli the panel streamed video news clips within Patrick’s predefined category preferences (news headlines in summary, art and culture, sport headlines in summary, and weather just for Portsmouth where he lived). There were no advert breaks, however, small adverts did display on the right side of the screen – some were directly relevant to the context of the news report (e.g. a Special K advert appeared during a headline on the growing cost of the obesity epidemic).
After dinner Patrick decided to help Kristen who was becoming increasingly irate with her algebra homework. Patrick started to read through the section in Kristen’s algebra book, but after a few minutes realised that he too could use some advice to understand solving polynomial equations. Together they researched the internet for polynomial equations and viewed a number of video tutorials that led them step by step through equations similar to those that Kristen had been set for homework. They worked through two of Kristen’s questions together and then Kristen seemed comfortable to tackle the remaining questions unassisted.
‘Finally some time to relax’ thought Patrick. He settled into his comfortable couch, his wireless panel on the coffee table in front of him, and he said “play Green Wing, Series 2, Episode 3″. The episode immediately started streaming through Patrick’s panel. He was just settling into the show when his wife Jen called out from the laundry “Honey, can you give me a hand to fold the washing?”. Patrick said “pause” and shuffled off to the laundry muttering under his breath.
What does this story tell us about the future of information consumption?
- Pre-programmed broadcasting is dead. In the future individuals will determine what content they consume, when the consume it, and where they consume it.
- Televisions (which fit into the broadcasting paradigm) will be replaced by innovative new internet / computer / mobile technologies used to stream information and entertainment. These technologies will continue to expand into peoples’ kitchens, family areas, bedrooms, pockets, and handbags.
- Broadband, wireless, and mobile technologies will advance to the extent that rich media can be consumed anywhere and anytime cost effectively.
- With broadband becoming prevalent, more and more information will be presented in video and other rich media - providing richer communication than written or spoken word.
- With individuals taking control of the information they consume, broadcast advert breaks will discontinue in their current format. Advertisers will need to get smarter about using media to get their messages in front of their markets.
- Individuals will be able to set category preferences for many things including the consumption of news. This means people will no longer need to sit through a 1 hour broadcast news programme if they are only interested in 15 minutes of the content presented.
- With information easily and quickly accessed over the internet, people will no longer have the need for their own storage of information on CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, or hard-drives (we are already starting to see this with the decline of the music CD).
- Even with more flexible ways to consume information, wives will still have a habit of demanding husband assistance at the most inconvenient time.
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Great stuff – some very interesting and well presented views on the future of information consumption.