A lot is about to change in the near future - Kevin Werbach

One knew that Kevin Werbach was going to deliver a challenging presentation from the moment he took to the stage an announced he was from "a country that can conquer the Iraqi army in 3 weeks but can't figure out SMS." The futurologist protégé of cyber-guru Esther Dyson has a habit of getting people to acknowledge the radical implications of technology that already surrounds them. Basically, so Kevin's thesis goes, broadcast technology is decentralising, and so are people's usage habits. As the devices at the edges become more intelligent and less expensive, the ones at the centre become less important. This, says Kevin, is already happening with the 'last-mile' connectivity of wireless networks. It has also been the culture of the internet, leading to such creations as file-sharing systems, and entrepreneurial innovations at the edges, such as E-bay. And it is beginning to happen to broadcast media more generally, which means that companies that make their money by relying on notions of scarcity may be in for a bit of a nasty shock. With weblogs now rivalling newspaper columnists, P2Ps are toppling record companies and PVRs are taking captive audiences away from advertisers, a lot is about to change in the near future - and those attempting to turn the tide may be destined to end up as King Canute figures.
http://www.tvmeetstheweb.com/may2003/seminarreport.php