The new media won't be like the old: Tell that to NYT and MSFT
An electronic "Times Reader" was announced by the New York Times and Microsoft (MSFT). And, it is designed to look very similar to the newspaper. Why?
A little while ago I wrote that you will know the new media because it will not be like the old media. What's the point of making an electronic NYT look like a newspaper NYT?
This shows that these two venerable old organizations don't get it.
I can think of several different ways you could craft a new type of media entity/product, and you'll see some of them in upcoming projects. And they won't look anything like a newspaper...
It continues to amaze me that NYT and other media companies identify with their distribution channel rather than what they are: these are news organizations!
A newspaper is just one way to distribute news, online is yet another. TV and radio are also excellent distribution channels. If you identify as a news organization then you can take advantage of ALL these channels. Why limit yourself?
I'd be happy to give NYT a bit of consulting advice, clearly needed.
From: A (distributed) new media column: It's a New Year and a new media. . .will it be richer or poorer?
A blog post is one very good example of one form of the new media. A blog post is a page of content that is separated from its format (thanks to cascading style sheets) and, very importantly, it carries its own communications (!)It is a read-and-write document, a totally unique media entity. We have finally connected up the other end of the internet--it's a two-way medium now, with a host of easy, (nearly) one-click publishing tools and very easy media application development tools.
BTW, that post (January 3rd 2006) itself was an example of something that couldn't be done with the old media: it is a column that I published across three different web sites. When you click on "continue reading" it takes you to the next part of the article on a different web site.
It's an example of thinking "outside the page." :-)
