The lessons of big media hubris

Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn and the original Red Herring, blogs about big media and emerging media:

... For years, the record companies did not want to disrupt their baked in distribution system, based upon selling CDs. The Always-On Generation (now around 21 - 22 years old) said bullshit. They were online all day IMing their buddies all over the planet, and, as with all emerging generations, music was the cultural glue that was holding them together. Inevitably, bootleg music file downloading and swapping services such as Napster came along and gave these youngsters the tools they needed to trade a share their music.

The sad thing is that the music industry almost lost the entire generation. File-swapping was so rampant, kids didn't even think they were stealing. It was like one huge protest. It was a big game, the only problem both sides were losing.

Well, thank God sanity prevailed and guys like Steve Jobs proved once again that if you can make something simple and easy, people will use it—and even be happy to pay for it. Our youth and the record companies are largely back on track.

Big Media has to learn the same lesson. The days when editors and producers have complete control over their content are gone. The people have risen. The blogosphere has emerged as the 5th Estate, and if you try to fight it, you will end up on on the street like Dan Rather.

This will require, of course, that Big Media become a lot more humble. Big Media must accept that the days when they had the last say are over—long over. A whole new legion of folks are now empowered out in Cyberland ready to call their bluffs, present the facts they are ignoring, and generally remind Big Media that they merely represent just one more opinion. ...