It you think the pace of change in the media business has been fast in recent years, then you'll want to brace yourself for what's coming in the near future.
The latest issue of World News Publishing Focus tells why. Here's what we can expect between now and 2016:
- Graphene, touted as the miracle material of the 21st century, will ultimately allow smart devices to be rolled up into the size of a pencil.
- Ultra-high definition screens, far greater than what is commercially available.
- A growing number of screens will incorporate Natural User Interface technology, which gives new meaning to "user friendly" – the interface is virtually invisible and turns novices into experts quickly.
- Lithium-sulfur batteries will improve battery life by a factor of 400.
- We will tap to pay and check in.
- Our lives will move to the cloud.
- The line between advertising and other content will blur.
- Media agencies will be a major determinant of marketing success, and marketing will be the determinant of business success.
Those are some of the forecasts from Andreas Vogiatzakis, CEO of the Omnicom Media Group in Malaysia, in an article entitled "Big picture: 'Change will never be this slow again,' to be found in the July/August edition of World News Publishing Focus, the magazine dedicated to the changing media landscape published by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
"What is driving these changes?" asks Mr Vogiatzakis . "The quest for the ultimate end point: the state of abundance, where we will be everywhere with everyone and everything in the moment."
"Beyond 2016, we will have near-artificial intelligence that will make its current state seem dumb by comparison," he said.
The current issue of the magazine reports on the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and World Advertising Forum, the global summit meetings of newspapers and news publishers held in Bangkok, Thailand, in June. Mr Vogiatzakis was a speaker at the events, which drew more than 1,500 delegates from 66 countries.
Also in the magazine:
- World Press Trends: Publishing success isn't only about big numbers; engaging with the audience is becoming an essential ingredient for publishers everywhere, according to the latest findings from the new World Press Trends report.
- Focus: "I could never allow myself to imagine the success we've had. I just concentrated on doing my job, doing my best," says Dr. Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of Myanmar's Eleven Media Group and 2013 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom laureate.
- Multimedia while print still works: Jon Ruiz, CEO of Colombia's El Tiempo, and the keynote speaker at WAN-IFRA's first Digital Media Latinoamérica conference in Bogotá on 30-31 October, talks about how a multimedia group can flourish in a region where the traditional business model still works, and how it can avoid the pitfalls found elsewhere.
- Cost Savings: Modernising existing equipment, otherwise known as retrofitting, has developed into a new branch of business for many suppliers.
