Big Idea 2014: The Distinction Between Media and Tech Crumbles

This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers pick one big idea that will shape 2014. See all the ideas here.
What will define media and technology in 2014? The end of defining labels. As these two industries converge, the silos will disappear, leaving an integrated mix of content and distribution companies. That co-mingling will enable more ambitious goals and bigger, riskier bets to push the boundaries of the business.
Is Netflix a media or a tech company? It’s both. And it doesn’t matter any more.
What does it mean that the biggest of the media giants, Disney, is producing original content for Netflix that will skip traditional broadcast distribution and reach consumers solely through Internet pipes? It means the industries that have so long defined Northern and Southern California will transcend labels, with new relationships up and down the West Coast.
“Television” is any video, not a device. Forget about “web video” versus “television.” The line is evaporating. Ask any teenager what TV shows he or she like; you'll get a list of favorites watched on Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go. Next year “TV” will be increasingly be liberated from that big electronic device, as we see more apps like Disney’s ‘Watch ABC’ that enable live streaming from anywhere. TV sets, those giant things in your living room, are useful for playing video games, streaming a Pandora or Spotify app, showing photo slideshows, but if you want live television, you won’t be stuck sitting on the couch.
Forget about the distinction between Media and Tech Companies. This year we saw Microsoft start a division to produce original scripted content to deliver through its XBox platform, hiring a TV veteran, Nancy Tellem to oversee it. Next year we’ll see Microsoft start to release its original shows, joining Amazon, Netflix, and of course the studios, looking to draw consumers’ subscription dollars. Whether they’re subscribing to Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Satellite TV, they’re paying, and media and tech companies are-- and will--continue to work together -- and as frenemies-- to grab more consumer attention and dollars.
There will be no more line between “Mobile” and “Desktop” -- because *everything* will be mobile. It will have to be. The amount of time people spend on their smartphones will continue to skyrocket. Now we talk about “apps” and “websites,” and we wonder whether a website is optimized for the web. In 2014 Facebook and LinkedIn will both generate more than half their revenue from mobile-- as Twitter now does. A glance at a smartphone will become more important to those social giants-- as well as advertisers and media companies-- as a click on a desktop computer. Whether its enterprise companies helping businesses access their files, retailers encouraging consumers to shop, or content and distribution companies offering up content, everything will be oriented towards mobile users.
Photo: albert mollon / Getty Images

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Abdon Perez
Embedded Software Engineer at Boeing
I'm sorry, but I still will not watch a show, much less a movie, on my phone. I'll be blind in no time if I did that often. I prefer a big screen in my living, or theater room. Yes, I do stream shows and movies, just not on a tiny screen. If the majority of people "do" watch on those tiny screens, then I beleive we'll be introducing a new breed of eye problems.
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8 days ago
LikersVictoria T., Sylvia Brown, Justin Reilly, +9

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  Justin Babet
  Founder and CEO at JobAdvisor.com.au
  I watch movies on my phone all the time - I just connect my phone to my TV via bluetooth
  
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  6 days ago
  
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  Douglas J. W.
  Pres./Owner at Woodruff Design
  My Netflix is tied into my large screen TV via a Wi machine and my laptop. No eyestrain necessary.
  
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  6 days ago
  
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Maxim Potekhin
Systems Architect at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Doesn't strike me as a really "big" idea, - the technology component has been the core of many companies perceived as non-tech for many years, and streaming video over the internet also has a long history already. The year 2014 is hardly some singularity point here.
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8 days ago
LikersTravis Holland, Devin McCue Emery, Justin Reilly, +13
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Hank Warmbier
Account Executive at SBWire
Big Idea 2014: The Distinction Between Media and Tech Crumbles. Hmmm, that's a rather myopic, self-centric viewpoint. "Tech" exists in MANY more disciplines than just for "Media". Think "medical devices", "spacecraft", "new mining techniques", and industry which survives and grows by embracing "new technology". It's not just about media, folks. It never has been, and never will be. Let's look at our entire industrial world. And thanks for "listening".
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7 days ago
LikersJulie O., Ron Ruppel, Troy Kristofferson, +6

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  Julie O.
  Executive Director at RegAffairsNC
  Yes, if you don't do anything but consume, then there you go. But if you are a producer, then tech is a tool, not a medium. Oddly, though, I think she probably has a point...there is, sadly, a "we" in our society that is "all Netflix now." There are just a lot of "us" that, happily, aren't part of that "we."
  
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  6 days ago
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  Abel Fernandez
  Student at Florida International University
  It doesn't say it is all about media, it says the line between media and technology is blurring.
  
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  6 days ago
  
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Todd Hoffman
Sr. Manager Business Intelligence at Eastern Washington University
A more interesting question would have been, when with the cable industry's monopolistic stranglehold on content finally be broken?
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7 days ago
LikersRon Ruppel, Harry Shipley, Troy Kristofferson, +3
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Stephan Woltering ✔
Account Management - Agent of change to transform your enterprises into the digital age
"Sorry this service is not available in your country." Netflix and Hulu are great, but with "IP screening" and "US Credit Cards/PayPal Accounts only policies" it has the taste of being illegal if you manage to use this services in Germany. IP hiding on SmartTVs is almost impossible. Other countries have bandwidth problems (landline and mobile). A lot of international regulatory work needs to be done as well (publishing rights). Unless these topics have been solved consumers will have limited access to these kind of services.
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7 days ago
LikersLaurindo Berenguer, Harry Shipley, Andrew MacLeod, +3

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  Andrew MacLeod
  Director of Technology and Instructional Innovation at Holy Name of Mary College School
  It all seems to be driven by how the service can be monetized. We are inexorably moving toward a pay by the second society for all of our content.
  
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  7 days ago
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Roy W. Haas, Ph.D.
Statistician
I have a dog that sits on the couch. He likes Animal Planet. I sit in a motorized easy chair when I want to watch my big screen TV. I rarely watch live TV, so I can zip through the tedious advertising. I use my mobile phone for conversation only. Merging of media and tech has been going on for some time, so I don't consider it a big idea.
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7 days ago
LikersJulie O., Troy Kristofferson, Gordon Snieder, +1
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Matt Quinn
Director at TFGtv.com
"Now we talk about “apps” and “websites,” and we wonder whether a website is optimized for the web." - No; mine is optimised for making deep fried mars bars! You don't actually have a clue Julia do you? This is 100% pure waffle!
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7 days ago
LikersTodd Chestnut, Duncan Campbell, and Jane M. Mason

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  Vince Egan
  Director International Sales Pacific Rim
  Agree what is a web site that is not "optimized" for the web. Is that like a book that is optimized for a library?
  
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  6 days ago
  
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kerry hyre
US Foreign Service Officer
This may not be the forum for this but I am going to throw it out there anyway. I joined Netflix in 2007. Enjoyed the great three per video subscription. Then came the online watching and I was in movie choice heaven. I few years ago my career sent me overseas and I had problems receiving my DVDs on time so I switched to just online watching. The movies were great (pay attention to the ratings -- they really work on Netflix!). Anyway, recently I noticed that most of the movies available online were of mediocre ratings (1-3.5 average). Also, Netflix arrived in Ireland while I was living there and the movies were just outdated and crappy. My Irish friends think the company is a joke and refuse to join. I feel that Netflix is slacking in their service. Am I alone in thinking this way?
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7 days ago
LikersDouglas J. W. and Benoit Vincent

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  Vince Egan
  Director International Sales Pacific Rim
  No I think you are right. Even here in the USOFA netflix is best at reruns. It fails entirely in Asia.
  
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  6 days ago
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  Douglas J. W.
  Pres./Owner at Woodruff Design
  I feel Netflix is so busy trying to save their mail program, that the on-line option is suffering in content. They should just add a higher end on-line choice and eliminate the CD system all together. Would save time and money for them and us.
  
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Tom Henkel
Creative Director at CHIEFTAIN STUDIO
Sorry, but I'm having problems with the basic thesis here. Tech companies produce base technology which is used by a variety of organizations to enable them to offer goods and services to customers. Many organizations use technology, not just media companies. And many media organizations continue to purchase base technology (e.g., servers, disk drives, routers, system software, etc.) from tech companies. So while I agree with you that there will always be some blurred lines when you look at the business offerings of large, multi-national corporations; the distinction between media companies and tech companies remains fairly clear (at least in my mind) and I don't really see a substantial change happening in 2014. Second, not all applications benefit from, or require, mobile access. No question mobile access is an absolute requirement for things like email and other collaborative applications. But what about accounts receivable? Billing? Payroll? It might be convenient to offer mobile access to core business applications, but given the inherent security issues it might not be wise. Remember all the problems that cropped up when laptop computers appeared on the market with disk drives large enough to contain an entire corporate database? We had people leaving laptop computers with sensitive, unencrypted corporate/customer data in taxicabs and on park benches. I think there will always be some applications where use from a guaranteed secure access point is the only sensible business policy.
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7 days ago
LikersAdriana Karaboutis, Laurindo Berenguer, Julie O., +1
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Mike Bradley
Business innovation, implementation, optimisation
During 2014: Media will continue to become an application delivered on some form of fixed or mobile technology and device agnostic. All websites will become device-responsive (including mobile). Also, presentation of companies, products, services and propositions will move from a partially-visual basis to a primarily-visual basis because it is faster to review, qualify, then action. The biggest challenge is (already) the capacity of mobile networks to deliver quality multi-media and reliable voice simultaneously.
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8 days ago
LikersRasa Siudikienė and PetrPavel Surkov
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Roderick Hunnicutt
Socratic Investments, LLC
With every change there is in marketing tactic, the most important is the contents you make, which need to be interesting, creative and most of all quality and unique. Invest in branded content or earned media, social media marketing should still be the secondary tactic to support your content visibility.
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8 days ago
LikersRasa Siudikienė and Sarah O'Rourke
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Tiffany Collins
A fusion of project management and the arts
“Television” is any video, not a device. Forget about “web video” versus “television." Boom- love it. Spread this idea. It is logical to think this way, but are we to ask that are all these devices to be in real competition with each other over time? I, personally and professionally, need a phone AND a TV AND a laptop. The tablets might have some completion as the phones get larger and more laptops become touchscreen. Will the consumer start to demand the same quality of resolution, speed and accessibility to be the same on all of these mediums? Does the consumer expect that now and is that where this is all heading towards? The smartphone is the gateway to information, but who wants to hang around the gate all day? :) I'm enjoying this Big Idea topic- more comments please, and thank you Julia Boorstin!
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7 days ago
LikersHarry Shipley

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  Julie O.
  Executive Director at RegAffairsNC
  The last three people I know who bought new cells actually backed down the technology ladder to acquire simpler models. Once The Tablet and The Laptop reach full singularity, I predict that The Phone will happily go on as a separate but much simpler product, because there are a lot more people who want a phone that they can use for phone calls than want a tablet or a laptop to use for anything else.
  
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  6 days ago
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  K.S. Balakrishnan (PhD)
  Academic
  You think big. You see the big picture. Fabulous.
  
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  7 days ago
  
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Joyce Oxfeld
Arts and Crafts Professional, Musician, private Music Teacher, Photographer, and writer
I'm not a fan of having so many wireless and portable devizes to distract one while on the road. This means not only driving, but walking, communicating with people around you. Social skills will be impacted by this. I am very invested in my current PC. I'd rather work in concentration at home. ID safety issues also with more portable devizes as well as making users a target for violent crime.
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7 days ago
LikersSarah O'Rourke
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Anthony Johnson, PMP, MSP
Program Manager at Verizon Wireless
Delivering what the customer wants, anticipating their needs/likes, and providing a functionally easy to use experience will be key in gathering and keeping happy customers. Everyone is vying to be THAT provider. Knowing your customer (VOC/CRM) and delivering that content and experience are key.
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7 days ago
LikersRasa Siudikienė
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Marc Steve
Executive Producer/Director, Rhythmic Media
Not a revolutionary article but it's worth hearing these concepts again from time to time....this business has seen many changes and there are more to come. Some of us need to take a step back from our pre-conceptions about 'content' and how its produced and put ourselves in the audience's shoes once in a while. It could lead to some refreshing concepts.
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7 days ago
LikersBenoit Vincent
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BABU PRASAD P
CONSULTANT - GENERAL INSURANCE
The logical evolution.
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8 days ago
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zora slapak
president at Zoras Furniture
Julia Thank you for sharing
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8 days ago
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Andrew Lobban
Data Analyst at Apartments.com
Valid points all around. But thinking about it, I realize more and more people are spending less and less time in their living rooms and more time on Mobile devices inclusive of Tablets. Always on the go syndrome!!
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8 days ago
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Shabbir Ahmad
Plant Inspector at Fatima Group
its not a big idea
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7 days ago
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Anthony Detry
UM EXXON
To Abdon P, that's why many companies are increasing the size of their phone screens. Some are the size of a tablet. Usually those users consume much of their media that way. I'd rather a big screen TV as well. Many phones you can stream the content to a device that can project to the TV also. A few years ago Netflix got a lot of flack for changing but this was his original vision for the company. You can't have growth without change.
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7 days ago
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