Microsoft CEO Ballmer: Print, Traditional TV Are Dead
Jun 6th, 2008 | By James Lewin | Category: General 
In a wide-ranging interview with the Washington Post, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer offers his views on upcoming changes in technology and media.
His outlook for the future of traditional media is bleak:
In the next 10 years, the whole world of media, communications and advertising are going to be turned upside down — my opinion.
Here are the premises I have. Number one, there will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.
If we want TV to be more interactive, you’ll deliver it over an IP network.
I mean, it’s sort of funny today. My son will stay up all night basically playing Xbox Live with friends that are in various parts of the world, and yet I can’t sit there in front of the TV and have the same kind of a social interaction around my favorite basketball game or golf match. It’s just because one of these things is delivered over an IP network and the other is not. . . .
Also in the world of 10 years from now, there are going to be far more producers of content than exist today. We’ve already started to see that certainly in the online world, but we’ve just scratched the surface.
I always take my favorite case: I grew up in Detroit. I went to a place called Detroit Country Day School. They’ve got a great basketball team. Why can’t I sit in front of my television and watch the Country Day basketball game when I know darn well it’s being video-recorded at all times? It’s there. It’s just not easy to navigate to.
What do you think? Will traditional print & TV be dead in 10 years?
Ten years seems pretty quick to me. Years from now, I think I’ll still want traditional magazines and books to put on my nightstand, to read while I’m biking at the gym, and to stash in my suitcase for a beach vacation. I’m sure their role will have diminished, but I think predicting their extinction is a little premature.
I do not think we will be pulling out our laptop in Church to read the Bible scripture.
There will always be print.
Think of all the ‘how to” books that are sold everyday. If your IP is down how you going to know how to troubleshoot it unless you have an instruction manual?
I do agree that we should have more choices. I would love to watch “24” with other fans interacting.
I used to get the New York station because my satellite company did not have my local channels. When 911 happened it was like it was in my hometown. The new York channels had people on looking for their loved ones and you felt closer to them. Meanwhile my local Southern TV station was more like it happened in another part of the world. It was distance. I was closer because I was able to know the people.
This is what having media that is your own choice can do for you and the world.
I agree with the TV but not the print. I say that we may have fewer newspapers and more like USA today where it is not just local news.
The Kindle will not take the place of the paperback
Erin, Final Taxi
I’m with you – 10 years seems a little fast for print & regular TV to be dead.
But Erin – wouldn’t you rather work out on an exercise bike that has the Internet on it than one you have to prop a magazine on?
We also have to remember that things like the Kindle will be a lot different in 10 years.
10 years ago, the state of the art portable reader was a Palm PDA with 8mb of RAM. For the same price now, you can get an iPhone with 8GB of RAM. In ten years, you’ve got 1,000 times more memory.
In 2018, we could have portables with 8 terabytes. That’s gonna be insane!
“In 2018, we could have portables with 8 terabytes. That’s gonna be insane!”
but it will still feel like you only have 512MB due to MSFT’s bloatcode you can guarentee that.
Robocoastie – naah – we’ll be running Linux and OS X.
The Kindle runs Linux, doesn’t it?
These predictions are usually wrong. Obviously it’s difficult to predict what will happen 10 years from now. What I really want to know is whether we’ll finally have flying cars!
Controversial statements get press coverage – online or in print. That much will never change regardless of the manner we use to consume news and information. What will really happen is that there will be more choices for us as media consumers. Messages will be spread across many different platforms simultaneously. Convergence and integration not extinction are the words of the future. To be successful at reaching their audience, publishers will need to have multiple touch-points with the world at large.
[…] del Director Ejecutivo de Microsoft Steve Ballmer, quien respondió el 4 de Junio de 2008 en una entrevista realizada por el Washington Post que en 10 años no habrá periódicos o revistas en medios […]
[…] del Director Ejecutivo de Microsoft Steve Ballmer, quien respondió el 4 de Junio de 2008 en una entrevista realizada por el Washington Post que en 10 años no habrá periódicos o revistas en medios […]