| I get that television is, compared to most other art forms, a pretty new industry -- and that it's one with which many people are dissatisfied. Stuff like this is dumb, in my opinion. Television's a medium and its here to stay for quite a long time. I'm not saying cable is -- I'm not saying network television is -- but audiovisual vignettes, the process of producing something for it to be watched, are going to be here for a while. "We now expect interaction rather than passivity." This, in my opinion, is silly. The engagement of interaction and the engagement of presentation are two different experiences. I think the author makes a good point with regards to the barrier to entry decreasing; as a result, we're seeing more 'auteur' television, both on networks and on YouTube. Think back to the Renaissance, the shift from poets and great writers seeking patronage to the development of mass publishing -- we are seeing this within the video industry as well. "Why would big players like Dick Wolf and Jerry Bruckhiemer jump through hoops for major networks when they can distribute their content directly to consumers." Marketing, and the fact that the last Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film (On Stranger Tides) had a budget of $200 million. |