Media types: pictured above are the Rosetta Stone (left), a text document; a page from a Gutenberg Bible, a rich text document with illustration; and a front page from the L.A. Times, a rich text document with illustrations, on a tablet PC displayed in the Kent Format, a PDF standard for news delivery.

Allow me to advance the case that the big jump, from a content standpoint, is from Rosetta to Gutenberg. The tablet PC, indeed, all of our monster-power, high-bandwidth-connection PCs basically display the same thing - rich text - that was available in the 15th century. We use a browser, they used paper, but otherwise, the big difference is the potential for speedier delivery.

So, when are we going to take advantage of fast processors and ubiquitous connectivity to present new, more compelling media types? Sure, we're swapping mp3s (quite legally, of course) but what about a new media type where all the pieces - 3D, interactive, video, audio, rich text et al. - are packaged to make something that is greater as a whole than the individual pieces? Stay tuned....
Comments [ ] 11:20:16 PM    

Chris Gulker's view from Silicon Valley - in words and pictures