MediaFuturist: Networked Society

Entries categorized "Networked Society"

February 23, 2012

An important meme that cuts across many industries: from Ownership to Access

This is a crucial meme for the next 3-5 years, and one I have written about many times (influenced, among many others, by the great Kevin Kelly - just watch this video), see:

The browser is the new iPod

Content 2.0: free vs paid

Shaping the networked society (video)

The future of music publishing (impact mag 2008)

The future of IPR and copyright (slideshow)

... and much more

Feb 23, 2012 1:48:14 PM | Bottom Lines, MEMES, My writings, Networked Society

February 20, 2012

Future of Broadband: TeleMedia Ecosystems (from the Auckland NZ conference)

I just finished my presentation at the Future of Broadband conference here in Auckland, New Zealand, and sure enough, someone from TechToday(NZ) has already reviewed and summarized some of it, see below. I will make the video available as soon as I have it, on my Youtube channel. The slides I used (most of them, at least) are below, as well. Enjoy and share:)

The Future of Broadband: Telemedia, Futurist Gerd Leonhard

View more presentations from Gerd Leonhard

"New business models based on ‘ecosystems’ rather than ‘egosystems’ are required in order to make large-scale investments in broadband technology successful, an international expert told the Commerce Commission’s Future with High Speed Broadband conference in Auckland this morning. Speaking to a crowd of around 250, Gerd Leonhard, who describes himself as a media ‘futurist’, introduced the term ‘telemedia’ to describe the combined product of telecommunications companies and media content providers. "In three years, all the major economies around the world will see telcos moving into content,” Leonhard says. "It’s a new kind of capitalist system. The future is in interconnected business models – we have to think beyond the idea of who’s directly responsible for one thing.” For example, some overseas telcos have bundled subscriptions to music streaming services such as Spotify into their pricing plans. The challenge is to configure the models to make it easy for people to pay for content delivery; here, Leonhard sees a trend away from copyright and towards ‘usage-right’. This means creating value for consumers & up-selling them to premium content, for example via the ‘freemium’ model used increasingly in the gaming industry. "People will be willing to pay if you find enough value and groom the up-sell.” In contrast, attempting to block people from sharing is a futile venture, with closed systems doomed to failure. Of course, the world's most successful technology company, Apple, is founded on a closed business model, but Leonhard says this is an exception built on the genius of Steve Jobs. "Obsession with control inevitably leads to decline.” Open systems have their challenges too, such as risk of addiction due to overwhelming volume, a tendency for consumers to skim the surface of content due to lower investment, and the issue of standards and transparency in data gathering. "Personal data is the oil of the internet, and the new currency of the digital world,” Leonhard says. "But it can’t all be about commercial gains. We have to agree on a public transparency – but who decides?” The Future with High Speed Broadband conference has been organised by the Commerce Commission to identify factors that may influence the uptake of Ultra Fast Broadband in New Zealand. The event runs for two days, and can be viewed via live stream here.

Feb 20, 2012 3:15:48 AM | 21st Century Content Ecology, Broadband Culture, Broadcasting, Conferences, Consumer Insights, Content 2.0, EgoSystem EcoSystem, Future of Broadcasting, Future of Business, Future of Cable TV, Inequality, Monetizing Content, MY PRESENTATIONS, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, Slideshows, Social Networks, Telecom2.0, TeleMedia

February 07, 2012

Jeremy Rifkin videos: the empathic civilization, and the third industrial revolution. Must watch!

I have been busy reading Jeremy Rifkin's amazing book The Third Industrial Revolution as well as his other writings (check out his Huffington Post pieces), and wanted to share some of his key videos and resources with you.

His current, and maybe most important topic is the coming convergence of Internet technology and digital communications with energy and environmental issues - the idea of an Internet of Energy. Because of my recent expansion into what I call GreenFutures this concept has really struck a chord with me.

Jeremy Rifkin is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and the author of seventeen bestselling books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment. One of the most popular social thinkers of our time, Rifkin is the bestselling author of The European Dream, The Hydrogen Economy, The Age of Access, The Biotech Century, and The End of Work.

Here is a video of his recent appearance on the Charlie Rose show:

Jeremy Rifkin, 'The Third Industrial Revolution' "How lateral power is transforming energy, the economy, and the world." Charlie Rose 06.01.12 [1080p] http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/7302

At a recent RSA event in London:

Join Jeremy Rifkin as he describes how the five-pillars of the Third Industrial Revolution will create thousands of businesses and millions of jobs, and usher in a fundamental reordering of human relationships, from hierarchical to lateral power, that will impact the way we conduct business, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life.

RSA Animate video

Feb 7, 2012 10:59:49 AM | Bottom Lines, BRIC, Broadband Culture, capitalism 2.0, CHANGE, Convergence, Cool people, Decentralization, Disruption, Economic Egoism, Enterprise 2.0, Foresights, Made me think, Must-watch, Networked Society, People, Videos I Like

February 02, 2012

New Video: Zukunft der Medien / Future of Media (MediaFutureDay TPC Switzerland - in German)

Please note: this video is in GERMAN language. It's the entire closing keynote of Future Media Day at TPC in Zurich, Switzerland, on January 24, 2012 see http://emedia.tpcag.ch/?page_id=162 Topics: the future of TV, social TV, OTT & mobile TV, future of content, advertising and content consumption. If you want the PDF please ping me via http://twitter.com/#!/gleonhard

Thanks to TPCMedia for booking me for this really cool event, and for making this video available to me.

Feb 2, 2012 5:53:02 PM | Future of TV, In German Language, My speaking engagements, My videos, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, OTT, Television, TV, TV 2.0, UGC, Videos I Like

January 14, 2012

New audio / video interview on the future of branding, business and the Internet (incl. some comments on SOPA), via TribeRadio

A few days ago, I did a fairly lengthy and deep skype interview with Toronto-based Marie Germain from Branding 2.0 (see her Twitter channel here), touching on many issues including the future of commerce, selling, marketing and branding, so-called social media (I much prefer the term Social OS), current issues in technology and the Internet (such as SOPA - the deeply disturbing but nevertheless impending U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act), and media / content trends.

There are some quite juicy snippets in this interview, such as:

"In an truly digital society we probably don't need marketing as we know it"

"We are moving from a society, and an economy, based on EGOsystems to a society that is based on ECOsystems (i.e. INTERDEPENDENCE)"

"The old days of commerce were based on handcuffing consumers, now it's all about attraction, engagement and conversations (being a magnet rather than using handcuffs)"

This video uses an interesting format in that it is based on an audio track that was recorded on the phone, and superimposes some related images over it. Interesting. If you just want the audio track, here it is:

Gerd Leonhard TribeRadio Interview Jan 2012: Branding, SOPA et al

From the TribeRadio Youtube post: "World-renown futurist, Gerd Leonhard, in this interview speaks of the very serious challenges businesses and brands face; he offers solutions. On a more sombre note he exposes the ploys of controllers on internet freedom, SOPA to be clear. The Wall Street Journal acknowledges Gerd as one of the leading media futurists in the world. Powerful! Incisive! Gerd is simply delicious to the ears. Keynote Speaker, Founder of The Futures Agency, Advisor to top corporations and governments, author of five books, "The Future of Music", "Music 2.0", "The End of Control", "Friction is Fiction" and "The Future of Content". Gerd's background is in music; however, today he is a top game-changer, inspiring entrepreneurship and guiding us into a prodigious digital world. To reach the Host of Tribe Radio, Marie Germain: at her blog, http://Branding20.wordpress.com or her biz site, http://MarieGermain.com..."

Be sure to check out the other audio / video interviews on here channel as well, including Jeffrey Hayzlett ('Running the Gauntlet' book, former CMO of Kodak).

Tags:

Jan 14, 2012 5:40:34 PM | 21st Century Content Ecology, About Me, Advertising Trends, Attention Economy, Best of Gerd, Bottom Lines, Branding, Broadband Culture, CHANGE, Concerns, Consumer Insights, Content 2.0, Convergence, Creative Rights, Crossmedia, Crucial Stuff, Cultural Industries, Current Affairs, Data is the new Oil, Economic Egoism, EgoSystem EcoSystem, Fragmentation, Friction is Fiction, Future of Advertising, Future of Agencies, Future of Business, Future of Content, Future of Marketing, Future of Media, Future Watch, Innovation, Interviews, Leadership, Likemindedness, Link Economy, Must-watch, My Podcasts, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, Openness Issues, Podcasting, Podcasts, Politics of Content, Realizations, Resources, Social Media, The Futures Agency, Trends, Trust, Videos I Like

January 12, 2012

The latest updates from my Tumblr blogs

Greetings! In addition to the blog posts on this site I also post on 2 other sites, see below.

The latest updates from my Future of Business Tumblr Blog

The latest updates from my Green Futurist Tumblr Blog

Jan 12, 2012 3:13:32 PM | 21st Century Content Ecology, About Me, Attention Economy, Blogging, Broadband Culture, capitalism 2.0, CHANGE, Concerns, Consumer Insights, Content 2.0, Future of Business, Going Green, Good reads, Green Futures, Inequality, Innovation, Likemindedness, Link Economy, Must Reads, My writings, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, Politics of Content, Predictions, Privacy, Real-Time Web, Realizations, Resources, Social Media, Sustainability

January 07, 2012

Seth Godin on 2012: 2 must-watch videos. The industrial age is over. Take risks.

I just found this via Marie Germain and Branding 2.0: video of interview with Seth Godin on George Stroumboulopoulos “Strombo”, Canada’s leading late-night talk show. Some really great soundbites here - Seth is one of the people who always, without fail, inspire me.

Check out this video interview with Seth on BehindthebrandTV - it's a very good fit with the topics above, as well.

Jan 7, 2012 8:08:47 PM | Consumer Insights, Cool people, EgoSystem EcoSystem, Future of Business, Networked Society, Other writers, People, Resources, Smart People, Trends, Trust, Videos I Like, Viral Stuff, Wisdoms

January 06, 2012

Mission 2012: Green Futures. Plus, my first public talk on Green Business: EcoSummit Berlin March 22nd

This year I am embarking on a new, additional mission. You may have already noticed in my Twitter feed and via my Facebook updates that I am expanding my work into various 'green' topics such as sustainability (in particular what has been termed 'sustainable capitalism), climate change and global warming, and renewable energy. While investigating these new topics I am also hard at work on my new book "From Ego to Eco" which will cover some of these issues (in addition to media, culture, politics and what I call 'the networked society) as well.

My new site / blog at GreenFuturist.com was launched a few months ago and is shaping up pretty well, already; I am using it primarily to share updates and interesting snippets culled from my research and 100s of RSS feeds that I scan for the latest developments. Please take a look, read the announcement (also below), comment, follow me on Tumblr, or subscribe to the GreenFuturist RSS feed. You may also want to visit (and like?) my new Facebook 'Green Futurist' page, or check out my new @AGreenFuturist Twitter channel.

I also recommend you follow my new public Kindle notes on Amazon - this is starting to be a good resource and I am sharing notes on 30+ books there.

My work in media, content, communications and the Future of Business will continue, of course; both with my esteemed colleagues at The Futures Agency as well as by myself. Stay tuned via TFA's Facebook page.

I have just confirmed my first public appearance as 'Green Futurist' at the EcoSummit 2012 in Berlin, on March 22nd (first thing in the morning), and look forward to maybe seeing you there (on-location or virtually) if at all possible.

See you soon! Gerd Leonhard

PS: be sure to follow and use this new Twitter hashtags #greenfutures and #mission12

Here is the official announcement of my new Mission 2012.

ANNOUNCING GREEN FUTURIST

I have worked in digital music, media and in the Internet business since 1995. Since 2001 I have worked as an independent Futurist with a focus on media, content, entertainment and publishing, technology, telecom as well as in marketing, branding and communications.

In 2012, I will expand my activities into a new direction which I like to call ”Green Futures”, encompassing issues such as sustainability, climate changeand carbon reduction, alternative and renewable energies, the future of transportation, a new type of capitalism that is not (just) based on profit and growth (as I call it, shifting from EGO to ECO), environmental action, eco-tourism and the future of the tourism, the ‘greening’ of business; and in general, the radical changes that a post-growth society will certainly demand of us, very soon.

Venture capitalist John Doerr said in his seminal and deeply moving 2007 Ted talk on green technologies, quoting KPCP Founder Eugene Kleiner: “there are times when the appropriate response is panic”. Without wanting to push the panic button even more frequently, or harder, than other futurists before me, I must admit that I also feel that we urgently must consider sweeping changes in how we live, work and do business.

I therefore want to use my somewhat tried-and-tested speaking and presentation skills to address perhaps the most important issue there is: how we can we change the way we live, how we operate our businesses, define our policies and direct our governments; and how we will use and replenish our planet’s resources, going forward.

I believe that if we don’t stop borrowi ng from our own future, and if we don’t start paying the real price for what our ever-increasing consumption actually costs (or maybe even curtail our consumption??), we have a very good chance at losing everything we value, today, in the next 20-50 years. We may lose our oceans, our forests, our glaciers, our rivers, our wildlife, our breathable air and our clean water - and this is not a world that I want my children, or grand-children, to live in.

Maybe we can no longer be content with ‘tinkering around the edges’, making only minor dents into this rapidly widening path to destruction. Maybe we need large, sweeping actions that will require significant sacrifices from us. It is these conversations and actions I want to further with my work as Green Futurist.

Gerd Leonhard, January 2012

Jan 6, 2012 10:57:02 AM | Announcements, Books, Conferences, Economic Egoism, EgoSystem EcoSystem, Going Green, Green Futures, My speaking engagements, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, Sustainability, The Futures Agency

January 01, 2012

Jeffrey Sachs "The Price of Civilization" - great video to kick off 2012

In this very insightful Authors-at-Google-video Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, aptly summarizes several key topics such as the reasons for the economic crisis, the increasing inequality in America, and the consequences of globalization.

Watch the whole thing and you'll understand what the world - and in particular, America - is up against in 2012. And check out his book "The price of Civilization" - I just got it for my Kindle and will share my public bookmarks soon, here.

If you own a Kindle you can follow my Kindle note-sharing here.

From Youtube: "As he has done in dozens of countries around the world in the midst of economic crises, Sachs turns his unique diagnostic skills to what ails the American economy. He finds that both political parties—and many leading economists—have missed the big picture, offering shortsighted solutions such as stimulus spending or tax cuts to address complex economic problems that require deeper solutions. Sachs argues that we have profoundly underestimated globalization's long-term effects on our country, which create deep and largely unmet challenges with regard to jobs, incomes, poverty, and the environment. America's single biggest economic failure, Sachs argues, is its inability to come to grips with the new global economic realities.

Yet Sachs goes deeper than an economic diagnosis. By taking a broad, holistic approach—looking at domestic politics, geopolitics, social psychology, and the natural environment as well—Sachs reveals the larger fissures underlying our country's current crisis. He shows how Washington has consistently failed to address America's economic needs. He describes a political system that has lost its ethical moorings, in which ever-rising campaign contributions and lobbying outlays overpower the voice of the citizenry. He also looks at the crisis in our culture, in which an overstimulated and consumption-driven populace in a ferocious quest for wealth now suffers shortfalls of social trust, honesty, and compassion. Finally, Sachs offers a plan to turn the crisis around. He argues persuasively that the problem is not America's abiding values, which remain generous and pragmatic, but the ease with which political spin and consumerism run circles around those values. He bids the reader to reclaim the virtues of good citizenship and mindfulness toward the economy and one another. Most important, he bids each of us to accept the price of civilization, so that together we can restore America to its great promise...."

Jan 1, 2012 3:24:42 PM | Asia, Attention Economy, CHANGE, Concerns, Control Fights, Current Affairs, Economic Egoism, EgoSystem EcoSystem, Emerging Markets, Future of Business, Inspiring, Interesting, Leadership, Market failures, Must-watch, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, Openness Issues, People, Politics of Content, Trends, Trust, Videos I Like

December 23, 2011

New video: Social Local Mobile Video: the future of Apps (my BDigital Keynote)

Here is a new video with my keynote at the BDigital Apps Conference, November 16, 2011, in Barcelona (my part starts at 02:04). You can download the PDF with my slides here.

The topic: "SoLoMoVi": apps and the future of content, business and communication" Wireless broadband, mobile applications, smart mobile devices, social networks and over-the-top video are exploding and will dramatically change how we communicate, how we buy and sell, how we create and consume content, and how we do business or run our governments. Pre-mobile & social, the Internet was just in its infancy, now it's a rebellious teenager testing the limits and pushing relentlessly. Where will the mobile Internet - and apps in particular - take us, in the next 3-5 years, what opportunities will emerge, what will happen in sectors such as education, media, politics and culture, and what can we learn from how this is already unfolding in the developing countries?

http://eng.bdigitalapps.com/

Dec 23, 2011 4:47:20 PM | 21st Century Content Ecology, Apps, Attention Economy, Mobile, Monetizing Content, MY PRESENTATIONS, My speaking engagements, My videos, Networked Society, Social Media, TeleMedia, VIDEO BLOG, Videos I Like, Web/Tech

December 06, 2011

How to Capitalise On 21st Century Content Economics…

Here is my short letter via the Terrapinn blog announcing my opening keynote speech at the World eReading Summit in London, May 15/16, 2012.

"I am a longtime commentator on how the digital, mobile and social-media revolution has left Publishers reeling and in a state of total change or even disruption. This is a call to action to transform your business to embrace and conquer the digital age. Failure to do so will mean inevitable friction, market confusion and possibly a dysfunctional content ecosystem, when on the other hand you could stand to profit from long term revenue generating opportunities.

It is often said that where attention flows money follows (*Kevin Kelly kk.org), but the question is how, where and when to convert them. Today, digital natives are viewers, users, followers, friends, co-creators, co-producers or crowd-sourced collaborators, all-in-one. Going forward, data is becoming the new oil, and understanding, analysing, predicting and staying ahead of your ‘connected consumers’ is quickly becoming a MUST for your business in 2012 and beyond!

So far, technological content protection measures have not been successful. Instead, future ‘protection’ will need to come from the business models and from social cohesion. Delivering tangible value and inventing new free, freemium, feels-like-free models will be crucially important. Just look at Skype, Spotify, Amazon and the undisputed master of ‘free’ – Google. You need to asses the role ‘free’ will play in your business. How will you monetize your content and which new and innovative revenue generating concepts will transform the commercial prospects of your business? Yes, methods of monetizing content are fragmented, but also much more powerful, immediate and liquid than ever. This industry, this transitional period and the World e-Reading Congress 2012 are all key opportunities to harness your digital footprint and develop strategies that will pay dividends in solid revenue. I look forward to meeting you all at the World e-Reading Congress next May.”  Gerd Leonhard, CEO, The Futures Agency – Opening Keynote Speaker 2012.

Dec 6, 2011 4:59:07 AM | 21st Century Content Ecology, Announcements, Bottom Lines, Broadband Culture, Conferences, Content 2.0, Copyright, Creative Rights, Cultural Industries, Data is the new Oil, Disruption, eBooks, EgoSystem EcoSystem, Free!, Future of Books, Future of Content, Future of Media, Meet me @, Monetizing Content, My speaking engagements, Networked Society, News, Open Network Economy, Politics of Content

November 21, 2011

This video is a great summary of what is important to me, as well (Charlie Chaplin)

This video clearly spells out so many points that I also believe in - very important stuff.

(Song: Window by The Album Leaf) One of the most inspirational speeches in recorded history was given by a comedian by the name of Charlie Chaplin.

Nov 21, 2011 12:31:15 PM | amazing, Bottom Lines, Must-watch, Networked Society

New video: TeleMedia Futures presentation at Total Telecom 2011 (London)

This is a self-recorded video of my keynote speech on 'TeleMedia Futures: Making the most of the Content Opportunity' at the recent Total Telecom conference in London, Nov 7 / 8, 2011. Apologies for the somewhat less than perfect recording quality (note that the crackling sound that starts at about 2 mins into the video will seize a minute later:). You can download the PDF of my presentation here: Download TeleMedia and Content Gerd Leonhard Total Telecom Public

More presentations (100+) can be viewed and downloaded via Slideshare

Nov 21, 2011 8:34:29 AM | 21st Century Content Ecology, Broadband Culture, Conferences, Consumer Insights, Content 2.0, Convergence, Data is the new Oil, Digital Music, EgoSystem EcoSystem, EoC: Telecom, Future of Broadcasting, Monetizing Content, Must-watch, MY PRESENTATIONS, My speaking engagements, My videos, Networked Society, Open Network Economy, Telecom2.0, TeleMedia, Television, The Cloud, Trends

November 05, 2011

New Twitter account dedicated to conversations: @talktogerd

Many of you may be following my various Twitter streams such as @gleonhard (my main and most popular channel, usually delivers short comments on what I read elsewhere, always-a-link-concept), @futuresagency (my company's account, with news, updates and retweets from our partners and speakers), @dailywisdoms (the name says it all), @futurefeed (where all Futures Agency partners can tweet futuristic stuff they find relevant), @futurememes (where we are building a video-centric twitter stream based on the budding FutureMemes.org tumblr blog), @music2dot0 (all tweets pertaining to the topic of my 2nd book, Music 2.0) or @derfuturist (tweets and updates in German, mostly).

What is sometimes lacking is the ability to actually reply publicly and have something akin to a conversation, i.e. less broadcast and more narrowcast. This has been hard to do using my @gleonhard account because many of my followers seem to find it rather irrating to see too many replies in my twitter stream, and have let me know that they don't like to have to follow other people's conversation.

I have therefore decided to establish a twitter channel that is dedicated only to conversations, at @talktogerd . You can follow me there and ask any question you want, or comment on my work, and I will try to respond to you right away. I hope you like the idea and will follow me there, as well.

Nov 5, 2011 3:37:54 PM | About Me, Announcements, Broadband Culture, Meet me @, Networked Society, Social Media, Twitter

November 01, 2011

Really nice illustration: Visions of a Networked Future (ITU Telecom World event)

Further to my last post and the video about the ITUWorld event on October 26, 2011, in Geneva, here is a really nice illustration / visualization of the key statements and memes, created and kindly provided by Sarah Clark at Clear Thinking Communications in Switzerland.

You can view and download a large version via this link .

...from a really interesting session at ITU Teleworld 2011 in Geneva yesterday, October 26, 2011. http://forum.world2011.itu.int/sessions/f17-storytelling-2-visions-of-a-netwo... has further details and the complete 86 minute video.

This Quickfire Storytelling session brings together some of the world's leading futurists (see below) to share bold ideas and conflicting predictions of how the world might look in 10 years' time. This video (which we shot ourselves using a Kodak HDCam and Sony bluetooth mic) shows the first 10 minutes i.e. Gerd's introduction, the 5 minute talk and brief discussion with the other speakers and the audience. Twitter buzz is here You can download the 10MB PDF of my presentation (unfortunately, the slides are not really visible in the video), here.

Nov 1, 2011 12:48:12 PM | amazing, Bottom Lines, Broadband Culture, CHANGE, Conferences, Current Affairs, Images, Innovation, Inspiring, Interesting, Made me think, Must-watch, My speaking engagements, Networked Society, Predictions, Realizations, Resources

MediaFuturist

Futurist Gerd Leonhard on the Future of Media, Business, Culture, Content Communications, Technology, Advertising and Entertainment