The medium is the message – Marshall McLuhan
Many derivatives have been born from this, many. Today we are very aware of this statement from 1964. Although, I believe Marshall’s almost dismissal of content was a bit off target. They work hand-in-hand – they’re reliant on each other. But as we move towards one screen – regardless of where that screen is – or what its size (mobile vs. tablet vs. home theatre) – content is what we’re after. The medium – although important – is becoming the invisible conduit.
The real difference maker today, and even more so in the future is accessing content. Or, specifically, where is that content residing? Because if we are to truly be in the land of one screen, that one screen better have access to what we want, and be up-to-date. And that content will be a combination of work, personal and third party (tv, movies, blogs, etc.).
The cloud
A magical place that is very hard to explain in terms of security, location and access to some people. I’ll call those people my Dad, and maybe your Mom, and, well, a lot of people. It’s amazing how somewhat full circle this whole computer thing is turning out to be. Before desktops, computers were large mainframes in a specialized area of a company – accessed by dumb terminals (meaning that they were just workstations, no data sat locally – as in, at your desk). Then the world went PC (and PC, but that’s another story) and moved the data locally, the applications locally, you know – to your desk. Which created a multitude of departments and companies (think IT and MicroSoft). Will the cloud change that? I’m sure it will.
But
Now comes the important part – so much data, security and expertise is required – companies are not looking to have their own cloud – some might – but with the existing services out there (and ready to go) why would they. Here’s the lock down – how easy will it be to port your data (even as an individual) from one cloud platform to another? From DropBox to Box.net to iCloud to CloudDrive.
Storage is the new bank – content is the currency.
Where are you making your deposits?
