It's been a LONG time since I posted...so this topic is very relevant. For me, there is nothing more compelling and exciting ( I would even call it a digital "high") than discovering a marriage of digital content AND platform that change the way you can live your life. I've always loved playing with new digital platforms going way back to prodigy, or angelfire, or GeoCities. Or more recently facebook, twitter, pandora etc etc. I truly love getting my hands on a new platform and playing in a digital sandbox. Even better is connecting to an audience with a new tool.
My latest "moment of truth" came when I used my new iphone (why I just moved from blackberry to iphone is a whole different story) to access the Yelp app while on vacation. Now....I have looked at Yelp online...and read reviews....etc. This is informative....but the content alone does not produce the "magic" that gets me going. It's the marriage of the content AND platform combined with locational relevance that truly transforms nice content to a life altering experience. When my kids asked for ice cream, and we were out of town, I unleashed the digital magic I so love. Being able to search for local ice cream shops that have good reviews, and then integrating that information with a local based map along with real time coordinates to drive right to the shop....pure digital high. I just live for that moment of digital discovery and the perfect convergence of content and platform. Similar experience with Kelly Blue Book. I've always consulted KBB when buying a car. But the beauty of having user friending data....in my hand...in the showroom.....to share with the dealer is truly transformative to the shopping experience.
These digital "highs" happen all the time....and we sometimes fail to recognize how our life is being changed. almost without us knowing it. We have become so used to these changes. But for me, I live for these moments (no offense to my son scoring a goal ;) It's these moments when you can see the impact of all the work we are doing in the digital realm. Content + Platform = magic. That's the formula that keeps me going...and I know I'm not alone.
The question we still need to answer is.....what will that "magic" moment in the broadcast world look like? We have tons of content...and lots of platforms in development....but somehow, I don't think we are any closer to making magic in this space. This is the challenge of our time in the media world. Who is going to make the magic when is comes to broadcast television?
