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Let’s go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.

—Steve Jobs, D5 Conference: All Things Digital, May 30, 2007

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I can’t remember the last time I bought a music CD. Or a DVD. Definitely not a cassette tape. Can you?

 

Instead I stream whatever music I fancy whilst on the move, or spend a lazy weekend searching Netflix for a film. Long gone are the impromptu Saturday night trips to Blockbuster in the rain to see if they had Gladiator or Love Actually on DVD for hire (then panicking a week later that they’re overdue). Missed Tuesday’s Eastenders? No worries, it’ll be available on BBC IPlayer for a month. In fact, why not download it for your morning commute?

 

The world of media communications is fast-paced, and consumer uptake equally ravenous. The term used for one media product overthrowing another is referred to as disruption. The days of the ‘format wars’ between VHS and Betamax are long over. Today, streaming is King!

 

But the term disruption sounds so negative: disturbing, interfering, unsettling, confusing, and my iPhone is none of those things. I’ve never had so much content choice at my fingertips but I struggle to imagine how future technology can improve our options or how the delivery could change for the better without going space-age.

 

I have bookcases crammed with videos and DVDs gathering dust, too sentimental to throw them away; no point in trying to flog them, but also having no video player to watch them on.

 

The Multimedia Communications Network has put together a timeline highlighting some of the major disrupters that have impacted the way we consume entertainment. From live shows, to mass market entertainment and now On Demand services, will you cast your mind back to each of these and remember them? Your first trip the cinema? First record? Maybe you still prefer a physical product over intangible streaming services?

 

And what might be next? Multimedia chips embedded in the brain, not requiring any external stimuli to work. Think David Bowie’s Spaceman and it plays. Maybe you’ll be watching a movie or surfing the internet without a screen. Maybe physical travel will become a thing of the past, as your VR chip allows you to travel the world from the comfort of your home. What do you think the future looks like? And how soon will it arrive?

 
If the story of disruptive media interests you, join us for our annual John Logie Baird lecture – Disruptive Technology in the Media Field on Thursday 11th May at 18:00 – 20:00, Savoy Place, London.

 
  • "Think David Bowie’s Spaceman and it plays." Imagine if you had a song worm and every time you thought it, it played! You'd never be rid of the Venga Boys! :oD