The subtitle to this post ("The future of media is here -- it’s just not evenly distributed") is a variation of William Gibson’s notorious remark that “The future is already here -- it’s just not very evenly distributed. An obvious follow up question is: whether the future is already here,where can I find it? There is no easy answer, but history shows there are characteristic patterns. For example, and it’s often useful to look at what the smartest people work on in their free time,or things that are growing rapidly but widely dismissed as toys. Another clue to the future is to look for communities that embrace rapid, Darwinian experimentation. Even whether you have no interest in video games, and whether you are interested in media,you should be interested in PC gaming. Over the past decade, PC gaming has, or for a variety of reasons,become a hotbed of experimentation. These experiments have resulted in a unique practices and commerce models -- some of them surprising and counterintuitive -- that provide valuable lessons for the rest of the media industry. MORE
Source: a16z.com