Thinkcorps

Quick note to myself. There’s been a flurry of articles on digital TV and convergence from the provider (TV networks) angle, and if anything shows “Web 1.0” thinking is still kicking, it’s this. First, companies are still trying to replicate pre-Net businesses on the Web. Second, there’s this idea floated by reporters that the young generation is Net savvy and companies better make their media components “converge” so they are “simple”, in order to capture their attention. I honestly haven’t read all the articles, but I think that’s more or less accurate.

Simplicity is an extremely difficult beast when it comes to software and digital systems, and most old-school business folk will never get it. For a typical business, “simple” means less options, less confusion and less control. But in a digital system, simplicity hinges on the user experience: your power to get things done. Simplicity in software is achieved not by subtraction, but by addition: Creating several paths to a function based on user contexts, for example. The end result is a happy and productive user.

This is the great lesson of software: users are naturally complex; there are many kinds, with different skill sets and different objectives.

I’m not sure media companies will ever get this. For them, simplicity is a way to view the world. Convenient, for sure, but wholly inaccurate. And it creates a massive and growing gap between themselves and their users, who are gaining more power and skills every day.

If there’s hope in the world these days, it’s going to come in the form of an API. The only company I know that’s doing anything here is the BBC. Maybe somebody gets smart and follows them, maybe Cuban’s HD.net.

Convergence equals complexity and diversity. It means finally recognizing that there’s 100 million different people at your door—and addressing them individually, one by one.