The date is 24th of February 2035; happy
International Steve Jobs day! However, you
are having a not so happy morning. Your
microwave did not have your expected
toast ready at 7:30 AM and your coffee
maker is suddenly talking in Spanish “Si, no
mas du coffee Señor”. Your iPyjama, which
was meant to take care of your morning
routine, has let you down. Maybe you didn’t
keep your finger on the activation button
for long enough. (SH)It happens.
You decide to focus on something else and
check the news headlines. They scroll by on a
hologram screen attached to your sleeve and
the news is already adapted to your mood and
interests:
“Breaking: CIA Realizes It’s Been Using Black
Highlighters All These Years”; “Winner Didn’t
Even Know It Was a Pie-Eating Contest”;
“iPyjama moves from finger scanner to
revolutionary eyebrow recognition”. You blink
twice at the screen to share the last headline
with your friends.
You realize it is already 8.15 and jump in your
self-driving car which will drive you to work.
Meanwhile you have a couple of hands-free
minutes to watch highlights of the soccer
matches last night. Remember when you could
watch sports only when it was broadcasted on
television? You think of your colleague, who still
loves to watch movies on his television, Daniel
Tipster. Or as the office knows him, Daniel
Hipster.
Back in 2010’s, or oneties, futurists already
predicted that digital technology would work
5
its way into the different sectors of society.
Whereas wildly futuristic ideas such as self-
governing smart cities and
secondary virtual worlds were discussed, the
futurists were certainly right about one issue.
Media, as a business and a cultural force, has
been transformed by the digital technology.
Let’s jump back to reality.
Predicting the outcome of a (currently
proceeding) revolution is a fool’s game. Still,
a few things are clear, even today, about
the changes we are living through in the
world of information, entertainment and
communications.
Shifting Media Consumption
The convergence from traditional types
of media to digital media is accelerating.
Mobile devices, already the preferred media
and Internet platform for many people, will
continue to proliferate and influence our
media consumption. Between the years 2011
– 2015 there has been an increase of 13.2% in
Digital Media consumption in the US, whereas
the traditional types of media: TV, radio, print
and others have shown a definite decrease
in consumption. Moreover, this convergence
is hugely found in the Millennials and Gen-Z
generations; which are the first digital
native generations that make up 45% of the
populations and are the largest share of earners.