Old Media gradually surrendered its omnipotence for a series of short-term financial gains, as technologies introduced from the 1960s forward slowly destroyed the accepted business model, and put people in control of the information. New Media isn’t accepting any such cheap payoff. We’ll get more for free, but, paradoxically, the price will be higher. Much to the good, the power to actively disseminate and question information is in the hands of the people as there is little or no barrier to publication. But there are costs. Social networks, search engines and smart phones want to analyze us, track us, crunch us and commodify us. Some people object to the intrusion greatly, even violently, and they will unfortunately be heard from. But the surprising thing is, most people in this age appear to actually want to be watched–or noticed, at least. Our ballooning authority seems to have inflated our egos, and those egos demand attention. Or maybe knowing more about the world is so scary that everyone wishes they had a brother, even if it’s Big Brother.

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Home video recorders diminish the importance of appointment television:

Information and entertainment need to be portable:

Remote control lets you mute commericals: