There’s a fundamental shift in communications and media that’s blurring what used to be clear distinctions between telecommunications, broadcasting and the internet.
The digital environment is seeing computing and other information technologies, media content, and communication networks merging and transforming. Fast. It’s called convergence.
Steve Jobs turned a company that made computers (Apple Macs) into one that made music devices (iPods) iphones and iPads.
Google started off as a computer search engine. It developed gmail, a web browser (Chrome), then it moved into the smartphone business with its android operating system. As an agregator of news content across all platforms it is now starting to compete with existing news organisations and now it has entered the smart TV market with its Google interactive TV product.
Newspapers now deliver their breaking news via websites and social media, often using video clips.
TVs are increasingly turning to the internet to deliver content as well as the traditional means. You can now send emails, access the internet and watch news and TV and even movies on your phone.
What used to be our state public television broadcaster TVNZ has signalled it wants to enter the pay TV market which is currently dominated by one player Sky. It already provides content through Sky. There’s no rules and there is an ongoing debate about the implications of deals done with networks to carry content over the Ultra Fast Broadband network.
As the technologies converge, a number of issues arise for policy makers around the networks that will be needed to carry both content produced inside New Zealand and which comes from outside the country.
Steven Joyce doesn’t seem to believe convergence is occuring
Australia is undertaking a landmark review of Australian media and communications regulation.
Canada has just released a regulatory framework for media ownership to address unfair competition.
Malaysia, the EU, the UK, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa… have all gone down this path.
Labour will release its ICT policy on Monday.
Our broadcasting policy will follow soon.
I have been using computers for 45 years now, the first one filled a room and had little ferrite doughnuts for memory, and now the one Im sitting behind at the breakfast table is probably 50 times more processing power but still relies on a room/warehouse full of processors to be able to write on this blog. Long before TV arrived , cinemas showed newsreels, now you can get video clips on your phone, in a sense the 25% that went regularly to the movies would have a window on the world that they would see for themselves have been replaced by the 30% that use Utube.
In a way , a lot has changed but a lot hasnt.
Let me get this straight, you approve of the australian governments inqiiry into journalism? Even though it is almost specifically targeted at coalition aligned news outlets? Staggering hypocracy considering yout comments about bomber bradbury and rnz
Brilliant, some more regulation. I can’t wait.
While you’re right in saying that Joyce isn’t really showing any vision, I fail to see what good can come out of regulating for problems that don’t exist yet.
Have just seen the document on Whaleoil. I disagree with a lot of it, but I do wish that National had the courage to say this:
“Labour does not stand for the protection of industrial or business models whose time has passed, and it welcomes the radical innovation the Internet has given rise to.”
Internet is a doubled edged sword Ghost. People get addicted, youngens share stuff that they will regret later
Read it on Whale – its very interesting.