The power of personal media

22.01.06 01:46 PM By S.Swaminathan

Saffo writes:

The web is at the centre of an emergent personal media revolution in the same way as TV in the 1950s was at the centre of mass media revolution that shaped the latter half of the 20th century.

From mass to personal media (key differences)

                                                    Mass Media                                 Personal Media

Dominant Medium                  TV                                                  The web

Location                                  Living room                                    Everywhere

Experience                        Watch & consume                         Participate & create

Players                                  Few & large                                     Many & small          

Business Models                 Product/service                  Subscription (and more)

How businesses need to transform themselves is captured beautifully in the example below in the same article:

White goods major Electrolux teamed up with Swedish power company Vattenfalls  in a test on the island of Gottland to offer web-enabled washer/dryer combos  to apartment dwellers. Title of the appliances remained with the company and the customer was charged everytime they ran a load of laundry and the charge appeared on their electric bill.

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S.Swaminathan